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Lower temperature will increase the amount of DO and CO2 the water able to hold on to.
Timeline of events as followed:
1. 4 days blackout without co2, fertilizer regime but dose recommended dosage of algae remover from ista
2. Chiller arrived and installed on the 5th days light on and started the pre-blackout fertilizer regime and co2
3. Set chiller to low 23 auto kicks in 2 degree above. Prior room temperate around 25-29 depending if the air condition was on
4. Fishes started acting weird
5. Started to do 30% water change daily after connecting to the chiller for fear of over dosing of algae remover or what's not...
6. Casualties on day 3 - one orange oto, 2 kubotai, third one going...
7. Noticed some kubotai were gasping for air while the chocolate gourami and freshwater gobies seem fine.
8. Turned off co2 yesterday and had air stone and raise the outlet pipe since 7pm yesterday. One dead kubotai thus far, haven't had any observation since morning.
One thing that I forgot to do is to flush the chiller before connecting it... it has been 4 days and whatever that had to be flushed out prior would be in the tank now...
Based on seriouslyfish profile, both the kubotai and chocolate can fair well between 22-27 degree. I understand that lower temperate helps in dissolved oxygen, does it also amplify the effect of co2? Anyone had such experiences before?
Lower temperature will increase the amount of DO and CO2 the water able to hold on to.
That's what I was afraid of... Does it mean I need to reduce/re calibrate the amount of co2 with the lower temperate, even thought it's just 2-3 degree?Originally Posted by noidea
Its quite unlikely that the reduction in water temperature was directly responsible for the deaths of those few fishes, as they would have already been accustomed to lower temperatures since you have had air-con running in the room before, and the chilled water temperature isn't that low anyays. A few degrees shouldn't affect the Co2 concentration that much either, since the rest of the fishes are okay.
Whats more likely is the 4 day blackout allowed excess ammonia and nitrates to build up to toxic levels (which the plants and algae would have otherwise easily taken up and removed easily), so it threw off the ecological balance of the tank. Also consider that with anti-algae treatment, the mass of dying algae will decompose and contribute ammonia back into the system, this adds even more waste load to the water.
Its possible those few weaker fishes simply succumbed to the spikes in toxic parameters (gasping at the water surface can also be a sign of ammonia poisoning), along with the Co2, fertilizer, lights suddenly coming back online after a few days of absence, the changes in environmental conditions may be too much for them to handle. Its probably just coincidence this happened when the chiller was installed.
The stronger fishes could still tolerate the temporary imbalance (hence the majority of them are still okay), until the light schedule is resumed and the system became balanced again.
I've encountered this exact same situation when i tried black-out method with anti-algae treatments in one of my tanks before, some of the fishes and shrimps also died mysteriously close to the end of the treatment, when i checked the parameters the ammonia and nitrate levels showed noticeable spikes in their levels. Previously when i only dosed the anti-algae treatment but still had the scheduled light photo-period running as per normal, there were no fish or shrimp deaths.
I guess black-outs have to be managed more carefully in planted tanks, such effects are more apparent in setups with higher plant density and bio-loads, as the tank's plants would have been handling the majority of the bio-load (resulting in the filter having less work to do and consequently requiring less beneficial bacteria), but once light is suddenly removed, the plants cannot do their "filter" jobs anymore and things start going haywire.
I did check the water parameter and ammonia and nitrite not detected while nitrate is in between the first and second color chart for API tester. If we analyze based on your explanation, it could be due the reduction of algae and melting of HC that slow down the uptake of co2 and other nutrients. It wasn't helping that I overdosed the algae remover (just realized!) for the past few days!
I reckon the damages had been done to the fishes and can just hope the rest will make it. I better think twice about blackout in future.
Actually the overdose of algae remover over a few days might be key. Algae removers can be very potent past their recommended dosages.
Also do remember when the plant also take oxygen. So if your tank overcrowded, plus black out, your dissolve oxygen may drop below safety level.
By the way, HC does not do well with black out.
I guess so, I did a 2.5ml on 50L and still see the kubotai gasping for air. Got to lower the dosage to 2ml tomorrow to see if it still affects the kubotai.
Actually, I don't know if my tank is overcrowded, I had 11 Kubotai (now 8 ), 3 chocolate gourami, 2 orange otto (now 1) prior to the blackout. Quite a fair bit of it melted leaving bare patches after the blackout, I trimmed the HC yesterday, hopefully that will trigger growth.
You bioload seems to be OK
by the way where did you get kubotai? Curently looking for it
I got mine from GC, but I saw some at Aquatic Avenue. Don't buy all, I want to restock, 8 seems too little haha!
dont worry, I only need about 5pcs
I'm reading a new masterpiece that's on the waydont worry, I only need about 5pcs
Is the kobutai same as dwarf loaches?
totally different, below are kubotai pic from internet
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