Didn't really learn any lessons from this and no fish were harmed so I figured I'd just post it in General Aquaria.
Monday morning, one of my tanks looked something like this.
A few of the inhabitants (kribensis fry, two honey dwarf gouramis, female betta, juvenile angel fish, two bristlenose, two medium sized Bolivian Rams) were also gasping at the surface. Water level is low because I'd taken a few scoops out before the picture was taken.
Could barely see from front to back, there was a spider web-like slime growing on some of the plants and trailing from some of the slower fish and a slimy film on the glass. The water and everything I took out of the tank had a sweet mushroomy smell, which is why I think the cloudiness was caused by some kind of fungus.
I immediately gravel vacced and did a 50% water change with rain water, which is what I normally use in all my tanks. Siphoned out an unusual amount of uneaten food.
It's a 50 litre/13 gallon tank, and on Saturday night I'd dosed a levamisole hydochloride and praziquantel medication since one of the Bolivian Rams has camallanus worms. On Sunday I did a 50% water change and fed late in the day when the fish were a bit more active. Most levamisole treatments seem to recommend a 100% or close to it water change after treatment, but I didn't want to shock the fish and planned on doing another 50% change later in the day that I never got around to. I did clean the filter later in the day though. It's a top filter and the floss in it was clogged with brown gunk that usually accumulates after weeks, and it was restricting flow and making the filter leak water onto the stand, since the floss was cut so that water can't bypass it. As I said, the fish didn't eat much of what I fed, but I didn't notice it at the time. Next morning, fungus soup.
After the 50% water change in the morning it looked a bit better, and I adjusted the filter to try and improve the surface agitation since I was pretty sure that's why some of them were gasping for air.
Came back in the afternoon and it was back to being a fungus soup and the filter was spurting water everywhere again. Fish didn't seem to mind though.
Checked the water parameters and everything was safe, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5ppm, ph 6.8. Nitrate is normally in the 5-10 range in this tank, so maybe the fungus was feeding on it.
I took the filter apart and cleaned it thoroughly, kept the glass media immersed but washed everything else in tap water. The filter was leaking again because the slime had clogged up the floss, it was like a big snotty tissue that the water couldn't flow through.
Wiped down the glass, siphoned out all but a couple inches of water, refilled to a bit over half way with a water transplant from an adjacent tank, and filled the rest with rain water. Still a bit cloudy but looking a lot better. Reassembled the filter with new floss cut to allow bypass, which dramatically improved flow and surface agitation.
No noticeable improvement in water clarity two and a half hours later
Checked the parameters again and everything was okay, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10ppm, ph 6.8. Kribensis fry were looking pretty keen so gave them some mosquito larvae and flakes which they ate immediately.
Tank looked pretty clear when I left the house this morning.
It's been raining a heck of a lot here over the last two weeks and that much moisture seems to promote the freakishly fast growth of exotic fungus and mold. I'm guessing something got into the tank and the conditions were just right for it to take off.
Monday morning, one of my tanks looked something like this.
A few of the inhabitants (kribensis fry, two honey dwarf gouramis, female betta, juvenile angel fish, two bristlenose, two medium sized Bolivian Rams) were also gasping at the surface. Water level is low because I'd taken a few scoops out before the picture was taken.
Could barely see from front to back, there was a spider web-like slime growing on some of the plants and trailing from some of the slower fish and a slimy film on the glass. The water and everything I took out of the tank had a sweet mushroomy smell, which is why I think the cloudiness was caused by some kind of fungus.
I immediately gravel vacced and did a 50% water change with rain water, which is what I normally use in all my tanks. Siphoned out an unusual amount of uneaten food.
It's a 50 litre/13 gallon tank, and on Saturday night I'd dosed a levamisole hydochloride and praziquantel medication since one of the Bolivian Rams has camallanus worms. On Sunday I did a 50% water change and fed late in the day when the fish were a bit more active. Most levamisole treatments seem to recommend a 100% or close to it water change after treatment, but I didn't want to shock the fish and planned on doing another 50% change later in the day that I never got around to. I did clean the filter later in the day though. It's a top filter and the floss in it was clogged with brown gunk that usually accumulates after weeks, and it was restricting flow and making the filter leak water onto the stand, since the floss was cut so that water can't bypass it. As I said, the fish didn't eat much of what I fed, but I didn't notice it at the time. Next morning, fungus soup.
After the 50% water change in the morning it looked a bit better, and I adjusted the filter to try and improve the surface agitation since I was pretty sure that's why some of them were gasping for air.
Came back in the afternoon and it was back to being a fungus soup and the filter was spurting water everywhere again. Fish didn't seem to mind though.
Checked the water parameters and everything was safe, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5ppm, ph 6.8. Nitrate is normally in the 5-10 range in this tank, so maybe the fungus was feeding on it.
I took the filter apart and cleaned it thoroughly, kept the glass media immersed but washed everything else in tap water. The filter was leaking again because the slime had clogged up the floss, it was like a big snotty tissue that the water couldn't flow through.
Wiped down the glass, siphoned out all but a couple inches of water, refilled to a bit over half way with a water transplant from an adjacent tank, and filled the rest with rain water. Still a bit cloudy but looking a lot better. Reassembled the filter with new floss cut to allow bypass, which dramatically improved flow and surface agitation.
No noticeable improvement in water clarity two and a half hours later
Checked the parameters again and everything was okay, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10ppm, ph 6.8. Kribensis fry were looking pretty keen so gave them some mosquito larvae and flakes which they ate immediately.
Tank looked pretty clear when I left the house this morning.
It's been raining a heck of a lot here over the last two weeks and that much moisture seems to promote the freakishly fast growth of exotic fungus and mold. I'm guessing something got into the tank and the conditions were just right for it to take off.
