Urgent Tank Crash!

[rcsguy]

Today I decided to change the sand in my 10g freshwater since I had some white sand laying around and I liked the look of it better. I siphoned the sand out and put water back in, and I noticed all my fish stressed to death. There has been one fish death so far, and looks like more. And then the worst part is: I look at the sand and its aragonite from my nano reef and will make the pH too high for my fish! Will using this sand kill off what I have left , including my cherry shrimp?

dwarf gourami, cories, RCS,ADF

 

[The_Desacrator]

Yeah a lot of the bacteria you need to sustain the chemical balances in your tank reside in your substrate. Taking it all out was a bad idea. Also if it came from a saltwater tank that might be the problem as well.

 

[Fresh2o]

I would remove the newly added sand. You can go bare bottom until you figure out what substrate you want to use.


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[Brookster123]

Yeah a lot of the bacteria you need to sustain the chemical balances in your tank reside in your substrate. Taking it all out was a bad idea. Also if it came from a saltwater tank that might be the problem as well.

Meh.. not so much. I believe a well cycled filter can maintain a tanks cycle. How would you explain successful bare bottom tanks?

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[Exigenn]

Were the fish in the water when you did this or did you remove them? Im tired so ignore me if i missed it lol.

 

[rcsguy]

Yeah a lot of the bacteria you need to sustain the chemical balances in your tank reside in your substrate. Taking it all out was a bad idea. Also if it came from a saltwater
tank that might be the problem as well.

Bad idea yep. The sand was never actually in the salt tank, it was just leftover. It's not specifically marine as it can be used for cichlids as well, but it's for bringing up the pH really high.

I would remove the newly added sand. You can go bare bottom until you figure out what substrate you want to use.


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I haven't added the sand yet so it's bare bottom currently. I'll see what I can do today.

Were the fish in the water when you did this or did you remove them? Im tired so ignore me if i missed it lol.

I should've also mentioned that yes, I stupidly did not take the fish out of the tank. Last night was full of bad ideas haha

 

[rcsguy]

edit: didn't mean to post

 

[PB_Smith]

Today I decided to change the sand in my 10g freshwater since I had some white sand laying around and I liked the look of it better. I siphoned the sand out and put water back in, and I noticed all my fish stressed to death. There has been one fish death so far, and looks like more. And then the worst part is: I look at the sand and its aragonite from my nano reef and will make the pH too high for my fish! Will using this sand kill off what I have left , including my cherry shrimp?

dwarf gourami, cories, RCS,ADF

Depending on how long the tank has been setup, disturbing the substrate can cause very quick death of the inhabitants.
If it has been setup for months and the substrate has been essentially undisturbed, there is a good chance that you disturbed pockets of anaerobic bacteria which can release hydrogen sulfide gas into the water.

was there any black or gray patches in the substrate?
did you notice any bubbles coming from the substrate when you disturbed it or a slight rotten egg smell?
By using a gravel vac regularly, you can prevent this, or by having a very heavily planted tank.

and yes, it wouldn't be wise to use aragonite sand unless you are keeping Mollies or African cichlids.

 

[rcsguy]

Depending on how long the tank has been setup, disturbing the substrate can cause very quick death of the inhabitants.
If it has been setup for months and the substrate has been essentially undisturbed, there is a good chance that you disturbed pockets of anaerobic bacteria which can release hydrogen sulfide gas into the water.

was there any black or gray patches in the substrate?
did you notice any bubbles coming from the substrate when you disturbed it or a slight rotten egg smell?
By using a gravel vac regularly, you can prevent this, or by having a very heavily planted tank.

and yes, it wouldn't be wise to use aragonite sand unless you are keeping Mollies or African cichlids.

thanks for responding. The tank was pretty heavily planted before, but I got rid of a lot but it's still moderately planted I'd say. Yes, the sand did have a bad smell to it, so that must've been what happened. I'll go out and buy some regular sand tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[gilpi]

I'm probably late to the discussion... Aragonite probably brought the ph levels up.
Removing the old sand had nothing to do with what happened since most or all of your beneficial bacteria resides in your filter.
If you like white sand, pool filter sand is very cheap. I did a full change in my 55 gallon African cichlid tank and it really looks good with the white sand, the only disadvantage is that you'll have a lot of sand left over. I think I paid something like 12$ for a 50 lbs bag.


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