[tegra1027]

I am running a low tech 55 gallon. I found a dead corydora yesterday and one that wasn't doing too well. I removed the dead one and I moved the one that wasn't well to a quarantine tank.

Water parameters were not perfect but not terrible either. I assume the a little bit of ammonia was from the dead corydora.

I did a 50% water change, dosed with prime, also turn the UV light on the sun sun canister filter.

The next day I came home to cloudy water. I dost a little more prime as well as some AccuClear. Everything was looking good by the time I went to bed.

Why do you think the water got so cloudy?

Also, I'm not sure what happened to the Cory's... I do have an appistogram pair in the tank however, they are pretty calm and friendly and was told that they would not bother Cory's.

TIA

 

[evil8]

Why do you think the water got so cloudy?

Just a guess, but I'd bet the ammonia spike killed off some beneficial bacteria and started a mini-cycle. It's happened to me before.

 

[tegra1027]

Just a guess, but I'd bet the ammonia spike killed off some beneficial bacteria and started a mini-cycle. It's happened to me before.

Yeah, I suppose that is most likely. For sake of understanding, would ammonia kill off the BB or does it mean that there isn't enough BB to keep up with that extra ammonia?

 

[evil8]

Yeah, I suppose that is most likely. For sake of understanding, would ammonia kill off the BB or does it mean that there isn't enough BB to keep up with that extra ammonia?

Sorry, I've been up since 3AM for the second day in a row.... There isn't enough BB to keep up and convert the extra ammonia. If this IS the case the cloudiness is free floating bacteria and normally settles in a day or 2.

 

[malfist]

Just a guess, but I'd bet the ammonia spike killed off some beneficial bacteria and started a mini-cycle. It's happened to me before.

That isn't how the nitrogen cycle works. Ammonia is food for the beneficial bacteria. Even in really high concentrations, ammonia is not bactericidal. With some fancy chemistry you can convert ammonia into quarternary ammonium compounds which are bactericidal, but that's not going to happen in an aquarium.

How long has the tank been running with fish? Have you completed your cycle in general? Do you have nitrates or nitrites? Did you do anything recently that would increase the bioload in the aquarium?

The reading of ammonia after the fish death could be from the fish itself, or it could be what killed the fish. Have you seen bubbles hanging around near the surface of your aquarium?

Cloudy water usually has one of three causes, it's from algae (unlikely in this case), from sediment suspended in the water column, or a bacterial bloom.

Sediment in the water column can happen after disturbing the substrate, this can sometimes happen with a water change.
Bacterial blooms happen when something is off balance with the nitrogen cycle, like a sudden increase in bioload (like more ammonia) or something killing off your bacteria like a medicine.

Flocculants (like accuclear) should rarely be used in the aquarium, arguably never. They will only help with the sediment caused cloudiness, which will go away on it's own in a few hours without the need of a chemical doing who knows what else in the aquarium.

If the cloudiness did not come back it's likely that it was just from some substrate disturbance after a water change, however, bacterial blooms tend to go away on their own too in a couple of days.

If the cloudiness comes back without a water change, you can know it's a bacterial bloom. It's typically recommended to not do water changes until it's resolved, but I'd say the presence of ammonia overrides that.

Keep doing water changes as long as you read ammonia, keep in mind the api ammonia test can show 0.25ppm without there actually being any in the aquarium. If you can, increase surface agitation or add a bubbler to the aquarium. If you're growing bacteria you want to make sure they're not consuming all the oxygen.

One other thing to keep in mind as well, prime locked away ammonia is in the form of ammonium and will still show up on tests as ammonia. If you have chloromines in your tap, they get split into chroline and ammonia before being detoxed by prime, and then that ammonia is converted to ammonium as well. So you might see more ammonia after a water change but it should be ammonium and consumed by your BB before becoming a problem.

 

[evil8]

Ammonia is food for the beneficial bacteria. Even in really high concentrations, ammonia is not bactericidal.

See my second post correction.

 

[tegra1027]

That isn't how the nitrogen cycle works. Ammonia is food for the beneficial bacteria. Even in really high concentrations, ammonia is not bactericidal. With some fancy chemistry you can convert ammonia into quarternary ammonium compounds which are bactericidal, but that's not going to happen in an aquarium.

How long has the tank been running with fish? Have you completed your cycle in general? Do you have nitrates or nitrites? Did you do anything recently that would increase the bioload in the aquarium?

The reading of ammonia after the fish death could be from the fish itself, or it could be what killed the fish. Have you seen bubbles hanging around near the surface of your aquarium?

Cloudy water usually has one of three causes, it's from algae (unlikely in this case), from sediment suspended in the water column, or a bacterial bloom.

Sediment in the water column can happen after disturbing the substrate, this can sometimes happen with a water change.
Bacterial blooms happen when something is off balance with the nitrogen cycle, like a sudden increase in bioload (like more ammonia) or something killing off your bacteria like a medicine.

Flocculants (like accuclear) should rarely be used in the aquarium, arguably never. They will only help with the sediment caused cloudiness, which will go away on it's own in a few hours without the need of a chemical doing who knows what else in the aquarium.

If the cloudiness did not come back it's likely that it was just from some substrate disturbance after a water change, however, bacterial blooms tend to go away on their own too in a couple of days.

If the cloudiness comes back without a water change, you can know it's a bacterial bloom. It's typically recommended to not do water changes until it's resolved, but I'd say the presence of ammonia overrides that.

Keep doing water changes as long as you read ammonia, keep in mind the api ammonia test can show 0.25ppm without there actually being any in the aquarium. If you can, increase surface agitation or add a bubbler to the aquarium. If you're growing bacteria you want to make sure they're not consuming all the oxygen.

One other thing to keep in mind as well, prime locked away ammonia is in the form of ammonium and will still show up on tests as ammonia. If you have chloromines in your tap, they get split into chroline and ammonia before being detoxed by prime, and then that ammonia is converted to ammonium as well. So you might see more ammonia after a water change but it should be ammonium and consumed by your BB before becoming a problem.

I added the 5 Corys about a week and a half ago with no issues. So, yes there was a bio load addition but I assume I would have seen an issue in the cycle sooner. Please correct me if not. The tank has been running fabulously for several months with no issues. I EI fertilize, so there is a nitrite/nitrate reading, but from what I know they aren't harmful. I don't know if there is way to decipher if those readings are from ferts or a crashing cycle though.

I didn't notice any bubbles. It did clear up and has not clouded back yet... I have good surface agitation but that is good to know about adding more oxygen if there is a bacterial bloom. I have to admit, I rarely have to deal with issues and I kind of panicked due to my ignorance on it.

The water change did not effect the substrate at all, so I know that isn't effecting anything here.

Thank you for your wealth of knowledge and taking the time to share it with me.

 

[malfist]

You have both nitrate and nitrite? A cycled tank should only have one. Several months is still a pretty young tank, but it should be stable enough to take in 5 more corys without an issue unless you only had like a few shrimp in there before.

If you're certain that you didn't disturb the substrate when you pumped water back in, then it was probably just some bacteria growth. Unusual, but nothing to worry about after its passed. If it comes back, you should be able to just wait it out.

If I were you, I'd monitor my ammonia for a couple of days and make sure it stays at 0 and just write off the fish loss as stress from the LFS/supplier.

 

[Bootsy]

Yeah, you shouldn’t be getting nitrite from ferts. It‘s very toxic to fish. If you’ve got detectable levels of nitrite, that would support the mini cycle theory. More water changes with Prime until things get back in balance is good advice.