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Fed up, need help!

2K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  Crimson 
#1 · (Edited)
So ready to throw this tank away.
I love fish tanks, and have never had such a fail at them before :frown:
But this one has just been a nightmare since the beginning...
thank you for those you read and help!

Tank specs
45x30x45 cm do! Aqua, ada. Tank (15gallons)
Light, tried 3- finnex planted +, ecoxotice series, and then a ada aquasky knock off. Now I'm stuck with my planted+
Filter, zoomed 501
Heater, small 15watt, temp always at 25c
Substrate, ada Amazonia, and powers and underneath.
Stones, seryui
I use prime for water changes.
Ferts, aquavitro
Co2, was using at first. Small pressurized system. But stopped about 2 weeks ago, ran outta funds for more cartridges, and it wasn't helping anyway.
Photoperiod. 7-8 hours.
With moonlight for 1 hour at end
Following tropica new stank start up quide. Water changes every few days. Slowing down as it matured.

Dry start, fail. After 7 weeks of waiting
After filling plants uprooting and then couldn't get them to root again
Drained and bought more plants
Rescaped, filled and plants starting melting and died from deficiency
Sigh..
Bough more plants rescaped again.
Filled for about 2 weeks, again plants started to melt, but the tank was cycled and doing ok otherwise.
*was using pressurized co2 at the beginning but in the last2 weeks stopped since it wasn't doing anything anyways, and I ran outta cartridges and I'm running out of money**
Added some Oto cats, corys, and a few Amano shrimp
2 weeks later I decided to add my baby shrimp and 5 neons from smaller tank.
Then all hell broke loose!

The next day after adding the baby shrimp and 5 neons my water clouded up. Did a water change 50% and then tested levels. Holy crap, everything had spiked!
And water was even more cloudy
I lost 25 baby shrimp and a oto cat and 2 corys over the next 3 days.

Water continued to get cloudier so I kept doing 50% water changes, and it helped for about an hour, then it gets sol cloudy I can't even see in tank.
I can actually see the haze in the water moving.
Over the last 4 days I've done 3 50% water changes.
I've stopped ferts and just been using prime, cycle conditioner, and stresszyme.
Lighting period has been cut to 6 hours.

Tried cleaning out my filter, since it was quite dirty yesterday.
It was rinsed and tubes were cleaned.
Tank looked promising it was clear for about 3 hours...and then back to very cloudy.
The levels or ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are off the charts, and highest reading on my API card.
Have not been able to get them down.

HELP! I dont know what to do:eek5::icon_ques

The picture below, is today, it's a tiny bit less cloudy, but still bad.
My fish left don't look really stressed, but still red gills. My baby shrimp that are left are taken out and put in small glass jar for now
 

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#2 · (Edited)
Melting?

Up close
Stargyune ( sorry spelled wrong?)
It keeps dyeing off,
Put in my other tank, and it was fine, transferred back, did this almost overnight!

The leaves almost melt, turn brown and dissolve.
My monte carlo in the front is almost see through on some leaves. And not growing roots.
 

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#3 · (Edited)
These are my fertilizers

Should also say

The cloudy water and water condition spikes never happen before when tank was filled. Over 2 months not including the 7 weeks it was dry started.
All levels read normal. And the cloudy hazing water only happened once I added 5 neons, and 40 pin head baby cherry shrimp.
But I really don't believe that was a large bio load I added?
Confused and frustrated :icon_eek:
 

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#6 ·
Well it was dry started for 7 weeks. And total time flooded was 2 months

Bump:
That much light, no co2=algae galore. Don't know previous problem but u have nothing but an algae farm in the works right now. Raise the light or a full cover of floaters is needed if your not going to start the co2 again. I know it can be frustrated but your conditions right now favor algae, not plants.
What started the hazy water was the addition of fish and subsequent ammonia that is causing a mini cycle.
Ok didn't think the planted + was a high light led? Was thinking the par was for medium output?
So the cloudy outbreak is algae? I've never had algae other then green coating before.
So if I reintroduce co2 this may help?

Any ideas on the plants? Just to much light?

I so surprised that adding the 5 extra neons and pin head baby shrimp would be a large enough addition to make a mink cycle sigh :icon_cry:
 
#5 ·
That much light, no co2=algae galore. Don't know previous problem but u have nothing but an algae farm in the works right now. Raise the light or a full cover of floaters is needed if your not going to start the co2 again. I know it can be frustrated but your conditions right now favor algae, not plants.
What started the hazy water was the addition of fish and subsequent ammonia that is causing a mini cycle.
 
#7 ·
It actually bacteria suspended in the water, not algae, yet...I have 1 planted plus on my 65g, 21" above substrate and grow stauregen repens, alt Reinecke, fissedens. I still battle algae on the top 6/7" of my tank.
You need to choose what you want. High light/ co2 and high learning curve or low light/no co2( with a few options in between. ). I would start by raising light around 18" above substrate. Slow down growth, slow down algae. Give the plants a chance to compete. Keep up with water changes until readings are normal, keep up with ferts. Focus on your plants. Make sure they have everything they need in excess except light.
 
#9 ·
So if I start up co2 again, and cut down my lighting period this should work?
I'm not able to suspend the light our ceiling will not work for it.

If I fill up the tank with more plants will this help the bacteria get used? Or filter out the nitrates nitrites etc.

So water changes then keep doing 50% each day?
Also the ferts I was concerned that adding extra nitrogen and ammonia etc would just add to my spike in water perimeters, is this not true?


Thanks!

