Help! Baffleing tank development.

[Beebe]

My boss has a 55 gallon tank. Just recently he did a 70 percent water change I told him this was too much water to change all at once when doing the water change he added about 6 teaspoons of aquarium salt to his water the next day is tank got cloudy half of his fish died. The next two days after that A clearish Brown mucus begin to form on the bottom of his tank now it seems anytime a fish touchs this mucus it dies within 24 hours. Help we are totally confused and baffled by this development and have no idea what this could be. Pictures to come in the future just looking for ideas right now

 

[Cactuspixie]

My boss has a 55 gallon tank. Just recently he did a 70 percent water change I told him this was too much water to change all at once when doing the water change he added about 6 teaspoons of aquarium salt to his water the next day is tank got cloudy half of his fish died. The next two days after that A clearish Brown mucus begin to form on the bottom of his tank now it seems anytime a fish touchs this mucus it dies within 24 hours. Help we are totally confused and baffled by this development and have no idea what this could be. Pictures to come in the future just looking for ideas right now

How long had it been since he did a pwc prior to the 70% one?
Did he clean the filter/replace media?
Did he add dechlorinator to the new water, or just salt?
The clouding may be the result of a sudden die-off of beneficial bacteria. The brown 'mucus' could be diatoms (normally seen in a new tank).
The fish are dying because of the water quality, so your boss needs to get a test kit ASAP to find out what it is. Could be ph swing, ammonia poisoning, chlorine poisoning- it's highly unlikely to be anything to do with the brown stuff on the bottom.

 

[Beebe]

How long had it been since he did a pwc prior to the 70% one?
Did he clean the filter/replace media?
Did he add dechlorinator to the new water, or just salt?
The clouding may be the result of a sudden die-off of beneficial bacteria. The brown 'mucus' could be diatoms (normally seen in a new tank).
The fish are dying because of the water quality, so your boss needs to get a test kit ASAP to find out what it is. Could be ph swing, ammonia poisoning, chlorine poisoning- it's highly unlikely to be anything to do with the brown stuff on the bottom.

Yes he did all the nessicary de chlorination and filter cleaning . And as I said the fish are fine till they swim in the gunk .... all his angels are fine at the top only one swam to the bottom. This is no new tank. He has been a hobbist for years and so have I but neither of us have seen a mucus type substance likr this. I wish I had pics. And itb was 4 months since his last pwc and the mucus is almost a pink kinda fleshy colored. Could it have something to do with his watersoftner water.....?.... but if so y now and not 3 years ago when he moved to this new house..?

Ill check on the ph test I suggested that but he may not have done it yet.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Yes he did all the nessicary de chlorination and filter cleaning . And as I said the fish are fine till they swim in the gunk .... all his angels are fine at the top only one swam to the bottom. This is no new tank. He has been a hobbist for years and so have I but neither of us have seen a mucus type substance likr this. I wish I had pics. And itb was 4 months since his last pwc and the mucus is almost a pink kinda fleshy colored. Could it have something to do with his watersoftner water.....?.... but if so y now and not 3 years ago when he moved to this new house..?

Ill check on the ph test I suggested that but he may not have done it yet.

4 months is a very long time between water changes. With a 70% pwc after 4 months, *and* cleaning the filter, you may be dealing with 'old tank syndrome'.

 

[Cactuspixie]

Also, have you tried vacuuming it out? You could try taking a sample to your LFS.

 

[Beebe]

Also, have you tried vacuuming it out? You could try taking a sample to your LFS.

Yeah good idea ill take a sample to the local Aquarium. Or petsmart. Never heard of old tank syndrome b4. Yes he vacumed it out from the beginning but it doubled in quantity when it came back was 1/4 in think before when it came back this time it is almost and inch thick solid across bottom.

 

[foster53]

The fish are most likely dying due to a major ph swing. 4 months between water changes and the tank water becomes acidic. It looses all it's buffering capacity, and the PH drops Then when the new water was added, it was probably a much higher PH, causing PH shock. The stuff on the bottom needs to be seen, to guess what it is.

 

[Beebe]

The fish are most likely dying due to a major ph swing. 4 months between water changes and the tank water becomes acidic. It looses all it's buffering capacity, and the PH drops Then when the new water was added, it was probably a much higher PH, causing PH shock. The stuff on the bottom needs to be seen, to guess what it is.

Yeah absolutly. Ill post a pic asap. I gotta rely on him bringing me a picture. He already told me he bringing a sample in a jar to work monday