did u see any unusual things happening? like fishes grasping for air at the surface... perharps u like to give us more info
like water condition (PH, No2/No3), water change, feeding, lighting (wattage), tank size, wat fishes and plants u have
My 3 ft tank was going smooth.With some plants and fishes. Both were doing well. Suddenly my plants started to decay and float one by one. And now my fishes are dying at a rate of 2-3 fishes a day. No visiable sign of any abnormality in the fishes. Just see them dead floating.
I also have CO2 and feed my fishes with Tetra bits and packet daphnia.
So sad to see them die.
Need your advise.If not I have to do a overhaul and start all over again.
did u see any unusual things happening? like fishes grasping for air at the surface... perharps u like to give us more info
like water condition (PH, No2/No3), water change, feeding, lighting (wattage), tank size, wat fishes and plants u have
how old is the tank?
I have 2 30watts arcadia lights, with internal filter. This is a Jewel Tank. A mixture of small tropical fishes. Have some ferns, long grass plants. ( I dont know the scientific names). I setup this tank in Oct-Nov 2001.The gravel and fertiliser were all new ones. This fishes did not have not sign. No gasping / or inactivity. They are all swimming well and they die suddenly.I did not introduce new fishes to the tank also.
I change water every week 1/4 of the tank.I dont take the PH readings.
This happen so suddenly.
hi william
as what simon has mentioned check your water quality and parameter........look at the substrate....has it gone dark or black? the next thing to do is to use your finger or chopstick and plunge it randomly around the tank.....if there are alot of air bubbles...take a sniff...if it smells like stink bomb smell.....errrh sorry ....your substrate has gone anaerobic and it may be best to redo the tank.
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The title below my name does not make me a guru...listen at your own risk!...
Thank you. Let me go back home and test that out.
Yes, there are alots of bubbles, and it stinks .
Looks like I have a reason to resetup the tank.
Thank you for the advise.
William, can I know how long have this tank been first setup???
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤
Understand that friends come and go,
but with a precious few you can hold on.
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤
....your substrate has gone anaerobic and it may be best to redo the tank.
^^^ how to prevent this. I see my substrate going black? poke holes with chopstick daily? install substrate heater?
wat's anaerobic??? my substrate turn dark and got lots of air trap within it after inserting some fertilizers... but my plants and fishes are doing well..
any prevention care that i need to take?
I have setup this tank last year October. Initially, my plants had hard time keeping alive. But after awhile it start to grow beautifully. Now this happen, with my plants starts to float out with the rots rotten and my fishes dying slowly. Daily, I am seeing my fishes 1 or 2 wriggling a slow death, while the others will be ok.
My plant ferilizer was from JBL .
Anyway does anyone of you know where can I upgrade my lighting set.It is a Jewel Tank RIO 180.
anaerobic means - no oxygen.
hi lou
substrate turning dark is not really a big problem if you have achieve a planted area of 80% or more and you have good rooting plants, and that you regularly maintain your stem plants from rotting bottom up. Plants do need a slightly anaerobic substrate to thrive as aerobic substrate will also cause you plant to be stunted. Plant roots do get old and die off and new ones will replace them. A substrate heater will help alot but you will need to redo your tank just to have one installed.[]
hi dragon
Anaerobic is like what lou has mention insufficient or no oxgyen in the substate layer. this process is speeds up with rotting material in the substrate layer and poorly rooted plants that is unable to supply oxygen in the substrate layer. If your substrate is slightly anaerobic let say 30% of your tank it is okay but onces the 50 to 60% mark is reached, this is bad.......
The air bubbles trapped in the substrate may not be hydrogen sulphite but it could be oxygen bubbles.......
hi william
what kind of plants did you start with and did you place a good layer of base fertiliser? What kind of gravel did you use?...lime free and about 1.5 to 2mm in diameter grain size?
To determine how much light you need, you need to know how much gallons you are dealing with and a good rule of thumb is 3 watts to 1 gallon.
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The title below my name does not make me a guru...listen at your own risk!...
Hi, I used fren like and long grass types of plants. Some red leaf plants also.
For gravel, I cant remember if it is lime free. I got them from C328. The gravels are very small.
hi william
are you going to do redo your tank?......if you are do place at least about 1in of base fertiliser right at the base.....as for your existing gravel, if the grain diameter is at 1.5 to 2mm it is fine....
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The title below my name does not make me a guru...listen at your own risk!...
Hi David,
If the base fertilser must be 1 inch, how much ferliser must i buy for a 3.5 feet tank and what brand / cost is ideal ?
David, I also want to change my lighting set. Do you know where can I get one for a Jewel Tank.?
The one at Jurong East is already closed.
Thank you for your input.
david,
currently, only a small portion of my gravel is having this Anaerobic problem, it must be due to the fertilizers that i had inserted.
would it spread to the rest of the gravel? and can that piece of land suitable for planting again? my stargrass start to turn black and is rotting.
david,
hi william
perhaps you may want to use the substrate calculator for more precise amount...click on the substrate calculator
Dennerle Calculator
base fert brands that i will recommend are Dennerle, JBL, Bioplast........as for your light set, is your a hooded tank? If you really must keep your tank hood then a good place to modify your light set will be Chan of Nature Aquarium....he's pretty good at this sort of things.......
hi dragon
you may have damaged your plants in that area while inserting fertiliser.....was it like this when before?...if the stargrass is rotting perhaps the base of the stem plant is not getting enuff light and is rotting......remove the stargrass and trim off the bottom(i'm assuming that the stargrass you are refering to is the South American Stargrass, and you know what to do for stemmed plants). use a chop stick and gently plunge it into the affected area to remove hydrogen sulphite.....you will be able to smell a stench of stink bomb smell......then replant and change water.
If by the end of a week and the new cuttings has not shown any signs of growth, remove them and plant hydro difformis into the area.
If your other plants are health, it should not spread but more of a contained area.....dont worry too much about it as it can be saved.
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The title below my name does not make me a guru...listen at your own risk!...
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