nwnittany
07-03-2008, 03:06 PM
Just posting a summary of my experience with a tank crash and subsequent recycle in the hopes that some other noob picks up a tidbit or two and can avoid making the mistakes I made. This will be a yawner for the experienced members.
Keep in mind that I still consider myself a noob, so when I report the steps I took, I'm not necessarily saying these are the correct ones - I'm just saying what I did. In other words, this is probably far from the recommended approach.
The Good (before the crash)
The tank is a 20 gallon freshwater community with a whisper 20 filter, standard set of substrate and decorations, an airstone, and was thriving for 8 months. It grew to be overpopulated with the following: 4 cory, 2 platy, 2 swordtail, 3 redeye, 2 danio, 3 black neon, 2 gourami, 2 kuhli loack, 3 guppy, vampire shrimp, 2 dwarf frog, and the monthly fry. There were also 4 basic live plants. I was taking weekly measurements using test strips and doing monthly 25% water changes. Life was pretty good. The tank was way overstocked, but to be honest, it looked neat - alot of activity.
The Bad (the straw that broke the camel's back)
In early May, the tank looked a little cloudy. Being what I thought was a good tank keeper, I had the bright idea that the best thing to do was to remove all the decorations and everything in my single whisper 20 filter - INCLUDING THE FILTER MEDIA - and wash it thoroughly in HOT tap water. Little did I know that this black sponge-like thing in my filter wasn't just a big piece of foam to remove floating debris, but was instead the key to my tank's biology. From this point on, all hell breaks loose.
The Ugly (the two-month ordeal to clean up this mess)
A week after my spring cleaning, my ammonia read 3.0ppm. Having no idea that I'd ruined by tank's biology, I thought the best way to solve this was do a 25% change and test again the following week.
A week after that, the ammonia was still high - between 2-3ppm. No nitrites, no nitrates. And, we had the first casualty - lost the molly (he was struggling a bit anyway, but I'm sure a big dose of ammonia didn't help), and the three redeye developed popeye. A few days later, the shrimp (one of my favorite critters) died. For some reason, losing the shrimp hit home. I'm sure you guys have felt this way one one of your favorites bites the dust.
My third week after the crash, I decided the problem must be a bad filter bag, so I replaced it (and also getting rid of any bacteria that happened to be on it). I guess the bright side is that I didn't rewash the filter media ! Still high ammonia - now up to 4ppm.
Fourth week, I started to treat with ammonia REMOVER and daily 25% water changes. Little did I know the daily water changes would continue for 6 weeks.
Fifth week, the ammonia levels reduced to 2ppm (probably due to the remover) but I was starting to do more research on cycling (thanks to this place) and determined that the ammonia was needed, so I switched to ammo-lock. Also noticed that my pH had plummeted to 6.0. This was both a blessing and curse. It helped reduce the toxicity of the ammonia, but also really delayed the cycle. This is also about the time I first posted here and it was suggested to add a filter, so I got another whisper 20. I picked that one because I had a bunch of supplies from my first one.
The next few weeks are a blur (LOL). The start of the 6th week, I decided I needed to take most of the fish to the fish rescue. I lost a swordtail and didn't want to kill any more. I kept 2 gourami, 4 cory, 2 kuhli loach, and 2 dwarf frogs. About this time I addressed the pH problem. Thanks to Terrapin and a few others, I discovered that a pH this low drastically hinders the nitrification process. So, I got some buffer up and raised the pH to about 7.0 over then next few days (of course, I didn't realize that shooting it up this rapidly wasn't a great idea, but I'm going to call 'no harm, no foul' on this one).
The next four weeks consisted of daily water tests, doses of ammo-lock, and water changes. A few days after the pH was raised, I saw my first nitrites. I'd also added some bio-zyme (a biological supplement) at the same time and there are other variables, so I can't conclusively say it was the pH that did the trick, but this is my guess. During this time I also added a couple of sponge filters to the tank (for another reason, though - I'm thinking of getting another tank and wanted to start seeding some media).
Well, as of this morning, I'm declaring this puppy cycled and good to go. Ammonia has been 0 for several days. Nitrites have held at 0 for two days. I didn't really see a big nitrate spike because I was doing so many water changes. All the critters seem fine. Oddly enough, we raised three guppy fry during all the tank cycling (they must be one hardy species, LOL).
Sorry for rambling. Here's a quick summary of the recycle:
Time from tank crash to recycle: 9 weeks
Time from crash to first nitrite: 5 weeks
Time from first nitrite to cycle: 4 weeks
# of logged water tests : 88
# of logged water changes: 44
# of times the wife screamed "It's either me or that stupid fish tank!!!" : j/k
Now, if you're reading this sentence, you are really a masochist for having read this long post. If you want more pain, here's the blow-by-blow posting of this saga hit me ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])
Thanks to everyone who helped me through this. I know this is leaving some of the experienced people shaking their heads, wondering why pet stores sell tanks to inexperienced people like I was. Not to get up on a soap box, but experiences like mine are why places like the AC needs to keep 'Beginners Forums' and keep the culture such that it encourages newbies to post their newbie questions - even if they are a bit redundant.
