overnight - cloudy water and death...

[deluxechev]

Here’s what went down. Last night I did a 20% water change on my 60 gallon tank, nothing out of the ordinary. I put in the proper amount of additives and everything. This morning my water was cloudy AND there was a casualty. One of my Bosemian Rainbow was lying dead in the sand of the tank. It looks like my African cichlids picked at his body and ate his eyes, but I’m not sure if the cloudy water that showed up last night/this morning had anything to do with the death. The B. Rainbow was one of four large that have been in the tank since I started it early last year. I noticed everything just this morning as I was walking out the door, so I haven’t tested the water for anything yet.

My pH is usually between 7.8 and 8.0. In the past I had problems stabilizing it, but I’ve been ok for about a month. The water hardness is right where it should be. I’ve never had problems with my nitrite and Ammonia (which I test for monthly). My nitrate is what I’ve been working on as of late. I’ve maintained levels in the 80’s. The last few weeks I’ve been doing 20% changes twice a week with no success. Just this weekend I started 20% changes every other day.

Any initial ideas on what I may be looking at?

 

[shannen]

Sounds like a bacteria bloom with a possible ammonia spike. Over cleaning wipes out too many of the beneficial bacteria, thus causing the dreaded cloudy water.

Also the fish may have succumbed to the high levels of nitrates, but at 80 ppm that's a bit of a stretch.

 

[deluxechev]

I actually have not touched my filter in a month. I was going to clean that out this weekend, all I’ve been doing was the water.

I did remove the corpse, but like I said, I didn’t have time to check my chemical levels. I’ll be doing that as soon as I get home.

 

[deluxechev]

So I went home, cleaned out my cascade1000 canister, waited about an hour and tested my water. Here are the results:

pH 7.8 – 8.0
KH 125-143
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 40-80 (I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have real problems reading the card for this test, all the reds really just blend into each other cause of my jacked-up eyes)

With the exception of the KH (which is usually just over 200), these scores are very common for my tank. This morning I noticed the water appears to be clearing up. So I’m thinking the death was not related to the cloudy water. That being said, I think I’ll be continuing my 20% every other day to get that Nitrate down.

 

[shannen]

Also test your tap for nitrates. Sometimes that can be the root cause of high readings.

 

[TankGirl]

I think you somehow stirred something up and created a bacterial bloom - I am having one as we speak in an established tank right after a PWC, and I did not vac because it is sand, and it was just a change of water. My water params all measure completely normal, so I know it is just bacteria that got stirred up into the water column somehow.

I think the death is coincidental, though I am certainly sorry for the loss of that fabulous fish - I keep boesemanis as well and they are one of my favorites.

I will say, however, that if you are having cloudiness and a death that you suspected was related to a possible mini cycle, I would not touch the filter at all, since cleaning it out does destroy the beneficial bacteria. Normally in an established tank you can clean it when necessary and there is plenty of bacteria elsewhere to handle things, but in the case of any kind of tank issue like that you don't want to take the chance.

 

[jersysman]

So I went home, cleaned out my cascade1000 canister, waited about an hour and tested my water. Here are the results:

pH 7.8 – 8.0
KH 125-143
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 40-80 (I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have real problems reading the card for this test, all the reds really just blend into each other cause of my jacked-up eyes)

I do have a question, though. You said your NITRITE level was 40-80 and your NITRATE level was 0. Did you get these 2 figures backward?

 

[deluxechev]

my bad, I did switch the two.

the tank's actually back to normal. i don't know what it was, but whatever it was, it appears to be gone now.

thanks for all the help.