"I'm Gonna Start All Over..." - General Aquarium Plants Discussions

ericpop27 · 06-21-2008, 04:19 PM

So, now that all my fish have died at the hands of my little brother, I have to basically restart my aquarium.

I drained about 75% of the water (twice). The PH and KH are really low, otherwise everything is right on target. The water is mysteriously cloudy (white). I just cleaned the filter out again but it doesn't seem to be clearing up.

I did get all of the dead critters out. I added a bit of aquarium salt and baking soda to try and balance everything back. Right now my two concerns are 1) Why is it cloudy and how do I clear it up? 2) It's a bit smelly, why and how do I clear that up?

And of course, I'm wondering if I need to go through the Nitrogen cycle all over again because it's practically like setting up a new tank.

Thankfully, none of the plants have been harmed - but I did get to re-scape and it looks AWESOME! If I ever get a working camera I will show it off.

ericpop27 · 06-22-2008, 11:27 AM

The tank has still not cleared up, so since I'm still in 'disaster zone' I've decided to buckle down and make the big change I've been contemplating since day one....get rid of the gravel!

The tank just has regular aquarium gravel from Wal-Mart and it has the undergravel filter plates in it. I'm going to take a trip to PetSmart to buy either sand or some sort of nutrient rich substrate. I'll also be picking up some Prime.

Then I'm going to empty the tank, put the plants and some water in a safe container, rinse everything out, and re-build from scratch.

I like my current aquascape, so I'll just be recreating that with different substrate. Wish me luck!

ericpop27 · 06-22-2008, 11:38 AM

Again, I only have a cell phone camera but...
The tank used to look like this:

Now it looks like this:

The old man · 06-22-2008, 02:27 PM

Looks like a good time to do away with both the gravel and the undergravel filter.
Probably should clear up in time, but if it really stinks it is bad under there.

ericpop27 · 06-22-2008, 03:56 PM

Well it's done! I took out all the water. By the time I removed the under gravel filter and the gravel itself, the water was black and the stench was VOMIT-inducing!

I one bag of used all-purpose sand ($3.46/bag at Wal-Mart). After four rinses it loses the orange dust in it and turns a nice neutral beige color. The grain size is also nice, not too fine like bleached white beach sand.

Will post pictures after the water clears up a bit.

Also, PetSmart now carries Dwarf Baby Tears!

Tex Gal · 06-22-2008, 04:25 PM

Wonderful Ericpop27! Can't wait to see the pxs.

ericpop27 · 06-23-2008, 01:56 PM

Still cloudy with sand, but here's the updated look

Tex Gal · 06-23-2008, 03:00 PM

You're on your way now! Maybe off center the log a little, just for a tad more intrest.

Sterling919 · 06-23-2008, 06:41 PM

That is terrible because it looked so good. I'm kinda going through the same thing myself, so I feel for you. I love Neon's and Cardinals...hate you lost yours...that is even more terrible.

Good luck.

ericpop27 · 06-24-2008, 01:41 PM

The tank is still cloudy and the KH and PH and very low. I'm not sure what's going on in the chemistry here. Everything else is reading normally.

I'm thinking of upgrading the lighting. Someone recommended a retrofit kit, but I'm not sure. Right now there's a total of 30 watts of light and that would only bring me to 32 watts. The standard fluorescent tubes are only 15 watts each...the compact fluorescent is 30 I think, but that's like two bulbs next to one another.

1) am I understanding the lighting correctly?
2) how can I get more WPG on this tank?