Help minI cycle

xDestro

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2016
578
209
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Tank:
75 running for 4 months no probs
Fx4 and sponge filter

Stock:
Eb acara 4"
Zig zag eel 4"
Lima shovelnose 4"
Sen bichir 5-6"
Delhezi bichir 8"
Dwarf giraffe catfish 3"
Syno notatus 7"
Syno hybrid 4"

2 days ago I noticed my acara digging a WHOLE lot, my being stupid I didn't think much of it, next day I cleaned about half of the filter so I could cycle a 20 gallon, I took maybe 5 bio rings out of the maybe 100+, used tank water to clean and kept media wet. Later that day I noticed my acara laying in the corner and not looking good. I tested and my my nitrites and nitrates were high and I believe my ammonia was a but high but I couldn't really tell. I did a 75% water change and double dose of prime. Today I notice my acara doing the same thing, I start looking around at the other fish and all are fine except my acara and my syno hybrid, I don't think my hybrid will make it it looks like his skin is just flaking off, instantly tested again and had 0 ammonia .25 nitrite and around 40 nitrate so I just did about a 50% water change and vaced up anything I could see in my sand and double dosed prime again and also added stress coat. So if there anything I'm missing? I believe this is a mini cycle right? Ik cleaning my filter definitely made it worse but it was the last thing I expect nothing has changed. I stopped feeding but did add shrimp as I didn't want anything decaying but wanted the fish to have food and most are gone. Looking back I prob shouldn't even of done that
 

tlindsey

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
23,253
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Ohio
Tank:
75 running for 4 months no probs
Fx4 and sponge filter

Stock:
Eb acara 4"
Zig zag eel 4"
Lima shovelnose 4"
Sen bichir 5-6"
Delhezi bichir 8"
Dwarf giraffe catfish 3"
Syno notatus 7"
Syno hybrid 4"

2 days ago I noticed my acara digging a WHOLE lot, my being stupid I didn't think much of it, next day I cleaned about half of the filter so I could cycle a 20 gallon, I took maybe 5 bio rings out of the maybe 100+, used tank water to clean and kept media wet. Later that day I noticed my acara laying in the corner and not looking good. I tested and my my nitrites and nitrates were high and I believe my ammonia was a but high but I couldn't really tell. I did a 75% water change and double dose of prime. Today I notice my acara doing the same thing, I start looking around at the other fish and all are fine except my acara and my syno hybrid, I don't think my hybrid will make it it looks like his skin is just flaking off, instantly tested again and had 0 ammonia .25 nitrite and around 40 nitrate so I just did about a 50% water change and vaced up anything I could see in my sand and double dosed prime again and also added stress coat. So if there anything I'm missing? I believe this is a mini cycle right? Ik cleaning my filter definitely made it worse but it was the last thing I expect nothing has changed. I stopped feeding but did add shrimp as I didn't want anything decaying but wanted the fish to have food and most are gone. Looking back I prob shouldn't even of done that

I personally suggest not feeding for a day or two the fish will be fine, if possible add another filter or more bio media to your existing filter even a larger sponge filter will help.
 

tlindsey

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
23,253
24,112
1,660
Ohio
I personally suggest not feeding for a day or two the fish will be fine, if possible add another filter or more bio media to your existing filter even a larger sponge filter will help.


S skjl47 made a very valid point about the anaerobic pockets in the sand. If sand depth is 2 inch or more suggest probing the sand during wc day.
 

Drstrangelove

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Oct 21, 2012
2,693
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164
San Francisco
I agree with the above. After removing some media, after cleaning half the filter, after detecting nitrites, feeding should be put on hold.


1) you "cleaned" half your filter. To me, I interpret that as you removed half of the BB. Maybe not half, but a lot depending on how aggressively one cleans. I assume half as a matter of precaution.

2) 2 days ago you had "high" nitrites and "high" nitrates, so you did a 75% water change. This was obviously a good call and might have saved the tank.

3) today, nitrates are at 40 and you still have nitrites.

So water quality might not have been very good because of or in spite of the filter being cleaned. It was certainly not good afterwards. That's a stop sign to me.

Different fish species have different amounts of resistance to nitrite and ammonia poisoning. Not all of them will show signs when one does. Same goes for gas pockets. I have no idea, but I certainly agree that tanks with sand diggers need special plans.

Imo, you should stop putting food in the tank and let the BB try to catch up for a few days.

Then add 1/4 the amount of food one day, increase to 1/2 the next day and so forth.
 
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xDestro

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2016
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My syno hybrid died last night and my dwarf giraffe cat was dead this morning, my sand is maybe an inch deep and I don't really worry about pockets as a lot of my stock seems to rustle through it and prevent that from happenin but I'll defiantly start doing it myself during water changes, really last thing I expected because after I did a 50% water change last night I tested again and no nitrite and maybe 20 nitrate no ammonia
 

tlindsey

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
23,253
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Ohio
My syno hybrid died last night and my dwarf giraffe cat was dead this morning, my sand is maybe an inch deep and I don't really worry about pockets as a lot of my stock seems to rustle through it and prevent that from happenin but I'll defiantly start doing it myself during water changes, really last thing I expected because after I did a 50% water change last night I tested again and no nitrite and maybe 20 nitrate no ammonia
Sorry for your loss
 

xDestro

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2016
578
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And what I mean by I cleaned half my filter was when I took my filter out from my stand I only drained half the water out of it and only took a small amount of media from 1 of the 3 bags in my filter and the parts I did clean I cleaned in tank water
 
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