My fish died

[Adam Shivers]

I was wondering if there are any Ideas how to balance my system without any expensive tests. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to afford a test kit. Maybe it's not possible but I thought maybe someone has had success with something that I could glean from. I started my system with goldfish as I have always had success with them living long in just a bowl that we keep clean. Well why would they all die when the plants are helping me? Too many? - I've never had so many (15 or less) but I've also not had a 55 gallon aquarium either. I've had little one to two gallon bowls before. All of my fish died.

[Kobus Jooste]

blog is up

[Adam Shivers]

Thank you so much, my wife was just saying that I need to try and learn about this- as if I am not learning everything right now already!

TCLynx said:

know any metallurgists?

Here is a thread (kinda long one) but it explains about possible ways to deal de-nitrificaiton as well as some talk about perhaps chelating iron natrually within a system.  Kinda deep stuff some of it but perhaps worth a read to you.

RSG thread

[Adam Shivers]

what does DO stand for?

RupertofOZ said:

Kobus is correct, as long as your stocking density is within reasonable limits... and his explaination of oxygen exchange right on the money...

 

Many AP systems feed by siphon acheive acceptable DO  levels just by passive gravity assisted oxygenation....

 

But a small two outlet, battery backup air pump is still a good idea... and caters for any sirtuations where pumping may stop/fail...

[Adam Shivers]

Hey, where can I find it? (blog)   and also do you know "Tree 63"? They are a band that I heard was from SA and we have been listening to them a lot recently. we've been puuling out some old stuff and enjoying it.


Kobus Jooste said:

blog is up

[Kobus Jooste]

DO stands for dissolved oxygen - the amount of oxygen present in the water at any point in time.  The blog is posted in the general blogs area of the forum, not in any group.  Look for "the oxygen debate".  I have at least one Tree 63 album lying around somewhere - since I run all my music off the pc I have kind of lost track of some of my stuff.

Adam Shivers said:

Hey, where can I find it? (blog)   and also do you know "Tree 63"? They are a band that I heard was from SA and we have been listening to them a lot recently. we've been puuling out some old stuff and enjoying it.


Kobus Jooste said:

blog is up

[Adam Shivers]

cool. thank you for that. I just got an air stone, pump and line (and for the kis sake a fish that will blow bubbles! I will look into the oxygen debate!

[Adam Shivers]

does duckweed help oxygenate? 

[TCLynx]

Perhaps but only during daylight and floating plants tend to block more oxygen from getting into the water at the air water surface than they inject into the water so I don't think duckweed is a good solution.  Algae can cause extra oxygenation during the day but again, plants all use up oxygen over night and this is why fish deaths due to lack of dissolved oxygen tend to happen in the wee hours before dawn.  And if plants die off and remain in the water, their decomposition will use up oxygen as well.

 

For an aquarium size system.  A small power head type pump that also sucks in air with the water can provide a huge amount of aeration for very minimal power.

[Adam Shivers]

Hey that's a great Idea!

So if I keep duckweed - you advise another place? I was wondering if they would harvest it themselves. u know be lazy let the fish do the work!

TCLynx said:

Perhaps but only during daylight and floating plants tend to block more oxygen from getting into the water at the air water surface than they inject into the water so I don't think duckweed is a good solution.  Algae can cause extra oxygenation during the day but again, plants all use up oxygen over night and this is why fish deaths due to lack of dissolved oxygen tend to happen in the wee hours before dawn.  And if plants die off and remain in the water, their decomposition will use up oxygen as well.

 

For an aquarium size system.  A small power head type pump that also sucks in air with the water can provide a huge amount of aeration for very minimal power.

[TCLynx]

Well, there are some people who will tell you that in no uncertain terms should you ever introduce duckweed into your system.  And there are other people who have made it into a valuable feed supplement for their animals.

 

In a tank with fluctuating water levels or splashing water, I notice that a lot of duckweed winds up stuck to the sides of the tank drying out above the water line.  I've also noticed that a rather large tank with duckweed over the surface with only 12 tilapia added can be cleared of duckweed in a week but if you are still feeding the fish pellets, they won't bother eating the duckweed.

 

Here is a blog some one else wrote about duckweed with a very novel idea for a feeder.

http://120thingsin20years.blogspot.com/search?q=duckweed

The author is actually a member here now too.

[Adam Shivers]

YES   I love this.

TCLynx said:

Well, there are some people who will tell you that in no uncertain terms should you ever introduce duckweed into your system.  And there are other people who have made it into a valuable feed supplement for their animals.

 

In a tank with fluctuating water levels or splashing water, I notice that a lot of duckweed winds up stuck to the sides of the tank drying out above the water line.  I've also noticed that a rather large tank with duckweed over the surface with only 12 tilapia added can be cleared of duckweed in a week but if you are still feeding the fish pellets, they won't bother eating the duckweed.

 

Here is a blog some one else wrote about duckweed with a very novel idea for a feeder.

http://120thingsin20years.blogspot.com/search?q=duckweed

The author is actually a member here now too.

[Adam Shivers]

how does a clarifying tank work? does it just allow solids to settle while the clean water flows off the top?