Gio

Currently have a 40 breeder tank with platys, guppies and Cory cats. Tank was thriving up until the last few months. Added guppies to the tank and slowly my platys and guppies started dying. Some have been getting skinny and I’ve also noticed some have bloated as well. Didn’t notice that in the beginning. Cory cats have been doing fine. Also noticed my nitrogen cycle is out of whack. Ammonia was at 0.25. Nitrites 0 and nitrates were low. Made the mistake of rinsing my filter sponges with tap water. I have meds ready to go to treat the tank. Should I add additional beneficial bacteria (I have fritzyme) at the time of medicating or should I get the cycle back to normal first?

Or something cheaper like aqueons water clarifier

@Atitagain I currently have a aqua clear 70 with a pre filter sponge as well as coarse and finer sponges in it. I topped it off with some poly floss. I may consider buying a sponge filter as well for the extra filtration and additional water agitation since one side of the tank doesn’t have as much movement. don’t really wanna disturb the substrate to much right now so the cycle doesn’t stall/crash may also purchase seachem clarity to help bind the smaller particles that the filter can’t grab. Hopefully that helps too

Im hoping with more water changes the residue should leech out of the substrate more and the tank clears up Plants are doing fine and they cycle is moving along so I don’t wanna disturb any of that. Just doesn’t look like I’ll be adding fish anytime soon

@Manny that was the first thing I thought of. Even the filter floss stained black. I feel like I may have rinsed too much of the sand at once Probably will do a few more water changes and see how it goes

I did. Sprint almost an hour rinsing 100lbs of it with a hose and bucket. I know everyone says it takes time. Didn’t think it would need that much. I like the way the sand looks and would hate to tear the tank down and start all over again. I’m just worried the glass will stain too Not sure if a water purifier/clarifier will help. Was hoping not to add too many chemicals to the tank and ruin the cycle

Here are some current photos of the tank after a water change yesterday. I soaked my driftwood for close to 2 weeks, changing the water every 2-3 days. It released some tannins but it was brown, not this color. When I rinsed the sand the water never turned this color. Just cloudy. It only started a few days after I filled the tank. I’ve just never heard any issues with the black diamond sand turning water this color. Even my filter sponges are stained black

Just got back into the fish keeping hobby after many years. Set up a 40g breeder planted tank with black diamond blasting sand, spider wood, and dragon stone. The tank is currently going through a fishless cycle. Water was clear for the first 2 days but over time the water started to turn a purplish-black color and got darker each day. Doesn’t look like typical tannins from driftwood. I’ve done 2 75% water changes so far but it seems like the water keeps staining. I rinsed my substrate thoroughly and I don’t use carbon in my filter. Not sure what the cause is but I’ve been leaning toward it being the sand. I’m considering emptying the whole tank and changing the substrate to something different like eco complete but I wanna be sure of the cause before I do it. I’ve tried to research this but have come up with nothing. Any help would be appreciated. the attached photos aren’t my tank since I just changed the water but this is pretty much what the water looks like over time just to give you an idea (Not as dark as the top pic though)