I have been reading this site for a long time and had even been thinking about making an account recently because I sometimes see someone ask a question I think I can help with. Well, looks like I'm the one that needs some help.
I am not a beginner at keeping fish but I certainly don't know it all either. I have two 55 gallon tanks, three 75 gallon tanks, a 40 gallon for cichlid fry, and a 30 for cichlid fry, and a 20 long with dividers for bettas.
The one I'm having trouble with is a 35 gallon I drilled with a 20 gallon long sump under it. It also has an 8 gallon tank for fry or sickly fish that also drains into the sump. I use flagstone in a lot of my tanks and have never had a problem. This one had flagstone and some rocks I brought home from a camping trip. At one time it was just flagstone but I took a lot of it out to put in a larger aquarium.
It has several house plants growing with their roots in the sump which helps keep things clean. I did a lot of research to figure out which plants were safe. Ill look up their names if needed. The return pump feeds through cpvc water line painted with black krylon fusion paint, a set up i have used on several tanks for years with no problems.
In the sump I have a second pump for a spray bar that keeps the water surface nice and agitated as it moves through the sump.
Ok, a few weeks ago i came home from work and noticed my entire batch of fuelleborni fry that were in the 8 gallon until i could figure out what to do with them were dead. They had been fine that morning. I also had a dead fish in the main tank. I tested my water and found everything to be perfect but decided to do a water change anyway. The filter section of the sump looked a little dirty so i took all the media out (sponge, bio-media for aquaclear 110, carbon, and plastic pot scrubbers) rinsed it all in tank water, cleaned out the compartment completely and put it all back together.
Everything was fine for a couple of weeks until suddenly half the fish in my display and 3 one inch yellow labs in the sump were dead. I did a big water change, 90% or so, even though the water tested fine. I removed all of the rocks from the camping trip even though i have some in another tank that has had no problems.
This tank has been up and running for two years or so and currently had several mbuna and one victorian that were all just big sissies and too docile for the tanks they had been in. Beautiful fish that all got along great once i removed them from the other tanks. They had been in this tank for months and I was getting ready to do something else with them since the tank was slightly crowded but with regular water changes everything was fine.
So all that was left was six fish in the display tank, nothing in the sump or the 8 gallon. I disconected the 8 gallon since it was empty and i thought the contaminant might be in there. Just hours after the water change the remaining fish were starting to look good again. They had been floating at the top gasping breath like ammonia or nitrate poisoning but the water tested fine.
I was so worried i even got up in the middle of the night to come check and they were even better than they had been when i went to bed. Same story that morning when i got up for work.
I came home yesterday and they looked like death. One of them even looked like it had some sort of fin rot going on, all were at different stages of dying but I thought i could save them. I quickly set up a big plastic storage container in the living room and put fresh water in it. A few hours after putting the fish in the plastic bin all but one were fine again. One did not make it, the one with the fin rot looking business going on.
What ever happened contaminated nearly 55 gallons of water over night. I cant decide what to do. I've tested the water again just to make sure I didn't get false readings I used a different testing set up and if i didn't know better I'd say the tank is great and ready for fish.
If i take it all down I dont know what to reuse when i set it back up. I have no idea what could have caused this and I am even scared to use the pumps again as silly as that is. I have to do something though, the fish are in a bin in the living room which isn't making my wife happy lol. I can't put a heater in their bin either I don't have is submersible and a back hanging on wont reach the water.
I need theories about what might have happened, and ideas about what to do next. This is sad, and crazy.
I am not a beginner at keeping fish but I certainly don't know it all either. I have two 55 gallon tanks, three 75 gallon tanks, a 40 gallon for cichlid fry, and a 30 for cichlid fry, and a 20 long with dividers for bettas.
The one I'm having trouble with is a 35 gallon I drilled with a 20 gallon long sump under it. It also has an 8 gallon tank for fry or sickly fish that also drains into the sump. I use flagstone in a lot of my tanks and have never had a problem. This one had flagstone and some rocks I brought home from a camping trip. At one time it was just flagstone but I took a lot of it out to put in a larger aquarium.
It has several house plants growing with their roots in the sump which helps keep things clean. I did a lot of research to figure out which plants were safe. Ill look up their names if needed. The return pump feeds through cpvc water line painted with black krylon fusion paint, a set up i have used on several tanks for years with no problems.
In the sump I have a second pump for a spray bar that keeps the water surface nice and agitated as it moves through the sump.
Ok, a few weeks ago i came home from work and noticed my entire batch of fuelleborni fry that were in the 8 gallon until i could figure out what to do with them were dead. They had been fine that morning. I also had a dead fish in the main tank. I tested my water and found everything to be perfect but decided to do a water change anyway. The filter section of the sump looked a little dirty so i took all the media out (sponge, bio-media for aquaclear 110, carbon, and plastic pot scrubbers) rinsed it all in tank water, cleaned out the compartment completely and put it all back together.
Everything was fine for a couple of weeks until suddenly half the fish in my display and 3 one inch yellow labs in the sump were dead. I did a big water change, 90% or so, even though the water tested fine. I removed all of the rocks from the camping trip even though i have some in another tank that has had no problems.
This tank has been up and running for two years or so and currently had several mbuna and one victorian that were all just big sissies and too docile for the tanks they had been in. Beautiful fish that all got along great once i removed them from the other tanks. They had been in this tank for months and I was getting ready to do something else with them since the tank was slightly crowded but with regular water changes everything was fine.
So all that was left was six fish in the display tank, nothing in the sump or the 8 gallon. I disconected the 8 gallon since it was empty and i thought the contaminant might be in there. Just hours after the water change the remaining fish were starting to look good again. They had been floating at the top gasping breath like ammonia or nitrate poisoning but the water tested fine.
I was so worried i even got up in the middle of the night to come check and they were even better than they had been when i went to bed. Same story that morning when i got up for work.
I came home yesterday and they looked like death. One of them even looked like it had some sort of fin rot going on, all were at different stages of dying but I thought i could save them. I quickly set up a big plastic storage container in the living room and put fresh water in it. A few hours after putting the fish in the plastic bin all but one were fine again. One did not make it, the one with the fin rot looking business going on.
What ever happened contaminated nearly 55 gallons of water over night. I cant decide what to do. I've tested the water again just to make sure I didn't get false readings I used a different testing set up and if i didn't know better I'd say the tank is great and ready for fish.
If i take it all down I dont know what to reuse when i set it back up. I have no idea what could have caused this and I am even scared to use the pumps again as silly as that is. I have to do something though, the fish are in a bin in the living room which isn't making my wife happy lol. I can't put a heater in their bin either I don't have is submersible and a back hanging on wont reach the water.
I need theories about what might have happened, and ideas about what to do next. This is sad, and crazy.
