I don't understand what is happening in this 120 gallon tank I have. I bought it used and I stripped out the silicone and replaced it with GE I Silicone, No Mold inhibitors. I cleaned it with Rubbing alcohol and I have rinsed it out several times before I filled it. I let the silicone cure for 3 days and then I filled it up and let it sit for another 1.5 days. I then drained it and filled the tank with about 80-90 gallons of water from my 180 gallon and topped off the rest with fresh water from the tap. I have seeded an API Filstar XP L Canister ( rated for up to 175 Gallon tank )for about 5 days also on my 180 gallon tank and then switched it to the 120 gallon. I took a couple of decorations including two pieces of driftwood from my 180 and put them in the 120 gallon. I have added a Tiger Shovelnose, a silver arowana and 7 Tapajo Geo's to the tank and all have died and look like they are breathing pretty heavy. I was concerned it was water quality but I checked amonia and nitrite and both were at 0.0 ppm. There were no visual sign of any disease on any of the fish either. Any suggestions or thoughts would be helpful because I am at a loss. Thanks in advance.
Mysterious Deaths?
- Thread starter KJP
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The canister should have been cycling for more than 5 days I usually keep mine cycling for about 1 month or even more. Also all those fish coming in a new tank at the same time might have affected the water and even though you have no nitrite you can have high levels of nitrates and ammonia which are more harmful to fish
Do you have any source of oxygen? Canisters aren't the best at oxygenating the water. I have to run air stones and I'm running 3 canisters on my 180
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It is not sufficient to "seed" a new filter/tank in the way you did, but especially bad starting with large fish.
that might work starting with a few tiny fish.
Take some biological media from the old filter and put it inside the new filter.
the other possible problems, I'll leave to other posters.
that might work starting with a few tiny fish.
Take some biological media from the old filter and put it inside the new filter.
the other possible problems, I'll leave to other posters.
there is no reason to use old tank water to fill a new tank, this will not help with cycling, just putting old water in a new tank. as stated use seeded filter media in the filter and build stock up. did the tank get cloudy? what was ammonia test?
Three days of curing time may not have been sufficient depending on the size of bead. I have used the same silicone with great results but tend to err on the side of caution and let it cure for about a week.
The fish I put in the tank were all very small. In total I might have added 14" of fish. The tank is not cloudy and my levels are pretty good with the exception of nitrate. The ammonia and Nitrite are both 0 PPM but I did find out the Nitrate was at 40 PPM.
Sounds like poison. 1) fast 2) 100% lethal 3) fish breathing hard 4) ammonia, nitrites are not present 5) nitrates are at non lethal levels
It could be that the silicone did not cure. If silicone is beyond the expiration date or was at one point previously frozen, it may not cure properly. 'Defective' silicone might not cure at all, or might take far beyond the expected time frame to cure. If the beads were extra thick, then yes, it may have been perfectly fine silicone, but was not allowed enough cure time. Although, 3 days seems adequate.
It's of course possible (not likely) that the silicone was mislabeled. Although rare, this happens. I'm not sure if that would be recalled since these products aren't offered as 'food grade.'
Since you used existing water, chloramines are ruled out.
Could be that someone sprayed something near the tank that was poisonous or that something fell into the tank.
Just brainstorming. If you dump all the water and re-fill, and get more deaths while params are still zero, it's likely the silicone. If not, it's likely something that was in the water.
Sorry that you lost those fish.
It could be that the silicone did not cure. If silicone is beyond the expiration date or was at one point previously frozen, it may not cure properly. 'Defective' silicone might not cure at all, or might take far beyond the expected time frame to cure. If the beads were extra thick, then yes, it may have been perfectly fine silicone, but was not allowed enough cure time. Although, 3 days seems adequate.
It's of course possible (not likely) that the silicone was mislabeled. Although rare, this happens. I'm not sure if that would be recalled since these products aren't offered as 'food grade.'
Since you used existing water, chloramines are ruled out.
Could be that someone sprayed something near the tank that was poisonous or that something fell into the tank.
Just brainstorming. If you dump all the water and re-fill, and get more deaths while params are still zero, it's likely the silicone. If not, it's likely something that was in the water.
Sorry that you lost those fish.