[slave1]

I asked this same question over in Oceanography but wasn't sure if I should be posting it here. Sorry about the crosspost, but I'm in an emergency situation with my fish...

Yesterday I noticed my fishtank was just slightly cloudy. So I did a 25% water change. The water remained cloudy even after the water change. I was hoping it would clear up overnight, but when I came out this morning it was almost completely white. I freaked out and opened the lid. My two 4 year old big Raphael Catfish were floating at the top. I ran and grabbed a cup to scoop them out, but thankfully when I nudged them, they were still alive.
When I did the waterchange yesterday, I also tested the water. PH, Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites were all normal or low. Normally my Nitrate level is a little high so that confused me.

Anyway, after seeing my Raphaels in trouble, I did a 60% water change. The water is still quite a bit cloudy. I also was devastated to discover I lost a 2 year old Bleeding Heart Tetra, my 2 two year old Kuli Loaches and my huge 2 year old Clown Loach. They still were quite bright colored so I assumed they died pretty recently. I actually kept them in separate cups for a while hoping they were in shock and not actually dead, but after a half hour they hadn't moved. :(

My water levels are still normal, I have no idea what is wrong. I did replace my Eclipse filter this morning as well. My BioWheel is fine and I have never replaced or cleaned it. I haven't added anything odd to the tank and no poison could have gotten in as far as I can tell. Things seem to have been as normal as thy've always been.

Here are the details of my tank:

Size of tank and amount of fish: I have a 38 gallon tank and I have now two 4 inch Raphael Catfish, two small 1 1/2 inch Clown Plecos, one 4 inch regular pleco, two 2 inch Black skirted Tetras, two 1 inch Dwarf Golden Gouramis, and three 1 inch Hatchet Fish. I also had two 3 inch kuli Loaches, one fat 3 inch Clown loach and one 2 inch Bleeding heart teatra till they died this morning.

How long has your tank been set up? About 6 years

How often and how much water do you change at a time? I usually do a 25% water change once a month.

What type filter system do you have running? I have the Biowheel and the Eclipse 3 system,

Has the filter cycled yet? and do you have filter media/ material like a bio-wheel for the beneficial bacteria to live in so that the nitrogen cycle or "biological cycle" is not destroyed with water changes & routine maintenance? The tank cycled many years ago. The Biowheel has never been changed or cleaned.

Could you test your water and give me the ppm readings for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, Gh, & Kh along with the Ph and temperature of the water?

The levels are at normal meaning:
Nitrates: 10
Nitrites: .25
Ammonia: .25
PH: 7
Temp: 79

From the tap, do you have hard or soft water? I'm in Colorado, I think our water is pretty normal but on the hard side.

What do you use to condition the tanks water? I normally use AmQuel Plus, but I was out of it so I used Ammo-Lock yesterday and Stresscoat today. This was the first time I've ever used AmmoLock but I've used Stresscoat a bunch in the past.

Do you add anything else to the water? Normally no. The past week I had been using a little Melafix because one of my Kuli Loaches had a bit of a growth on his head. I've used Melafix many times in the past with no problems whatsoever.

What kind of substrate are you using and is it planted with live plants? I have plain purple fishtank gravel that's been in there for 6 years. I have 2 live plants that have been in there for at least a year.

What kind of food and how often and how much do you feed? I do vary my fishes food. I just finished off using TetraMin and got some new food last week. I'm using OSI Freshwater Flake, Hikari Sinking Wafers and Boyds Vita Diet. I alternate between the OSI and Boyds everyday and don't feed that much. I use the sinking tablets for my bottom feeders 3 times a week.

I am completely devastated. I have no idea what to do. We've always had a helthy happy tank so I have no idea what could have happened. :( Any help would be appreciated, and quickly too since my fish are not in the clear yet.
Thanks!

[diamonddave]

10-31-06
2:05 PM.
Fish tank:
Dave:
Talk to a professional About all that has gone on.
Any sudden changes in food or water levels or ph can offer the problems you have.
Also introducing a virus or parasite or water change will do this.
Your tank needs to possible be totally redone.
Talk to a professional.
It may cost too much money other wise.
Dave:

[slave1]

I am going to my local pro in about 3 hours, it's the soonest I can get there without a car. He thinks I had a bacterial bloom and has another type of bacteria he says I should use to balance the system.
Also, I just rechecked my water levels. The ammonia has just spiked to 3 and I have phosphates levels of .5.

As for starting over, are you sure? I can't imagine it's that drastic. The remaining fish are still alive. I need to see what measures I can take to get the tank back on track.

[AKaeTrue]

Hi Slave1,
Sorry for the delay...
How is your tank?

My advise to you would be to not start your cycle over again...
If you already have, I can help you through it.

It sounds to me like you do have a bacterial bloom going on in your tank.
The person you spoke to was right in advising you to use nitrifiers or bottled beneficial bacteria. I prefer the brand "Nutrafin Cycle".

Because your ammonia and nitrites were not reading 0ppm, something has damaged your biological filtration.

I would be more than happy to help you out. I have a few ideas about what might be going on. Could you update me on the tank and water conditions so I can give you the correct advise for what's happening right now (since so many things can change so fast with tanks)

Hope to hear from you soon,
Kae

[AKaeTrue]

Tre_cani, Thank you for the many "pats on the back"!! :)

Kae

[AKaeTrue]

Update:
This aquarium issue has been resolved via PM. Unfortunately Slave1 lost several fish. However, She is a good fish keeper and was successful at stabilizing her water by using Biospira, which in return, saved her other fish.
With Slave1's permission, I am posting our PM's in order to help others in the future who may be facing a similar problem. In the fishkeeping hobby, time is of the essence.
Kae
____________________________________________



Hey there, I appreciate you helping me out.

