Whats knitting my gravel together?

[Brengun]

Just over a month ago I upgraded my tank for a wider one.
I used the same gravel, filters, etc and just swapped the tanks in one day.
Fish also went in the same day and I used Prime and Stability for two weeks after just to make sure any cycle was taken care of. I have been doing regular wc weekly.

Heres the problem, some sort of clear looking fungas or something has started knitting my gravel together. Where it comes loose, it ends up clogging up my filters. It looks awful and I cannot gravel vac it off, it sticks to the gravel.
What is it and how do I get rid of it?

I have lost an odd guppy and a corydora, probably from them eating it but so far none of the L134 plecos. Just worried it might affect the plecos too.

Is there some additive or treatment I can do to get rid of this fungas? Its really bugging me and it seems to turn the gravel to a solid mass. In the interum, I have gone back to adding prime and stability just to be safe.

 

[Zebra Pleco]

Never heard of this before, do you have a photo?

 

[D-MAC]

Hi Brenda
Can you get this?
http://www.microbelift.com/products/home-aquarium/bacterial-products/gravel-and-substrate-cleaner/
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18392

If that is not available to you, Waste control from Hagen can do a similar job.

 

[Jacqueline]

Sounds like a bacterial problem.

 

[littlebristlenose]

I would pull the fish out and use a Formaldehyde based product.

There's a pond based treatment for this and it will kill your filters bactreia also but will kill it.

I would empty tank and thought out the gravel.

 

[D-MAC]

I would pull the fish out and use a Formaldehyde based product.

There's a pond based treatment for this and it will kill your filters bactreia also but will kill it.

I would empty tank and thought out the gravel.

That's a bit of a drastic measure :dk: if I would go that far

 

[Brengun]

Prior tank I had set up for 2years. Everything from that tank went into the new tank a month ago. Nothing new has been introduced that I know of.
Its got to be some sort of imbalance of some sort. I am just not sure what. It is working over time thats for sure. I will see if I can get some good closeup photos of it and might do some water tests just to make sure theres not something I missed.

 

[D-MAC]

Prior tank I had set up for 2years. Everything from that tank went into the new tank a month ago. Nothing new has been introduced that I know of.
Its got to be some sort of imbalance of some sort. I am just not sure what. It is working over time thats for sure. I will see if I can get some good closeup photos of it and might do some water tests just to make sure theres not something I missed.

I have had this problem a few times over the years, i never did find out what it was but I am convinced its a bacterial imbalance...I did however find that it took a different strain of bacterial additive to break it down like the ones I mentioned.

 

[bigbird]

maybe no light for 2-3days might help ? cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[jaffa1963]

Ive had clear gelly like substance build up on heater when first cycling a tank. I took it to be bacteria. Could it be anything like that?

As you've stirred up all the gravel etc from the old tank into the new it could have brought loads of old nitrate rich stuff into circulation so nitrite eating bacteria now got to build up again to deal with it.

Im no expert but thought it may help.

 

[Brengun]

Oh my goodness gracious me! PH 4.2!!! Yup you read it right pH 4.2. I had to dig out my digital pH pen just to read down that far.

KH test was also pretty uneventful since one drop it stayed clear and two drops turned it yellow so barely a reading at all. There was no turning blue in the mix lol.

Ammonia test 0.25, could have something to do with the 4 dead endler guppies I found in there.

Nitrites zero, yay! At least I got one right lol.

Nitrates 20 which is highly unusual to be that high in my tanks but would put it down to dead fish also since the tank did have a wc a few days ago.

Cories, remaining endler guppies and 11 adult L134 all ok but obviously none too impressed.

Did an immediate 40% wc, added Prime for the ammonia traces and a product called Easylife with is a fluid bed treatment with about 50 different benefits which I won't go into now.
A little bi-carb, epsoms salts and salt but only a pinch or so for now, just to get stuff on the upswing. Also added a fair sized bit of coral which will be removed and traded for a little buffer piece once pH is back up.
PH after water change is now 5.2 which although still low is a pretty fair jump from 4.2.
I will be raising it over a number of hours and keeping a close eye on that tank for days to come.

Photos of the low pH fungas which alerted me in the first place. On reflection, its not such a bad thing now. :thumbup:

 

[D-MAC]

I never thought to ask you the parameters of the water as I assumed it would be spot on...Glad you found the low ph before it ended badly...Once you have that corrected and added the bacterial cleaner I'm sure the problem you have will disappear...Keep us updated :thumbup:

 

[zeebo]

been following this thread with interest, never heard of, or saw this either, so thanks Bren for the pics.

