Changed to sand...now I am bummin'

[twoodrough]

Changed to sand on a Saturday. Did water changes on Monday and Thursday because I was worried about quality after removing the gravel. Lost one fish. Was gone for the weekend. Did a regular water change and clean on Monday. Lost another fish today. Neither showed signs of having problems before the end. I have another fish that seems to have issues but she is hanging around.

I rinsed the sand 8 times before using it. It was premium play sand that was just out of the bag. Wonder if something was in there.

Going to have the water tested tomorrow to see if something is going on. But I am bummin' to lose 2 fish in a week after deciding to make a big change on the tank. And, worried about losing a third. I only had six to start.

 

[Bbarb27]

Sorry about the loss of your fish.

Good to get your water tested and know your parameters. You might have had a mini cycle/spike in ammonia when you removed the gravel, which could be followed by a spike in nitrite.

 

[Cynic]

Sorry about the loss of your fish.

Good to get your water tested and know your parameters. You might have had a mini cycle/spike in ammonia when you removed the gravel, which could be followed by a spike in nitrite.

This is the mostly likely reason, particularly if you have a small tank with a HOB filter instead of a canister filter.

 

[shellieca]

Changed to sand on a Saturday. Did water changes on Monday and Thursday because I was worried about quality after removing the gravel. Lost one fish. Was gone for the weekend. Did a regular water change and clean on Monday. Lost another fish today. Neither showed signs of having problems before the end. I have another fish that seems to have issues but she is hanging around.

I rinsed the sand 8 times before using it. It was premium play sand that was just out of the bag. Wonder if something was in there.

Going to have the water tested tomorrow to see if something is going on. But I am bummin' to lose 2 fish in a week after deciding to make a big change on the tank. And, worried about losing a third. I only had six to start.

Hmmm that's odd as many people have made the change with no problems. Did you take the fish out before the change? I take it you don't have your own water test kit since you say you're taking it to get tested. I'd suggest getting one. How often did you do a good gravel vacs? I've heard that sometimes things can get stirred up, gases released & cause problems when good deep vacuuming isn't done regularly & then one is done on the whole tank. I'm just throwing things out there so no offense meant.

 

[twoodrough]

50% changes every 6 days with gravel. One side each week. Pretty deep with the vacuum. Feedings every other day. Flakes, pellets, blood worms, then clean. Tests with the gravel had nitrates less than 10. Things were good. I got antsy but could not afford to do a new tank so thought I would try sand. I do like the look but will never know for sure if it was the thing to cause problems.

 

[Convict2161]

You most likely stirred ALOT of debris up during the change and caused a mini cycle or at the least a spike in ammonia, trates etc.. Just keep up on water changes at least 50% and get that water tested. Maybe invest in your own kit there cheap online. API master test kit.

I'm willing to bet you just stirred up a lot of crap. It will all settle and you'll be ok. Sorry for the 2 losses though.

I lost a fish when I switched over to sand. It can be stressful to a fish. Did you take the fish out? What kind of fish?

Have you cleaned your filtration? It good be loaded with debris and sand.

 

[twoodrough]

I left the fish in thinking it would be less stressful for them that way. Might have been wrong. If my water tests okay I am going to blame stress and resulting infections. The danio was pretty bloated. But not the platy...hmmm.

The lost fish were a sunset wag platy and a zebra danio. The danio was older but had been through several tank changes and two bouts of ich. The platy I had for about 4 months.

It is not fun but I move on. Fish die, you get sad, then you get more.