Tank Disaster Help!

[Jsarita68]

Well I had a disaster in my tank two days ago. I did a 25% water change/ cleaning and then accidentally dosed my tank with PraziPro instead of Flourish. Then I panicked because I thought the PraziPro might kill my biofilter and my snails so I did a 50% water change, used water out of my tap dosed with Prime but clearly not the right temperature 'cause my 3 Platy fish went into shock and unfortunately passed away rather quickly. The 3 Nerite snails fell to the bottom of the tank and I left them there, right side up, just incase they survived. The next day two of the snails were cursing around the tank. One was still in the place where I put it. I picked it up and it didn't smell, the trap was shut and it didn't fall out so I am assuming it's still alive. I tested my and found PH 8.2, .5 ammonia, .5 nitrites and 5 nitrates. My tanks was cycled before the disaster but now that is not the case. I did a 25% water change, tested again an hour or so later and the readings were the same except the PH went to 8. After the water change snail no. 2 fell to the bottom of the tank and I placed it right side up. I put a capful of Dr.Tim's Nitrifying Bacteria and left the tank alone. Today I tested my tank again and got the same readings with the PH at 8.2. I put in 3 capfuls of Dr. Tim's. Also I found one of the "dormant" snails upside down, smelled it -no smell, trap shut and didn't fall out, flipped it right side up again. I put 1/4 algae tab to tempt snails to come out. No luck. One snail seems to be doing fine. How can I recover from this? How do I regain my biofilter and keep my one snail alive? Are the other two dead? Kicking myself for sure. Thanks! ~J


Tank Info: 7/7/15
13 gallon widescreen coved tank
Quietflow 10 filter
Sand and gravel substrate
One large piece of driftwood purchased from LFS It came out of their tank.
Plants- Dwarf Sagitaria, Watersprite, dying guppy grass
Heater
Tank temp 81
1 possibly 3 Nerite Snails
8.2 PH, .5 Ammonia, .5 Nitrites, 5 Nitrates

 

[Coryluv]

Welcome to AA.

You recover with water changes, water tests, Prime, and patience. You dose Dr Tims according to instructions if you want to use it to help re establish the bio filter. As you already know you are doing a fish in mini cycle at this point.

Watch and wait on the snails. I'm so sorry for your losses.

If you haven't already, put your meds like PraziPro in a separate place from your ferts. Always take a second to look at the bottle. I can't tell you the times I've almost put in Seachem Nitrogen instead of Excel. The bottles are similar. Get in the habit of looking at and smelling whatever you are putting in the tank. Prime and Excel have distinct odors. That Nitrogen I've almost misdosed is blue instead of clear. I've never used PraziPro but I doubt it looks or smells like Flourish which is yellowish brown and has to me a slightly metallic smell.

Best wishes. When it settles out replace your losses and move on. We all make mistakes.

 

[Jsarita68]

I really don't know what to do from here. I haven't gotten any new fish as there is ammonia and nitrites in my tank. Should I use Prime once a day to make it not toxic to the snails and do 25% daily water changes ? Should I wait until the ammonia and nitrites are at 0 to get new fish? ( just 2 to start off with) Right now my readings are at 0-.25 ammonia, 1 nitrite and, 5 nitrates. Any help would be great. Thanks!

 

[MissGurnus]

Prazipro is not harmful to your fish unless you over dosed by 200%. Likely your ammonia is high from the recent deaths and stress your tank is under. I agree with cory luv, separate your chemicals based on use, in the past i have panicked and inadvertently done more harm than the actual issue. It's hard but always try and keep calm. Im sorry for your losses


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[MissGurnus]

Also your bio filter should still be working and healthy just maybe shocked. Id let the tank rest for a bit and test your parameters regularly to keep on top of what's going on


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[Coryluv]

Yes, you definitely want nitrites and ammonia at 0 before getting more fish. You also want to see some nitrate (10 to 20 ppm) to show that your biofilter is actually working.

It shouldn't take that long. A mini cycle just means that your bio filter needs to catch up with the nitrites and ammonia in your tank. Water changes are better than using Prime, but Prime can help when levels are too high and it's better than losing livestock.

So just give everything a chance to settle down before getting more fish, and then add fish gradually.

 

[Jsarita68]

Thanks! I did a 25% water change on July 6th and one today because even though my ammonia went from .25 to in-between 0 and .25 and the nitrite went up from .5 to 1. It does seem like it's cycling. I am expecting to see slightly higher nitrates soon. I guess my concern is that when ammonia hits 0 what are the bacteria going to eat? Also, every time I do a water change one sail climbs out of the water and the other one shuts it's trap and sinks to the bottom of the tank. Is this normal behavior for Nerite snails or am I doing something wrong with the water change that they don't like? The third snail still hasn't come out of it's shell since the original disaster. Not smelling yet and when I gently pushed on its trap with a wet Q-tip it seemed to shrink back into the shell and when I left it alone for a bit it seemed to go back to the original position. Could just be wishful thinking on my part. I really appreciate your responses and the sharing of your wisdom. Someday, I hope to have enough experience to help out a newbie!

 

[Coryluv]

Your snails will provide waste to keep the cycle going until you add fish even with the ammonia reading zero.

Sounds like your third snail is probably still alive. If it is dead it will eventually fall completely out of its shell.