I feel like dead fish is one thing, rotting is another story.
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Journal 120 Dutch Ft. Yugang Reactor (Horizontal CO2 Reactor)
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- #582
It's as good as the fish can take. I take CO2 to first signs of stress the back it off a .1.
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- #583
That's my only guess. This AIO tank has had me fishing fish out of the back on multiple occasions. I may have not seen one during my inspections. I have bags of media and I bet it lodged under one where I can't see.
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- #584
If it's not a dead fish, I'll need to go back to the drawing board. Freaking no clue if not a rotten fish
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- #585
Me too
, this batch has massive heads for some reason.I concur.
I'm assuming that you have already reviewed recent changes you made to the tank (if any). Besides possible dead fish, have you considered other changes that aren't made by you, or was made long ago?
Examples of such changes in my tank that blindsided me (and took me months to figure out):
- Gradual dimming of my T5HO tubes. (Solved once I got new tubes)
- Depleting old soil. (Solved by upping water column dosing)
- Stopping P dosing and getting the impact many many months later. (Solved by dosing P again)
I'm not suggesting these are what you're facing. Just examples of what I mean.
All the solutions resulted in observable improvements within days. Before that nothing worked.
P.S. I've read that thread or hair algae is an indication of low N. In my tank, it has been true a number of times. They could be caused by other reasons like a dirty tank, but if your tank husbandry is good, it may be worth exploring this avenue?
When I have noticed an outbreak of thread/hair algae like this it is 100% related to not being as excessive in maintenance. Either removing dead flora or cleaning the substrate. I have this problem much more frequently in the farm tanks than I ever did in the main tank as I was much more thorough on maintenance of that tank. This is just been my experience. Though I have never had it this bad. Was it an "overnight" development or a gradual progression?
What are your levels? Just curious if any of those are hitting.
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- #589
The lights are abought a year and a half old, but I swear they seem a bit less "bright", but I also turned 50 this year and this could all be in my head. They are LED types and should be still "okay".
I use BDBS , so inert there
By P dosing, do you mean PO4? I read your post yesterday and decided to test, it was much lower than what I expected. This may suggest I don't have a dead fish and this is all my fault. I try not to nutrient tunnel, but maybe it's time to get more strict. I hate testing though. Nitrates were close to 25-30ppm though. Well maybe, I didn't calibrate this new test kit.
And thank you for the post, trust me, I'm doubting everything I know and your feed back is awesome. My most significant change is moving this tank to farm plants, and I may have relaxed too much by taking things for granted.
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- #590
Funny you mention this, I moved this tank to farm. If it's not a rotting fish, then I need to be better.
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- #591
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- #592
So here's the primary tank. The only difference from the 120 to this tank is the amount of water changes and the substrate. Excuse the messy layout (have to generate content for the Dutch YouTube series). I'm doing close to 140% changes per week. Dosing the same front load numbers, 30/7/35.
If there's no dead fish, I assume I'm under dosing the 120.
This tank a month ago was an algae disaster too
If there's no dead fish, I assume I'm under dosing the 120.
This tank a month ago was an algae disaster too
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I think this picture/post affirms my thought, the downside to multiple tanks is definitely being lax at times of maintenance of farm tanks. If you are dosing the same numbers on the farm tank, I don't think you are underdosing. Those numbers are extremely close to mine. The double weekly water changes and keeping things clean is helping this tank.
I remember what this tank looked like a few weeks ago now its really pristine. Your plant growth is great. That l. aromatica "mini" street is sweet and I absolutely love the placement/trimming/contrast next to the hottonia palustris?
One thing I have seen in comparison of my tanks to yours is trimming and you are light years ahead of me which makes sense because of my time vs your time in this side of the hobby. I look forward to getting to where you are. I've greatly approved in 6 months but still have a long way to go.
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- #594
Well, let me clarify how I dose. Nutrients only come from water changes. My storage water is dosed. Not the tanks directly. So the amount of tank dosing is directly related to the amount of water changed.
Correct, however your total accumulation should be the same pending you are water changing 70% once a week(on the farm tank) vs 2x a week(on the primary tank). But if you are just water changing and not cleaning substrate or trimming/removing dead flora in the farm tank then this creates a buildup of organics leading to algae, and this is what I see in my farm tanks. Hopefully I am not being confusing but again maybe its something else entirely but this is just what I have experienced.
