questions on substrate

[Bl33dy]

i have a few questions on substrate, because currently i have a sandbottom tank, and it seem slike the sand "sticks" to my fish, and it looks bad.

im wondering, to change my substrate, does it affect the biofilter of the tank, would i have to let it cycle again after changing?

im just thinkin i would be alot more happy with a some black gravel and i wanted yalls opinions on that stuff.

thanks as usual

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Sand sticks to fish?! Errrr....

It shouldn't totally destroy your tank, but it might shoot your tank through a mini cycle, or have a bacteria bloom, or spike in ammonia/nitrates.

I'm partial to sand, but if its what you want to do. I still don't understand the sand sticking to fish....

 

[Lakea]

I don't think that is a good sign if your sand is sticking to your fish... Never heard of that, I use sand and never had that problem. Maybe a change would be good then.

But yeah what c-man said, there will probably be a mini cycle. I have seen some people when changing subtrate they only change half the tank at a time. Usually with a week or so in between. That way you are not taking out a whole lot of the bacteria.

I think it is kind of funny, I have been getting rid of tons of black gravel so I can replace it with sand

 

[Bl33dy]

well i may not change the sand, its just an idea ive been tossin around.

and yea, it seems like the sand sticks to the fish. not alot, just a few peices, and it looks strange. i'll try to get a picture of it.

i did a water change today, so that may have caused it to stick a little worse, but i noticed it 2 or 3 days ago.

 

[Bl33dy]

well im sad to say that i found my rubber lipped plecos dead, my last leaf fish is just gone, and my rapheal is lookin bad.

m ylittle tester said that my ph level was through the roof, so i guess its time to start over

of course, the convict fry are just as happy as ever

 

[emmanuelchavez]

could it be ich??

 

[Bl33dy]

it very well could be, but bein somewhat new at this, i dont know how to identify it.

when i put my eel in there,after a day or two he looked pretty rough and i didnt think he'd make it, but he healed up and is fine now. this was over a month ago and i havent had trouble with any of my fish since, until now.

would you mind describing the symptoms of ich to me?

 

[Lotus]

This is a nice article on ich (with a picture): http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

Here's another article (no pics): Peter's Ich Notes for Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquariums

 

[FishGeek]

Im having a feeling that its ich. Check out those links that Lotus provided.

 

[Bl33dy]

thats exactly what it was. seems that what i thought was sand stickin to my fish was the parasites embedding them selves in there mucus coat. i feel so dumb for not noticing earlier now

do you suggest i just let the tank re-cycle for around 2 weeks before i put new fish in?

but, thank you for the articles and all the help. i dont know how i would be able to keep fish without all yalls help