Am 1 Ni .5 !!

[IceH2O]

Okay my tanks been cycled for almost 2 months. Water parameters have always been perfect.

I did my normal 50 % pwc Saturday and started adding Excel. The only cleaning I did to any filter was the HOB, rinsed the sponges and floated the biowheel while doing the pwc.

I noticed my Vals don't look as good and the water is a bit cloudy. So I added polyester fiber to the canister and HOB. I decided to just go ahead and take some readings.

Am 1 and Ni.5

Can dying plants jump parameters that much? Should I look for other causes though I can't see what it would be. The only thing I've done different in the past 2 weeks is add dry ferts, flourish and excel.

I'm doing a 50% pwc as I type this and will continue pwcs until the levels get back to normal.

edit:

Is it possible that the algae is dying off and adding to the problem?

 

[justintoxicated]

My guess would be that if the plants are not sucking up amonia and Nitrates then this woudl be similar to losing some of your bacteria colony.

Ont he other hand...
What is killing the plants? It might be the same thing that is killing your Bacteria!

 

[IceH2O]

Its only the Vals dying. I'm sure its the excel as they were actually growing pretty good before adding it.

I have another post in which I'm asking for a plant that looks somewhat like a Corkscrew Val but is resistant to Excel.

 

[justintoxicated]

Well if the Vals were sucking up alot of amonia (I don't know much about them) then maybe your filter has to do a little catchup and your going to go through a mini cycle.

 

[IceH2O]

They couldn't be sucking up that much. They're only about 5 inches high and I have about 15-20 of them.

I will continue the flourish trace and maybe the flourish at half dose. Since I did a 50% pwc I should probably dose dry ferts again but I'll only do them at 50% of what I usually do. Unless told different by someone with experience.

 

[IceH2O]

I think I found my problem...

I have Xmas moss in the tank, so I pulled it up off the slate cave and daaaammn a ton of junk started floating. So I did a vac of 33% of the water, pulled the moss out and added Prime.

I'll rinse out the moss and add it to my 20 gallon which only has 1 fish.
I think part of the problem was the filter flow goes right over the moss so the junk was getting pushed into it.

Still doesn't explain the Val melting unless high am and Ni can cause that.

 

[moesha]

when you rinsed off the HOB filters and sponge media did you use water from the tap or dechlorinated water? if you washed them straight under the faucet then you killed the bacteria that was living there and nothing is processing the ammonia, basically a mini cycle like someone said before and yes high ammonia will definately melt plants.

 

[IceH2O]

Moe, I'm on an individual well. I have no chlorine so thats not the problem though I appreciate you giving it a shot.

Took readings today and Am is down to .5 Ni is still .5 and nitrates are 10.

I swear the only thing I've done different is add Excel. I'm going to clean out the canister filter but not rinse anything. Maybe I have a build up of plant material in it. Its been about 3 weeks since I've done anything to it.

I have lava rock and ceramic rings as bio. I've heard lava rocks could hold and leech nitrates but that doesn't seem to be the problem.

Anyone with any tips?

edit:

Canister was nasty, but not plant matter. I gave it a rinsing and moved some of the media around.

I had 2 coarse and 2 fine in the same basket. I put them in seperate baskets so there is more circulation.

Bottom basket -2 coarse sponges
Middle basket - 2 fine sponges, divider, ceramic rings
top basket - lava rocks, divider, poly fiber

Anyone see anything wrong with this setup?

 

[justintoxicated]

Moe, I'm on an individual well. I have no chlorine so thats not the problem though I appreciate you giving it a shot.

Took readings today and Am is down to .5 Ni is still .5 and nitrates are 10.

I swear the only thing I've done different is add Excel. I'm going to clean out the canister filter but not rinse anything. Maybe I have a build up of plant material in it. Its been about 3 weeks since I've done anything to it.

I have lava rock and ceramic rings as bio. I've heard lava rocks could hold and leech nitrates but that doesn't seem to be the problem.

Anyone with any tips?

edit:

Canister was nasty, but not plant matter. I gave it a rinsing and moved some of the media around.

I had 2 coarse and 2 fine in the same basket. I put them in seperate baskets so there is more circulation.

Bottom basket -2 coarse sponges
Middle basket - 2 fine sponges, divider, ceramic rings
top basket - lava rocks, divider, poly fiber

Anyone see anything wrong with this setup?

Not me, but could there have been any changes that might have affect your well water? Maybe something died in your well water?

 

[IceH2O]

After reading your post I decided to check my well water.

Am 0
Ni 0

So nothing has changed there.

Still lost...