Mass death in the new 125.....

[tremper]

So my newly thrown together 125 suffered a mass death last night / this morning.

Heres the background. I cleaned the tank using water and a few sponges until everything was clean as a whistle. FIlled her up, put a well seeded fluval 404 on it, ran it for a day before putting a few fish in, 3 gobies, 1 peacock and 4 small julies. Water was obviously conditioned and dechlorinated, ammonia was at 0, pH at 8.2 no readings of anything in the water what so ever, before placing in the fish.

I wasa having a real challenge getting the film off of the lids and used a product called "Get CLean, Basic H2 for windows and Mirrors" Touted as being, all natual, non toxic and biodegradeable which finally got the glass clean as new. (Yes, in retrospect I should have used vinegar but I didn't :wacko

Recv'd a distressed text from my girl friend saying that fish had died en masse. Looking at tank now and there is definitely a filmy layer on the tank. Unfortunately it loks as if these guys died a slow toxic death over the 3 days t tank was up and running - heart breaking.

Now I need to clean everything out. I will obviously drain the tank, refill and drain again a time or two. The filter certianly needs to be shut down, detoxed and started back up again.

I'm not sure what to do with the couple hundred pounds of gravel though. Can I fill up the filter with charcoal and let it cycle for a few days? Will that have a cleansing effect on the gravel?

Any help would be appreciated as I'm heading out of town again on Sunday for a week.

Also, I have a few plants in the tank I'd prefer to keep. Any advice on how to best clean / detox them?

Will be out of town for November meeting so I'm looking for help here on line please.

Thanks Guys....

(Joe) Tremper

 

[Charlutz]

Sucks Joe. I killed two adult syn multipunctatus with bleach in a bag during a tank setup. Was 5 years ago and still hurts. Hard to say exactly since you don't know the nature of the toxin. IMO, stir the sand, then drain the tank and let it dry out. Hopefully, the toxin will evaporate, like chlorine. Then flush it with water and drain it again. When you refill it, run charcoal in the filters. Then, unfortunately, you'll need to test your work by running the tank with some fish you don't want to keep like cheap tetras, danios or Malawis. I think you can remove the plant and rinse it.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

IM SORRY TO HEAR THAT! I THINK THE CLEANER WAS YOUR CULPRIT TOO.I AGREE WITH YOU ON THE VINEGAR..ITS MORE ELBOW GREASE BUT ITS EFFECTIVE AND SAFE.I WOULD DRAIN OUT ALL WATER JUST AS HE SAID ABOVE BUT I WOULD ALSO POUR ABOUT A GALLON OF VINEGAR OVER THE GRAVEL AND LET IT SIT A BIT THEN DO JUST LIKE CHARLUTZ SAID.

 

[Travis]

I did a little research on this product and found some information that may be helpful. First of all, the product is "highly concentrated" and for glass cleaning purposes it says to use 1-2 drops / 16 oz. of water -- to make a spray solution. But I assume you read that on the bottle.

Secondly, I tried to find the ingredients and that wasn't as simple. I found the MSDS sheet

https://www.secure-session.com/files/11/37989/1485730091/33F59ED11B/i/Basic_H2_MSDS[1].pdf

for Basic-H2 and that lists the CAS# for the three ingredients found in Basic H2.


The main ingredient is ALKYLPOLYCOSIDE SURFACTANT:

http://www.lookchem.com/msds/D-Glucopyranose,-oligomeric,-C10-16-alkyl-glycosides(110615-47-9).pdf

So this cleaner is alcohol based, not surprising -- because alcohols are...degradable. This compound is more or less harmless and you should be able to just rinse away with water.

The second compound listed is ALKYL GLUCOSIDE SURFACTANT
http://www.lookchem.com/msds/Alkyl-Polyglucoside(68515-73-1).pdf

This compound is another fatty alcohol and at such a small quantity should be able to be washed away with water.

The last compound is Alcohols,C12-16, ethoxylated and again this compound is found in most household cleaners and soaps.

***Your plan to rinse, rinse, rinse, and carbon sounds adequate*** I would probably allow to dry between one of the rinses.

I hope this is helpful.

 

[F8LBITE]

aww man that sucks Joe. I say rinse a bunch and put some feeder goldfish in there to test.

 

[Tony]

Sorry to hear about the deaths, Joe. I know it's frustrating, but hang in there.

 

[mrkillie]

Were the sponges new? Were they treated with anything? You have to watch that-some sponges have detergents/soap right in them. Sounds kinda funny, but I use Supreme Aquamaster filter pads to clean-that way I know they are safe for the fish.

 

[SubMariner]

Sucks Joe. I killed two adult syn multipunctatus with bleach in a bag during a tank setup. Was 5 years ago and still hurts. Hard to say exactly since you don't know the nature of the toxin. IMO, stir the sand, then drain the tank and let it dry out. Hopefully, the toxin will evaporate, like chlorine. Then flush it with water and drain it again. When you refill it, run charcoal in the filters. Then, unfortunately, you'll need to test your work by running the tank with some fish you don't want to keep like cheap tetras, danios or Malawis. I think you can remove the plant and rinse it.

I concur with Charlie, except I would recommend you use some disposable Tanganyikans instead. I mean who would notice? LOL!

Sorry for your loss.

Just reload and start again, but this time do it better Joe.

 

[tremper]

Thx guys, tank is drained and refilling as we speak. Sponges were not pre soaped, I always make sure of that. Gonna try and heave this thing up and running again by tomorrow night. I'm heading to El Salvador and Guatemala all of next week. Anyone need and Central Americans while I'm there ? Just kidding, wish I could tho.....

Anyone have any juvie j.marlieris they're willing to part with? I love those guys..... I won't be at the meeting but can make arrangements for a pick up or hold.

Thanks all.....

 

[MonteSS]

Sorry to hear. Sounds to me like tank was not cycled.

...Bill