JRagg
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I’m just sick to my stomach about this. I set up a pressurized CO2 system on Sunday. I’ve been battling BBA and Staghorn algae for months now and decided to take the next step in getting my planted tank growing well. I switched from DIY CO2 to pressurized. I was using a mist system (piped into the inlet of a powerhead) to disperse the CO2.
I was having some small issues getting the bubble rate set along the way. I would have it set and then a few hours later there would be no flow at all. I continued upping it just a little bit a couple times each day. I was running it 24 hours a day so that I could better refine the bubble count. I was shooting for 1.5-2 bubbles / second. The powerhead outlet was directed slightly upwards, so there was surface agitation. I wasn’t worried about O2 depletion, and had never seen the fish gasping at the surface.
Last night I bumped up the flow just a small amount again. I kept an eye on it for the next 10 minutes or so, and it looked normal. I went and watched a movie in the basement and when I came upstairs to go to sleep it still looked normal.
When my wife woke up this morning for work (she normally puts the cats out of the bedroom before showering so that they don’t sit outside the bathroom door and meow) she came in and told me there was something wrong with my tank. I went and looked and saw the bubble counter splashing vigorously. The powerhead was making a lot of noise. The bubble rate (more of a constant gushing flow of CO2 than bubbles) was extremely high. I looked up at the tank and saw all 4 of my fish floating belly up in the corner . I turned the CO2 way down (off) and gave them all a burial at sea. I didn’t bother testing for ppm CO2 because it would have been off of the charts.
I’m just sick to my stomach about this. This is why I quit keeping fish a few years ago. I lost 17 out of 21 then (to a freak bacterial infection). Now I lost a breeding pair of Apistos (1 successful spawn and 2 unsuccessful) and two otos that were doing very well. I’m pretty sure that my snails are dead too. The only saving grace is that I moved the “children” fish (4 apistos between ½” and 1”) to another tank two days ago with about 4 snails.
To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the tank. I may run it fishless for a while with only inverts and plants. I don't plan on putting any fish in until I'm 100% sure that I've got the CO2 set correctly.
I was having some small issues getting the bubble rate set along the way. I would have it set and then a few hours later there would be no flow at all. I continued upping it just a little bit a couple times each day. I was running it 24 hours a day so that I could better refine the bubble count. I was shooting for 1.5-2 bubbles / second. The powerhead outlet was directed slightly upwards, so there was surface agitation. I wasn’t worried about O2 depletion, and had never seen the fish gasping at the surface.
Last night I bumped up the flow just a small amount again. I kept an eye on it for the next 10 minutes or so, and it looked normal. I went and watched a movie in the basement and when I came upstairs to go to sleep it still looked normal.
When my wife woke up this morning for work (she normally puts the cats out of the bedroom before showering so that they don’t sit outside the bathroom door and meow) she came in and told me there was something wrong with my tank. I went and looked and saw the bubble counter splashing vigorously. The powerhead was making a lot of noise. The bubble rate (more of a constant gushing flow of CO2 than bubbles) was extremely high. I looked up at the tank and saw all 4 of my fish floating belly up in the corner . I turned the CO2 way down (off) and gave them all a burial at sea. I didn’t bother testing for ppm CO2 because it would have been off of the charts.
I’m just sick to my stomach about this. This is why I quit keeping fish a few years ago. I lost 17 out of 21 then (to a freak bacterial infection). Now I lost a breeding pair of Apistos (1 successful spawn and 2 unsuccessful) and two otos that were doing very well. I’m pretty sure that my snails are dead too. The only saving grace is that I moved the “children” fish (4 apistos between ½” and 1”) to another tank two days ago with about 4 snails.
To be honest, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the tank. I may run it fishless for a while with only inverts and plants. I don't plan on putting any fish in until I'm 100% sure that I've got the CO2 set correctly.