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New Tank Problems?

fishman13

fishman13

Members
Ok, I had a nematode problem in my 40 breeder. So I drained the tank, took everything out, but left the sand in there. Now here's how I cleaned it-

Step 1- Left about 4 inches of water left in the tank

Step 2- Mixed a whole bag of sea salt mix into the water(to kill bacteria in the sand and hopefuly the nematodes)

Step 3- Boiled water and pored it in to the tank to add some extra killing power(to burn the nematodes)

Step 4- Soaked the filter along with all the filter equiptment in salt water then bioled the media.

Step 5- Filled the tank back up with freshwater.

Step 6- Added everything back to the tank.

Now the tank is not realy clear. The catfish and plants are doing fine but the water isn't clear. Yesturday I found a nematode in the tank:mad::mad:. What else can I do. Its so hard to get rid of these things?
 
Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
Salt or bleach should both work, but it would require a lot of salt and just a little water and if you only let it set for a few minutes before adding back fresh water, some of the organisms can be revived. Using bleach is also a time and concentration thing. IF you use just a small amount of bleach it might not work unless you were treating for days. A larger amount might not work unless you also stirred up the sand or gravel to get the chlorine into all the sand or gravel, any place you miss will protect the bad guys. Even with like a cup full of clorox in a 30 gallon tank you might need a few hours and then rinse like crazy and then dechlor. I would prefer the salt treatment. Drain the tank completely, make a saturated salt solution, scrub the tank and mix the sand well with the saturated salt solution, let stand about 15 minutes, rinse, and refill. Treat all things you put in or hook to the aquarium with teh saturated salt solution also, like filters, tubing, heaters, cords, thermometers, nets, etc.

However, planaria are not a real problem for fish, they can be a problem for shrimp. They will eat shrimp. Planaria will come back, I do not know from where, but they are a common problem in tanks that are overfed even if the water quality is maintained with frequent water changes.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Hard to say...looks cloudy but that could be from the sand.

I would add a filter from an existing tank to that tank...and let things settle for a couple / few days before feeding or adding any other fish.

The added bonus is that the catfish might just track down any remaining creatures...

Matt
 
fishman13

fishman13

Members
dogofwar said:
Hard to say...looks cloudy but that could be from the sand.

I would add a filter from an existing tank to that tank...and let things settle for a couple / few days before feeding or adding any other fish.

The added bonus is that the catfish might just track down any remaining creatures...

Matt
Click to expand...
How would that allow them to track down remaining creatures. And the sand is clean.
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Hungry fish track down stuff to eat.

Clean sand (and boiled filter media) don't hold the (beneficial) bacteria that convert ammonia (fish poop) to nitrate (less harmful). An established filter from another tank would (and prevent "new tank syndrome").

Matt
 
fishman13

fishman13

Members
Frank Cowherd said:
Salt or bleach should both work, but it would require a lot of salt and just a little water and if you only let it set for a few minutes before adding back fresh water, some of the organisms can be revived. Using bleach is also a time and concentration thing. IF you use just a small amount of bleach it might not work unless you were treating for days. A larger amount might not work unless you also stirred up the sand or gravel to get the chlorine into all the sand or gravel, any place you miss will protect the bad guys. Even with like a cup full of clorox in a 30 gallon tank you might need a few hours and then rinse like crazy and then dechlor. I would prefer the salt treatment. Drain the tank completely, make a saturated salt solution, scrub the tank and mix the sand well with the saturated salt solution, let stand about 15 minutes, rinse, and refill. Treat all things you put in or hook to the aquarium with teh saturated salt solution also, like filters, tubing, heaters, cords, thermometers, nets, etc.
However, planaria are not a real problem for fish, they can be a problem for shrimp. They will eat shrimp. Planaria will come back, I do not know from where, but they are a common problem in tanks that are overfed even if the water quality is maintained with frequent water changes.
Click to expand...

I will bring a small sample of them to the next meeting I go to. I haven't had a lot of time to make the meetings. If I still have the problem I will bring in a sample of them and you guys can see what it is I am talking about. I cant get a picture of them because you can see them clearly with the naked eye, but they are hard to see with just a simple phone camera.
 
fishman13

fishman13

Members
dogofwar said:
Hungry fish track down stuff to eat.

Clean sand (and boiled filter media) don't hold the (beneficial) bacteria that convert ammonia (fish poop) to nitrate (less harmful). An established filter from another tank would (and prevent "new tank syndrome").

Matt
Click to expand...
So this is just new tank syndrome?
 
dogofwar

dogofwar

CCA Members
Have your water tested. If there's ammonia or nitrIte, then your tank doesn't contain enough beneficial bacteria (that convert these to nitrAte). Some people call this new tank syndrome, I guess. Not sure what's syndromic about it, though :rolleyes:

If there's no ammonia or nitrate, it's just sand or other particulates in your water...which gravity and mechanical filtration will help alleviate.

Matt

fishman13 said:
So this is just new tank syndrome?
Click to expand...
 
scientist0724

scientist0724

Members
Plants can handle a couple of days of blackout.

Unless you have very highlight plants, plants like Anubias, Java fern and Cryptocorynes don't mind a little dark. In fact, if your Anubias has a lot of algae on it, you can put the plant in a plastic bag with a little bit of water and put it in a closet for a couple of weeks and then scrape the algae off.

Arlene
 
fishman13

fishman13

Members
chriscoli said:
Also, how may hours are you leaving your lights on each day?
Click to expand...
Lets see. I turn them on at 6:00 in the morning when I wake up to get ready for school and then turn them off at like 9pm. On the weekends I turn them on at 9am and then shut them off at 11pm. To much?:confused:
 
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