Bump:
Hey Emplanted,

May I know what is the condition of your water at BC ?
As I see you're using the Alk. Buffer, is your tap water on the low pH side ?
Yes it's quite low we're I am in burnaby bc.
As it is always reading low on the6- 6.2 side.
 
#10 ·
So interesting update

Just finished a water test
Ammonia 6
Ph 6.0
Nitrite and nitrate are 0

But it's still cloudy since yesterday. No change on that
It's a tiny bit better looking, I can see through

So then what's my game plan?
Add co2
Add all my ferts
And keep doing large water changes daily, for ammonia levels?
Oh and should I add some large stem plants to eat up bacteria

Bump: Also, would adding an airstone for after the lights go off, be a good thing, added oxygen?
 
#11 · (Edited)
Ammonia 6!!!! Hopefully no fish in there. If you can't raise the light you will need to get your co2 going ASAP. If I were you I would go to your lfs and buy all of their anarchis and just let it float. Let it suck up all the bad stuff. Keep up on water changes. Keep ammonia under 3 if no fish, under .5 if fish in.
Whatever happened your tank is not cycled as of right now. Plants will help, patience will help more, water changes will help the most.
I know it's more money but there is a product called tetra safe start that will speed up your cycle. About $10 to save any remaining fish and plants from ammonia burn.
Ps..why the alkaline buffer and equilibrium? R u using ro water?
 
#12 · (Edited)
There's 5 neons and a 3 oto cats and 2 corys:frown:
Sadly they have nowhere to gol I sold my other tank already.

Ok co2 tomorrow, sigh more money lol
Recommended like 3 bps?
And I'll keep,on large water changes. I have ammonia block should I be adding this?
Is there anything I can do for the fish in the meantime?

Argh I feel like the Amazonian soil is more trouble then I thought, I know it leaks ammonia but sheesh :icon_roll

Thanks for the help :)

Bump:
Ammonia 6!!!! Hopefully no fish in there. If you can't raise the light you will need to get your co2 going ASAP. If I were you I would go to your lfs and buy all of their anarchis and just let it float. Let it suck up all the bad stuff. Keep up on water changes. Keep ammonia under 3 if no fish, under .5 if fish in.
Whatever happened your tank is not cycled as of right now. Plants will help, patience will help more, water changes will help the most.
I know it's more money but there is a product called tetra safe start that will speed up your cycle. About $10 to save any remaining fish and plants from ammonia burn.
I couldn't find the tetra one at my LFS, but I did get some cycle from nutrifin
 
#13 ·
Unfortunately safe start is the only one really trusted but can't hurt. I m not familiar with ammonia block but u need to use something to bind ammonia and leave it for your bio filter. Another option is to find someone nearby with filter mum you can use to jump start your filter. It could come at a price of other diseases but ammonia 6 is gonna kill fish very very fast. I'm sorry, your in a real tough spot. Your lfs could even give you filter mum but the amount of diseases in that, well, I don't want to think about that. A fellow hobbyist in your area on here or look on craigslist.
Lots and lots of water changes I see in your future. Good luck.
I can't really recommend a bps for your co2, just dial it up slowly over days until your fish shows signs of distress and back it back down. With all these water changes ferts should not be an issue, so don't waste them until you r showing nitrates.
 
#14 ·
So big WC tonight. Just finished about an hour ago. Added my nutrifin cycle, prime and some ammonia lock.
75%
ammonia test just now it's .25

See what it's like tomorrow!

On a plus side
Fed the neons some food they gobbled it up. While doing the WC. Then the corys got the leftovers
So they must be ok if they are eating lol :)
 
#16 ·
Just another option is to buy a cheap Rubbermaid container and swap the fish. You currently actually have two problems. A tank that is cycling and fish in there. . Take the fish and heater out(if it's an option) and address each problem separately where each action you take relates directly to the problem. Keeping fish in slows down the cycle considerably because you need to keep ammonia levels down for the fish. With the Amazonia soil it will be much harder to keep conditions safe for the fish then in a bare bottom container of sorts that can be controlled very easily(what goes in stays in the system, only ammonia would be from food verse the Amazonia soil contributing constantly and uncontrollably) then when your tank is cycled, put everything else away(a good excuse for a QT tank btw, but the Rubbermaid containers go for under $8)
 
#19 ·
Equilibrium contains very little of the basic nutrients, so it doesn't overdose nutrients. Even if it did, overdosing nutrients doesn't lead to algae in a planted tank. This is proven many times a day by the thousands of people who use the EI fertilizing method
 
#18 ·
Nope I stop the equilibrium. Only used it when I have shrimp in the tank.

I was thinking it's a bacteria overblown mess too... Not that it's not cycled. So I stopped everything but prime and doing daily WC still.
Ammonia is slowwwwwely dropping.
 
#20 ·
6 ammonia and your fish are still alive? Are you sure that test kit is still working correct?
Plus 1 to whoever said about rising light and lowering photoperiod to 6 hours, if you have a timer you can make it 3 hours with 2 hours siesta and 3 hours of light again. Definitely add more fast nutrient uptakers (wisteria, hornwort, fanwort, cabomba etc). Also what did you EXACTLY use in your substrate and how did you use it? Sounds more like something wrong with your substrate bed then anything else to me.
 
#21 ·
It's new bag if Amazonia ada. I know it leaches ammonia during cycle.
Photo period cut
It's a new API test kit.
There are only a few Otos and Cory's at the moment. They are doing fine thankfully

Update....

Added co2 back!
Waterchanges 50% everyday. Ammonia still at 6
But cloudy ness has not come back.
Added some bylxa and a bushy unknown stem plant for now will get id if after. It's just floating at the moment.

So I guess it's a waiting game now...
 
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