Brett

 

Things i want to focus more on:

Soil and the understanding of how it directly impacts the ammonia/nitrate cycle ~ this is still relatively new to me, however my other 4 tanks now have soil (amazonia APA) and are fine.

The tank i have when all my problems began, is it possible that something could directly effect the cichlid/cory family as those are the only species which have died in this tank.

The original post has coral sand as the substrate, I am assuming no soil was involved, so I doubt soil is the issue.

As for the impact of soil on the ammonia/nitrate cycle, like most things it depends (type of soil, how much organic matter, depth, contaminants, etc)

I have been using soil in aquariums for 20 years without problems.

The biochemistry and biology of submersed soils is extremely complex, but it is not really necessary to understand it.

You have to take care with freshly submerged soils as they will release ammonia into the water (the more organic matter the more ammonia they tend to release), but his usually stops after a week or two.

If anything soil improves the biological filtration, by providing a whole lot of surface area and a whole raft of different bacteria that operate at different degrees of oxygen saturation.

Cheers

Brett

Not been on this forum for a while, then I read this story and it makes you want to cry. Partly for Melee who is clearly extremely frustrated, and for the three tanks full of fish.

I am not sure what the problem is, it could be a number of things, and before spending a lot more money on set ups and fish I think it would be wise to take some steps to find out the cause.

Initially the fish became ill with white marks on the body, which could be ammonia but also a host of infectious conditions, not just white spot.

A necropsy examination by a qualified person might have provided the answer and it might still be worth doing, or a gill biopsy.

I know these thinks are expensive, but what has the cost of your tanks been to date and the added anguish.

Forums can be good places for advice, and I am sure you have asked everywhere, but for these difficult issues I think the best option is to document a time line with as much information as possible and then take it to the most experienced person you know and work with that one person to eliminate as many possibilities as you can and then test for the rest.

Common things occur commonly, which is why we bang on about ammonia, we see it so often.

However the rare things do happen, and all experienced fish keepers know of episodes of toxic ornaments, accidental poisonings, miscalculation of medications, flea bombs, errant cleaning ladies that have resulted in wipe out of tanks. These things do happen, but three times in a row is starting to look like a pattern.

I will make some general comments

Quaranteen, Quaranteen, Quaranteen

Add fish slowly and wait, then wait some more and then a little more, 3 months between new additions would be my prefered period

Discus are not the fish for a troublesome tank that is only 6 weeks old

Cycling your tank with disease ridden live bearers is not my prefered option. It is a six foot tank so you can put in a small number of the fish you want and let them cycle the tank

Good luck

I hope you find the answers

Cheers

Brett