Sadly, I've lost over half my fish now. This has been the most terrible experience ever.

I have done several 25% water changes just to keep the ammonia in check. Since I've been doing that, the fish have stopped dying and it's cleared up *a bit*. It still is quite cloudy.

My levels are now:
Ammonia: (I've tried two tests)
Wardley: .25
Aquarium Pharm:
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 60
Temp: 79

I added Cycle to my tank 2 days ago and yesterday I added Marinelands Bio Spira. I had no Nitrates yesterday so the sudden appearance of them today I think is due to the Bio Spira since it promises a 24 hour turnaround of your cycle.

Fish are looking more active and happy.

I am also not using AmmoLock anymore. I am only using Stresscoat as a water conditioner.

Anyway, I hope this info helps.
Thanks so much!

-Tina
Sorry, I forgot to type in the Aquarium Pharm Ammonia level. It's reading at 6 whereas the Wardley one is reading at .25
Not sure why they're completely different...

Thanks!
-Tina
_______________________________________________
fish
Hi there, it's so sad to hear about your fish.
It sounds like the cycle to your tank is almost complete again being that you have a nitrate reading. Please note the difference between nitrite (toxic to fish) and nitrate (non toxic if under 20-40ppm).
If you already know the difference and don't have the two confused then your tank is cycled, all you have to do now is wait for it to clear up. I would remove the biospear and just add "Cycle" 2 capfuls per 10 gallons of water again in 1 week w/o making a water change.
Wait 1 week, then change 25% of the water, (don't want to remove too much bacteria) and add another dose of Cycle, then continue your regular maintenance as you always did.
I believe your fish had some type of illness, the death of the fish could have caused the spike in the ammonia (fish begin to decay in water immediately after their death).
All fish carry bacteria like fungus or ick in their systems. Stress usually causes these illness to overcome the fish.
If your fish were appearing healthy for many years w/o problem and you had not introduced any new fish to the tank, my guess would be this: due to the growth of your fish over the years, the amount of inches you had in fish was just enough for the size of your tank (1 inch of fish per every gallon of water)/ the biological filtration was probably producing high levels of nitrates that were not kept under control with 25% water changes monthly. A tank that is pushed to it's capacity needs a 25% water change weekly to keep it in a healthy condition. Fish living in high nitrate levels for a long period will eventually die of internal and external diseases.
The bacterial bloom was probably caused by the cleaning of your filter media and worsened with the large water change.
I personally stay away from stress coat because of the aloe vera in it. It clogs my filters and coats my biowheels (I also feel it suffocates bacteria colonies - but there's no proof to that).
I recommend Seachem's Prime. It removes chlorine, chloramine,ammonia, detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, and provides slime coat w/o the gunkiness.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you save your fish.
I do hope things stabilize.
Kae
__________________________________________________ _________
Thank you again for getting back to me.

I actually did a 25% water change yesterday and added the rest of the Biospira. That stuff worked a miracle. It has a 24 turnaround time of your levels and it did just that. I still have some Cycle left so I'll do a 25% water change in a week and add some more of that.

I will start doing a 25% weekly water change and start using Prime. I did just order 2 bottles of Amquel Plus, that's what I generally use but used Ammolock and Stresscoat because everybody was out of Amquel. I like Amquel because it does the same things as Prime. But after I ues that up, I will try Prime for sure.

When do you think I can start adding a few new fish? My tank looks so empty and lonely now...

Thanks again!

-Tina
__________________________________________________ _______

How is your tank ?
Hi there,
Lately I've been really busy and not on the computer. I wanted to check in with you to see how your fish and tank were coming along.
You can add fish as soon as your water stabilizes. From the sound of your last pm, it seems as though it already had.
Please forgive me also, I misread "Biospira" and mistook it for BioSpear, a filter media. You were right on with using it in your tank! It's awesome stuff and has the extra advantage of the 3 step process as well.
Seems to me that you're a good fish keeper! It's very unfortunate you came across a problem. It often happens in the hobby with no fault of the keepers.
Good luck and keep me posted. Do you mind if I post our discussion in the forum so that it may possibly help others?
Thanks,
Kae
__________________________________________________ _________
Hey there!

The BioSpira worked a miracle. It may be expensive, but I wish I had known of it the day I started having problems because I probably could have saved all my fish.
I did manage to save a total of 7 fish:
2 Hatchets, 2 Dwarf Golden Gouramis, 1 regular pleco, 1 Clown Pleco and my huge Spotted Raphael. They are doing great. Levels are PERFECT! No ammonia, no nitrites and just a bit of nitrates.

We went to the fish store on Sunday and got 2 little Serpa Tetras and 2 Green/Gold Cory cats. I think we may get 2 more of each this Sunday so they all can school. I still want to get another Striped Raphael since he was my baby and I am still so hurt over losing him.

Thank you again for all your help. I can't believe this happened, after so many years of having a happy healthy tank. Wow, I will never take that for granted again...

And of course you can post all of this in the forum. If info like this had been available for me to browse through in the first place, I could have taken more quick action. So hopefully it can help someone else if they're ever in an emergency situation like I was.

Take care!
-Tina