I killed all my fish.....

[Pittbull]

I was going to recommend the removal of some sand also frequent stirring up the sand when water changes are performed will aid in the dead spots..

As for the demasoni i would say at least a 10 demasoni group or 12 would be sweet and should not pose any issues for yellow labs..

Sorry to hear about your lose..

 

[biggdadyapisto]

would the gas pockets raise the ph as well? i stirred the substrate in my soft water 20 high once and i checked my ph and it shot up to 7.5. i was wondering as i cant have that happen when i have fish in it luckily this was while i was fishless cycling it.

 

[ibr3ak]

I'm with Pit, reduce the sand volume, 3"-4" is alot, try to go to 2" or less.

 

[Pittbull]

When mixing sand up in a established setup and if water changes are not regular than yes a lot can happen ammonia spikes and gas build up but i really haven't heard of a PH spike unless it was a new setup and the sand was a type of crushed coral seashell type and wasn't disturbed in a few days i could see that happening..

All in all if you are going to be using a sand substrate in a fully stocked setup i would recommend weekly water changes and the stirring of sand to eliminate those possibilities.. its what i do..

 

[biggdadyapisto]

well it was just eco-complete with sand on top.

 

[7itanium]

Sorry to hear it! I find it hard to believe gas killed because your deep vacuuming should have off gassed any lethal levels. Anything else done differently?

you might find it hard to believe.. but... BELIEVE IT!! lol

it happens.. I have seen it... STIR YOUR SAND!!

 

[ChiaJesus]

I'm sorry that I don't have anything to contribute to this thread, but is this only a problem with sand? What about gravel or Fluorite?

 

[efors]

It is much less common to have dead spots and trapped gases in a substrate with bigger particles, since there are more open spaces that let the gases escape to the surface without accumulating too much in the substrate.

 

[kyryah]

I have no experience with this, but I do want to say that I am very sorry for your loss. It was sad to me to read the title thread that said that ALL of your fish were dead. I hope that nothing like this happens in the future.

One question to the others that are knowledgeable about this... would it be beneficial at all to remove the fish while stirring the sand?

Kristina

 

[efors]

kyryah, it is not necessary to remove the fishes if you stir the sand frequently, once a week or at least every two weeks with the water changes. I do weekly WC and stir the sand every 2 weeks.