[29gallon]

I just switched my 29 gallon tank to plants. After a week of my plants doing fine, I decided to go with a DIY CO2 system. I think my problem was that i had the tube inside the bottle go the bottom (ie inside the sugar/yeast/water solution) After about half a day, the tank got pretty cloudy; I guess some of the solution went into the tank. I disconected the CO2 system from the tank, but the tank just got cloudier. It's now been about a day and a half: almost all the fish a re dead, I assume all the plants are dead, the tank is cloudy as ever. I have already changed about 20 gallons of water at this point, but the tank still looks like a wreck. At this point, I just want to start at the begining, with a clean tank. How do I get rid of this mess?

 

[Philosophos]

For future reference, It's generally a good idea to have an overflow bottle between the tank and the DIY CO2.

Overhaul time then... personally I'd be obsessive after getting that nasty mess in your tank. Pull everything out of the tank, rinse the substrate, put it back in, and start over. Even give your filter media a clean. Start a tank like you would any other with seeded media; keep an eye on the NH4/NO2 if you've got a low plant density.

i'm only advising to go this far because there's no way of knowing where the sodium bicarb is sitting in your tank, slowly leeching away. With that yeast added, you've basically got a bacterial bloom as well that wouldn't hurt to eliminate completely.

-Philosophos

 

[RipariumGuy]

Welcome to TPT!
I suggest cleaning the tank and equipment with a solution of water and bleach. If you want to totaly start over, clean everthing in the tank (IE: rockwork, subtrate, ECT) with the solution, then wash thoroughly. Although this will obviously kill all good bacteria, it will make sure you dont have any chemical or yeast mixture problems.

Lots of people here are very knowledgable, and can help. To help you figure out what happend with you last tank, please post you tank's specs, (equipment, subtrate, flora, fuana, ECT). This can help people alot when helping you diagnos problems and giving suggestions.

Hope this helps!

 

[hydrophyte]

Bleach will actually leave a chlorine residue that is difficult to remove--you don't want that in your tank either.

I think that I would just clean everything off with regular tap water. If you really want to disinfect it, which might not be necessary, you could use white vinegar.

 

[RipariumGuy]

Bleach will actually leave a chlorine residue that is difficult to remove--you don't want that in your tank either.

Never knew that! I had heard of several people here suggest bleach, or is that just me? Sorry for the miss info!:redface:

 

[hydrophyte]

If the chlorine soaks into plastic or rocks or wood it can only be removed again with a chemical dechlorinator, such as Seachem Prime.

 

[bradac56]

I wouldn't recommend bleach anymore to many people have had problems rinsing it completely out of the tank/equipment and have had problems. I'd recommend Potassium Permanganate to those that feel comfortable using an oxidizer or white vinegar to those that don't tho that's going to take 3x the amount of elbow grease.

- Brad

 

[taxbirsap]

I accept with informationull everything of the tank, rinse the substrate, put it back in, and start over. Even give your filter media a clean. Start a tank like you would any other with seeded media; keep an eye on the NH4/NO2 if you've got a low plant density.