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- #596
Nope, perfectly clear. When this started popping up. I did a back to back substrate clean. And I will do it again when I pull all the plants out this week. I do limit gravel vacuums as I experience them as more of a disruption with a bit of recovery time. I 100 percent neglect the back overflow area, and I shouldn't. This area may be the true source of the problem, rotting fish or not. Deep clean coming right! Have too if I'm going to be responsible.
That might be the area for concern. I just know in the main tank everytime I uprooted and trimmed I vacuumed under those plants and never had an algae problem besides GDA on the glass or a little substrate. But in contrast to the farm tanks I never really did that caused algae. Those were the only differences between the tanks.Nope, perfectly clear. When this started popping up. I did a back to back substrate clean. And I will do it again when I pull all the plants out this week. I do limit gravel vacuums as I experience them as more of a disruption with a bit of recovery time. I 100 percent neglect the back overflow area, and I shouldn't. This area may be the true source of the problem, rotting fish or not. Deep clean coming right! Have too if I'm going to be responsible.
LEDs definitely don't dim as fast as fluorescent tubes. Don't think LED dimming would be a real issue in the practical sense.
Yes, I mean PO4. I stopped testing long ago. The price for a new kit isn't justified for the number of times I actually use them, and I don't trust the kits that I've left open and unused for too long. Deficiency symptoms aren't 100% but works well enough for me... so far.
I read the last few posts and it sounds like you have to do a lot of work on your tanks.Nope, perfectly clear. When this started popping up. I did a back to back substrate clean. And I will do it again when I pull all the plants out this week. I do limit gravel vacuums as I experience them as more of a disruption with a bit of recovery time. I 100 percent neglect the back overflow area, and I shouldn't. This area may be the true source of the problem, rotting fish or not. Deep clean coming right! Have too if I'm going to be responsible.
My tank is a 6x2x2 foot (180G, 660L). Weekly maintenance on this tank is a lot of work. Initially, I tried regular substrate cleaning, siphoning organics under the plants, etc. But all very time-consuming.
A BGA breakout got me to install a Gyre pump to improve circulation and rid stagnant areas. That helped get some of the detritus out from under and in the plants and concentrate the heavier ones at one end of the tank. The rest I assume gets to the filtration.
After reading some good recommendations, I started using MicrobeLift Special Blend to break down organic waste faster. I was sceptical, but it works... The poop from my arowana are the size of large rice grains and used to litter the substrate for at least a week each. With Special Blend, I barely see them anymore. Plus my filter pads got a lot dirtier and much faster (i.e. a lot more detritus were being moved from the tank to filter), and the mulm that used to grow between the bio media all broke down and fell to the bottom of the sump chamber. My bio media does not get much mulm anymore. I used to have to rinse the bio media out a few times a year. I don't have to now, for years. Later, I added MicrobeLift substrate cleaner to the regime. Not many immediate observable effects, but I don't get algae issues after I pull up and replant a big stand of plants. Plus the Arowana will occasionally stir up some of the substrate if he does a strong tail swish downwards or near the substrate.
I only vac the substrate once every few months now. I still have to siphon dead leaves from under certain rosette plants every few weeks or so because they are low and dense and the flow doesn't get into those areas much.
Putting strong flow on a display tank might not be aesthetically pleasing or at least requires more consideration for placement and direction, but perhaps something to consider for the farm tank.
I was very sceptical of bacterial products like Special Blend, but I read good reviews about them, tried them and have been converted. There are similar products from other brands like Seachem Pristine (which doesn't stink like a sewer). This may mean having to rinse out the mechanical filtration more often, but that's minor compared to the time saved.
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- #600
Well, no dead fish. This is all my fault then. We did find an alive fish back there. All plants pulled, all plants H2O2 dipped and all media removed and rinsed.
50% water changed, and tomorrow another 50% water change after a deep gravel vacuum followed by another 50 water change.
If after a month, I see no signs of improvement, this tank will receive a hard reset. Which brings me to a question I will ask later separate from my journal.
50% water changed, and tomorrow another 50% water change after a deep gravel vacuum followed by another 50 water change.
If after a month, I see no signs of improvement, this tank will receive a hard reset. Which brings me to a question I will ask later separate from my journal.
