Seeded sponge not working!

[locodiscus]

Hi everybody. Need some advice on a discus I bought from Hans two weeks ago. Hans gave me some seeded sponges to take home with the five 3-inch discus I purchased. I put one of the sponges on a Hydro III and stuck a big chunk in one of my AquaClear 70 HOBs. The were all doing great - eating well, growing, and coloring up nicely. I was doing daily water changes: started at 50% and then worked it up to about 80%. For close to two week, ammonia was at 1 ppm and nitrites 0. Then ammonia started going down and nitrites going up. I figure everything was fine at the beginning because Prime was detoxifying the ammonia. Ammonia is currently at 0.25 ppm and nitrites is at least 2 ppm (could be up to 5 - can't tell for sure based on API color chart). Four of the five seem to still be okay but I have a Fire Red who now doesn't eat and spends most of its time hiding behind sponge filter in bottom corner. Before this, he/she was top of the pecking order and ate/pooped the most. Everything went downhill after I did a 90% water change the day I discovered the high nitrite level (two days ago). It was the second WC of that day (first was 80%). To make matters worse, I was re-filling directly from tap and wasn't aware of micro bubbles until I looked up why they were shedding their slime coats. After that water change, they became dark and lethargic. The other four seemed to have recovered and are looking/eating normal again. Not sure if the Fire Red is still recovering from the micro bubbles or if it's the high nitrites or both. Now aging water for about an hour to degas before doing 50% water change (no pH swings here) twice a day. No more micro bubbles. Hans recommended holding Python hose above water surface level to prevent micro bubbles. I'll try that method but want to be extra safe for now. I'm really worried because I tried a fishless cycle before and I waited several weeks for nitrites to go down. Not sure the Fire Red nor the entire group can survive that long. I've done a 90% WC but nitrites shot back up in just twelve hours. Thanks for any help.

Setup:

Tank running for two weeks. Set up day before local purchase from Hans.
56 gallon bare bottom painted sand color.
2 AquaClear 70 HOB: both with AC foam, both with Seachem matrix, one with Purigen, one with chunk of Hans seeded foam.
2 Hydro III sponge filters. One with seeded sponge that was on one of Hans' hoses/tubes.
Couple Manzanita branches hanging from top.

[locodiscus]

Will post disease questionnaire and pics shortly.

[Skip]

Explain how your microbubbles look like... does it look like smoke coming out of water hose during water change?

[locodiscus]

Pics of my Fire Red and tank. Looks the same as he did when he was doing well. Never seen any darkening with Fire Red nor my Checkerboard. Is that just how PB-based discus are? I've seen my Turqs and Tefe get really dark.

8068780688

[locodiscus]

Explain how your microbubbles look like... does it look like smoke coming out of water hose during water change?

Didn't notice anything looking like smoke but I wasn't looking for it. All I noticed was discus being covered with small bubbles and sheets of slime flying off them. They turned dark and started hiding. Did that WC in the evening. Four didn't get back to normal color and eating until the middle of the next day. Fire Red still trying to recover.

[Skip]

Didn't notice anything looking like smoke but I wasn't looking for it. All I noticed was discus being covered with small bubbles and sheets of slime flying off them. They turned dark and started hiding. Did that WC in the evening. Four didn't get back to normal color and eating until the middle of the next day. Fire Red still trying to recover.

Its not microbubbles then. They would look exactly as I described.. something else is going on.

So are wc str8 tap?

[Second Hand Pat]

Hi locodiscus, are you adding a de-chlor like Prime when doing your WCs?

[locodiscus]

Its not microbubbles then. They would look exactly as I described.. something else is going on.

So are wc str8 tap?


Hi locodiscus, are you adding a de-chlor like Prime when doing your WCs?

I was doing straight from tap until they got weird after 90% WC. I was putting Prime directly in tank before adding water with Python. Now I'm aging water with airstone for an hour to degas since pH of tap (7.4) doesn't change after 24 hours. Also adding triple dose of Prime based on what I've read on Seachem forum. They say overdosing up to 5x will detoxify nitrites.. Fish are much less stressed now after WCs. Fire Red looks like he's coming around - a little more active but still not eating.

Thought problem was microbubbles because they started showing stress around time it's started getting cold here. But maybe it's the nitrites. Hopefully the Prime will help.

Don't think this is how a seeded sponge is supposed to work. Feels like the whole fishless cycle process again. Thinking maybe I've been overfeeding and the bio load is just overwhelming the establishment of the bio filter. Cutting down on the amount of feeding and eliminating Hans' beef mix until I'm fully cycled.

Thanks for your help!