So do you have any idea what caused the dramatic ph drop ? what was your ph before you switched tanks ?

informative thread , hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

thanks ,
georgie

 

[Brengun]

When we had some rain coming I did a larger than usual water change and used pure rainwater. I didn't realise it would put the pH down quite that far tho lol.

Ignoring the fungus atm but everything else is good now. Not one more guppy death and the corys and L134's all look happy chappies again.

I did have the fungus in another tank once and can't for the life of me remember what I did to get rid of it. I need a lightbulb moment and I will be allright lol.

 

[Bigjohnnofish]

When we had some rain coming I did a larger than usual water change and used pure rainwater. I didn't realise it would put the pH down quite that far tho lol.

Ignoring the fungus atm but everything else is good now. Not one more guppy death and the corys and L134's all look happy chappies again.

I did have the fungus in another tank once and can't for the life of me remember what I did to get rid of it. I need a lightbulb moment and I will be allright lol.

i remember having an in depth chat with you about rainwater and its potential to create ph crashes.... musta slipped your mind hey!!! but then again we are getting older hey bren!!!

add CaCO3 and it should buffer the ph up and stabilize it....

dont worry it wont be the last time someone gets caught using RO/rain water without paying attention to PH...

glad the 134's are all good... dont want any losses.... can prob spare some guppies...

glad its sorted

 

[Brengun]

Yes I checked last night and while the fungas is still around, its not madly turning my gravel solid any more and their waste is disappearing into the gravel and the undergravel filter.

Seems to a difference between my measuring the wc water in my storage drum, usually 7.4 (I do buffer it) to when it gets into my tanks ph usually after a week around 6.8ph. which usually brings the tank up to pH 7 or just under.

Something went badly wrong in the L134 tank for some reason but I have a chunk of old coral in there now and we're back to the usual 6.8.

 

[Adriantheone]

Shrimp ?

You never mentioned if there was shrimp in the tank? They can knit gravel together like play-doh? Especially if moss is close by?

 

[Brengun]

The tank has been at a constant 6.8 for over a week now and there doesn't seem to be any signs of the clear gravel knitting fungas left.

There is an old chunk of coral in the tank now and it will stay there as it seems to only buffer in the pH 6 range.

All my tanks contain red cherry shrimp unless the plecos manage to eat them all and even then, some survive in the canisters.

Yes I know Bigjohnno, I forgot about rainwater and mad pH swings with all the excitement of the coming rain lol.

I have on order some goodies to try next time I do all rainwater which may become a regular thing if it rains often enough for my rainwater tanks.

Aquasonic Carbonate Hardness Generator, AragaMilk Liquid Araganite (only like 1 single drop required apparently for lower pH tanks) and Aquasonic Amazon Water Conditioner.

Will let everyone know what its like when I get it. I wanted to do the seachem range but it just seemed so expensive and such a big dose was needed with some.

The seachem lower cichlid pH one I tried (7.8 or something) and it wasn't bad, only needed a pinch or two to keep it in the pH 6 range but I was a bit worried over time of the salts build up and my corydoras in the tanks.

I seem to have a complete mental blockage when it comes to water chemistry and as you've seen Bigjohnno, even when I do learn it, it falls through my seive after a while lol.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Pleased you got it sorted. I've never seen anything like this, but a lot of aquatic fungi are associated with low pH, so it might be a bit of a warning sign that the pH has fallen.

I wish my rain-water was as pure as yours, it picks up calcium carbonate from atmospheric dust, and the only time I've got almost pure rain-water was after the snow last year.

If you don't want to muck about with chemicals, a small bag of coral gravel or Oyster shell grit (sold as "chick grit") would do.

Have a look at these posts, for a bit more detail:
<http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9323>
<http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8904>
<http://www.plecoplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8744>

cheers Darrel

 

[Brengun]

Yes I did the add a bit of coral chips to the gravel but it was very hard to add just the right amount. It kept getting pushed up to like 7.6 and then I would have to pick some out.

Over time too, the buffering capacity of it is diminished and unless I pH check my tanks regularly I can cop a little hiccup of pH drop like I did the other day.

I'd like to regulate it either in the water change stored water or in the tank after a water change and set and forget it for a week until next water change.
Too much fussing and fiddling and my plecos get too shy and don't want to breed for me.

Yup very guilty of shining torches in every week or so! lol.