Keep in mind that I still consider myself a noob, so when I report the steps I took, I'm not necessarily saying these are the correct ones - I'm just saying what I did. In other words, this is probably far from the recommended approach.
The Good (before the crash)
The tank is a 20 gallon freshwater community with a whisper 20 filter, standard set of substrate and decorations, an airstone, and was thriving for 8 months. It grew to be overpopulated with the following: 4 cory, 2 platy, 2 swordtail, 3 redeye, 2 danio, 3 black neon, 2 gourami, 2 kuhli loack, 3 guppy, vampire shrimp, 2 dwarf frog, and the monthly fry. There were also 4 basic live plants. I was taking weekly measurements using test strips and doing monthly 25% water changes. Life was pretty good. The tank was way overstocked, but to be honest, it looked neat - alot of activity.
The Bad (the straw that broke the camel's back)
In early May, the tank looked a little cloudy. Being what I thought was a good tank keeper, I had the bright idea that the best thing to do was to remove all the decorations and everything in my single whisper 20 filter - INCLUDING THE FILTER MEDIA - and wash it thoroughly in HOT tap water. Little did I know that this black sponge-like thing in my filter wasn't just a big piece of foam to remove floating debris, but was instead the key to my tank's biology. From this point on, all hell breaks loose.
The Ugly (the two-month ordeal to clean up this mess)
A week after my spring cleaning, my ammonia read 3.0ppm. Having no idea that I'd ruined by tank's biology, I thought the best way to solve this was do a 25% change and test again the following week.
A week after that, the ammonia was still high - between 2-3ppm. No nitrites, no nitrates. And, we had the first casualty - lost the molly (he was struggling a bit anyway, but I'm sure a big dose of ammonia didn't help), and the three redeye developed popeye. A few days later, the shrimp (one of my favorite critters) died. For some reason, losing the shrimp hit home. I'm sure you guys have felt this way one one of your favorites bites the dust.
My third week after the crash, I decided the problem must be a bad filter bag, so I replaced it (and also getting rid of any bacteria that happened to be on it). I guess the bright side is that I didn't rewash the filter media ! Still high ammonia - now up to 4ppm.
Fourth week, I started to treat with ammonia REMOVER and daily 25% water changes. Little did I know the daily water changes would continue for 6 weeks.
Fifth week, the ammonia levels reduced to 2ppm (probably due to the remover) but I was starting to do more research on cycling (thanks to this place) and determined that the ammonia was needed, so I switched to ammo-lock. Also noticed that my pH had plummeted to 6.0. This was both a blessing and curse. It helped reduce the toxicity of the ammonia, but also really delayed the cycle. This is also about the time I first posted here and it was suggested to add a filter, so I got another whisper 20. I picked that one because I had a bunch of supplies from my first one.
The next few weeks are a blur (LOL). The start of the 6th week, I decided I needed to take most of the fish to the fish rescue. I lost a swordtail and didn't want to kill any more. I kept 2 gourami, 4 cory, 2 kuhli loach, and 2 dwarf frogs. About this time I addressed the pH problem. Thanks to Terrapin and a few others, I discovered that a pH this low drastically hinders the nitrification process. So, I got some buffer up and raised the pH to about 7.0 over then next few days (of course, I didn't realize that shooting it up this rapidly wasn't a great idea, but I'm going to call 'no harm, no foul' on this one).
The next four weeks consisted of daily water tests, doses of ammo-lock, and water changes. A few days after the pH was raised, I saw my first nitrites. I'd also added some bio-zyme (a biological supplement) at the same time and there are other variables, so I can't conclusively say it was the pH that did the trick, but this is my guess. During this time I also added a couple of sponge filters to the tank (for another reason, though - I'm thinking of getting another tank and wanted to start seeding some media).
Well, as of this morning, I'm declaring this puppy cycled and good to go. Ammonia has been 0 for several days. Nitrites have held at 0 for two days. I didn't really see a big nitrate spike because I was doing so many water changes. All the critters seem fine. Oddly enough, we raised three guppy fry during all the tank cycling (they must be one hardy species, LOL).
Sorry for rambling. Here's a quick summary of the recycle:
Time from tank crash to recycle: 9 weeks
Time from crash to first nitrite: 5 weeks
Time from first nitrite to cycle: 4 weeks
# of logged water tests : 88
# of logged water changes: 44
# of times the wife screamed "It's either me or that stupid fish tank!!!" : j/k
Now, if you're reading this sentence, you are really a masochist for having read this long post. If you want more pain, here's the blow-by-blow posting of this saga hit me ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])
Thanks to everyone who helped me through this. I know this is leaving some of the experienced people shaking their heads, wondering why pet stores sell tanks to inexperienced people like I was. Not to get up on a soap box, but experiences like mine are why places like the AC needs to keep 'Beginners Forums' and keep the culture such that it encourages newbies to post their newbie questions - even if they are a bit redundant.