Burek Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Hi Grace. i dont think the filtering in your tank is enougth. just a internal in a 4ft isint enougth because the internal only picks up pooh and other stuff and doesent really clear a tank up as a cannister does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wombat Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 From my earlier post If i was you i would treat the whole tank with malachite green - that seems to fix most external parasite problems. If you can get it, a mixture of formalin and malachite green work very well on external parasites. I know this from experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 IMO.........your filtration is useless other than creating turbulance.! And the sand IMO is far too deep ....there is no waterflow through your sand ,hence allowing a lot of not very nice bacteria to thrive. Throw in something so simple as a sponge (air driven )filter.......reduce your sand depth to about 10mm........a good handfull of rocksalt .......then see what happens! IMO adding heaps of maybe unnessasary chemicals is not the answer Cheers Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 i 100% respect that i may have poor filtration. question is, if my filtration was inadequate, then wouldn't i be seeing ammonia and nitrite? i agree however, it is a relatively new filter and i am have not been very impressed by it. Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 From my earlier post If i was you i would treat the whole tank with malachite green - that seems to fix most external parasite problems. If you can get it, a mixture of formalin and malachite green work very well on external parasites. I know this from experience. Yeah mate, i can't get malachite green tho. The guys at the LFS in Fyshwick (you know who i'm talking about) don't reckon it's good and therefore won't give it to me! i've dosed the tank with Bactonex - mainly cause i had it handy - and that appears to contain some malachite green. i will see if i can get some elsewhere. i don't care how harsh the treatment is. only tetras in there now.... Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gutty Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 When was the last time you turned the sand ? I agree with Tiger, it's too deep. It may look nice but leave it alone for too long and it gets deadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canberra Alex Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Grace dont you have a canister under that tank too if im not mistaken a jebo 815 with a flow rate of approx 1200lph and the internal? if im wrong ill just shup up Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 Grace dont you have a canister under that tank too if im not mistaken a jebo 815 with a flow rate of approx 1200lph and the internal? if im wrong ill just shup up Alex hey bru, nah, i moved the canister to my 3 footer! it was on this tank before i got the internal tho. grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 When was the last time you turned the sand ? I agree with Tiger, it's too deep. It may look nice but leave it alone for too long and it gets deadly. i haven't turned the sand in ages. i didn't realize i had to. what makes it deadly? it's probably only 4-6cm deep now that i look at it. just deep enough to bury plant roots in. Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gutty Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Gas pockets build up over time. And when they release into the water.............bang bang your dead. I'm not sure on the specifics, but basicly you just need to churn/turn the sand every few weeks to stop these gas pockets forming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 Gas pockets build up over time. And when they release into the water.............bang bang your dead. I'm not sure on the specifics, but basicly you just need to churn/turn the sand every few weeks to stop these gas pockets forming. The gas you speak of - do you know what it is? do you reckon that could be it? is it measureable? Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gutty Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 No i don't Grace, but i'm sure someone will be able to give you some more info on this matter. I did learn about it on here after all........ Get a cup or similar and scoop out some of your sand, scooping all the way down to the bottom glass. Have a snif......you'll know if it's not right......it'll stink ! To remidy the problem, simply run a fork or somthing similar through the sand at each water change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Grace, I have fallen victim to not turning my sand over enough. I think that I have been lucky because the fish were established in the tank and I only lost my pride and joy (my red empress male). I believe that not turning over my sand was the primary cause of my green water (due to a build up of phosphates) in one 4' tank and now the other . I have managed to clear my display tank up again but my second 4'er has gone green. I am in the process of cleaning the sand bit by bit in that tank to see what happens. I am going to make it a routine from now on to give part of the sand a good turn over every water change. I have not been heating the cold Canberra water and it has not caused me any problems as yet although I have been doing regular 20% water changes so that may make a big difference. Sorry to hear that your problems continue but I am sure that you will work it out. cheers Rosco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Morelia Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 Just thought i'd add my 2 cents. It does sound like gill fluke, but that could be because of the sand not being turned or whatnot. I only have a 1400lph internal filter in my std 4ft with no troubles. It has sponge and carbon rather than bioballs though. I reckon you should try treating for gill flukes, as well as trying all the other suggestions. A word of warning though, if they have really really bad flukes (like yours sound like they have) i've had them die when i treat them for it. I use a mixture of Formalin and Malachite green, but for flukes, the Malachite green doesn't seem to do much, so you may be able to find something with just Formalin in it. Be careful if you can get this stuff, it's extremely toxic. I recomend measuring and everything at arm's length. It doesn't seem to hurt the fish though ! i've used it on everything from tetras to clown loaches, and most things, with no ill effects, except when they have an extremely heavy infestation. You might want to try the other suggestions first, but if there's no improvement, then i reckon go with the Formalin. It may or may not wipe out whatever's left in there, but it'll get rid of your flukes Oh, and make sure you tell the w*nkers in that LFS where to go (Ok, so they may be a bit right, it's highly toxic stuff, but if they warned you about it then there shouldn't be a prob) HTH, Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Fast Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 I'd take out 90% of the sand in the tank so there's only 1 cm tops covering the bottom.... I wouldn't turn it over because that'll just release all the toxins, etc.... just siphon the sand straight out. don't feed the fish as much for a few days... an external canister filter would do wonders too. God luck. MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 I'd take out 90% of the sand in the tank so there's only 1 cm tops covering the bottom.... I wouldn't turn it over because that'll just release all the toxins, etc.... just siphon the sand straight out. don't feed the fish as much for a few days... an external canister filter would do wonders too. God luck. MC no fish left - just a few bristlenoses and some tetras BTW - i smelled the sand and it didn't have any smell at all. Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graceless Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 Interesting observation: all the fish that have died have died with their front fins pointing towards their head and gills. their gills are flared, even after they have dried out ooutside of the tank. Does that mean anything to anyone? Grace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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