Debris in the bottom of my tank

[Bobbyrazz]

Hi all, wasn't quite sure which section to post this in. I haven't yet got any discus in my tank, just 5 cardinals and 2 young plecs. I seem to be getting some sort of sand-like stuff settling on the bottom of my BB tank. I siphon it out but within half an hour it's there again. Does anybody have any idea what it could be? I have a couple of small pieces of wood in there, is there a possibility it's from that?

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[DiscusLoverJeff]

Are you running a pre-filter sponge on your filters? If so, sometimes when you siphon a tank down below the sponge, particles will fall off when you fill the tank back up.

[Bobbyrazz]

No, no pre-filter sponge. It's one of the many things on my list to get lol

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[Keith Perkins]

Are you seeing much in the way of solid fish feces? My first guess with the limited amount information provided is that perhaps it loose fecal matter.

[Melissa]

Could be fish feces, could be from the driftwood... just stuff sloughing off maybe? How long has this tank been set up?

[Bobbyrazz]

Surely if it was faeces it shouldn't appear that quick after siphoning? The tank has been set up a long time, I used to keep Malawis which I moved on about 4 weeks ago.

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[jsalas623]

My debris always comes from my driftwood even after I'm done siphoning. But after I turn on my filters it usually goes to the back of the tank which makes siphoning easier.

[Melissa]

Hmmm odd.

It must be teeny tiny particulates from something that are in the water, when you siphon out what has settled on the bottom more collects and settles after...

Are you feeding any kind of new food? Change anything at all with the tank recently ? Maybe up water changes and give whatever filtration u use a good once over?
Could be anything... Lol

[DiscusLoverJeff]

No, no pre-filter sponge. It's one of the many things on my list to get lol

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Do you have sponge filters in general in the tank? If so, then what I see here is a dirty filter leaving debris all over the tank if they haven't been cleaned in a while. Also, if you have a canister filter, sometimes when you start and stop them, debris comes out of the tubes upon restarting.

[Melissa]

I wanted to mention, if you do decide to rinse filter media to maybe clear things up... Rinse it in a bucket of tank water. It's best not to rinse filter media in tap water in the sink because chlorine and other stuff in tap water can kill off whatever beneficial bacteria that have colonized on the media... Upsetting biological filtration in your tank.

I seem to remember getting sand like stuff that would collect on the bottom of my BB tanks when my sponge filters got super dirty...

[Bobbyrazz]

I've cleaned the filters, and all the pipe work but it made no difference...it's driving me batty lol

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[Melissa]

Perhaps this is stuff left over in the water from cleaning the filters then. I'd recommend a few good sized water changes over the course of the next week. I think it might clear up...

[Keith Perkins]

You might pull the driftwood and give it a good scrubbing too.

[Bobbyrazz]

Hope you're right Melissa, have been doing at least 50% every other day. I will do that Keith and see if that makes a difference

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[Bobbyrazz]

I presume it would be ok to use tap water whilst scrubbing the wood wouldn't it?

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[Keith Perkins]

I presume it would be ok to use tap water whilst scrubbing the wood wouldn't it?

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Oh yes.

[Melissa]

Keith.. sorry off topic. Love that Avatar pic. What strain is that??

[OC Discus]

Put it in the bath tub and fill 1/4 to 1/2 with water, then scrub it down with a brush that can get to all surfaces. Scrub hard enough to knock off any loose particles and keep rinsing as you go- plunge it under, turn it over, until all surfaces are clean. If debris comes off in the tub, good chance that was your problem.

You might also start with hot water for scrubbing, then rinse with cold water to open and close the pours of the wood.


Oh yes.