Disaster Averted.....hopefully!

[divegirl]

Hi....and good morning...well just!

Just wanted to let you all know about my morning....and how I....with special thanks to my daughter have hopefully saved my three F8's!
My tank has been suffering with an attack of brown algae...so this morning I decided it was time to take all of the plants and decorations out and give the tank a full clean [luckily I had down a 30% w/c and filter clean last week].
Because the tank is brackish I only have silk plants....even so it was gonna be a big job....hundreds of leaves to scrub I left my daughter with the job of taking the 'fake' bogwood out...then I hear a scream.....Because of the smell!!!!! PURE AMMONIA!!!!!!! The fake bogwoods are of course hollow and much to my horror were full of it!!! Luckily she had the sense to just whip them out and pour the contents into a bucket. Just done a 50% w/c.....took tests before w/c and thankfully levels were 0 amm and 0 nitrite.
My gang of three are a little stressed as I have stripped the tank....but they're alive!!!!

So I've learned my lesson....but that said I see a lot of the same 'bogwood tree stump decorations' in other people tanks....did I miss some lesson on cleaning them?
Also how can I make them safer? Am thinking of sawing the ends off of them so that the water would be a little more free flowing.....would that work?

Lisa x [who's glad she has the day off of work....and may need a glass of wine very very soon!!!!!!]

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Make that a glass of Champaigne and thanks for sharing.... it is a peril of the hobby, and not every body thinks about it.... Posts like this, is helpfull as it expands our vission. Glad it turned out well.

 

[divegirl]

Make that a glass of Champaigne and thanks for sharing.... it is a peril of the hobby, and not every body thinks about it.... Posts like this, is helpfull as it expands our vission. Glad it turned out well.

That's the thing....I've never had this type of ornament before, they came with a tank I bought, but looked nice enough so I used them ...... I'm thinking that they may have the same sort of effect as toxic gas bubbles in sand that you hear about. Don't get me wrong, I have cleaned the 'wood' but only in the sense of in the tank water [don't want to lose that good bacteria ], the tank has been running for approx 3 months and I'd never taken them out completely.....my bad

And cheers Mr Venter....Champagne it is!!!! Are you buying

Lisa x

 

[Essjay]

I removed my fake bogwood out after I noticed a smell of hydrogen sulphide coming from it when I took it out to give it a good scrub. It was the kind that had a small hole leading to a hollow interior. Presumably with just the tiny hole there was no water circulation, so there was a build up of anaerobic bacteria like you can get with a sand substrate, as you said.
I got it from a shop that sells reptiles as well as fish. Would mine really have been meant for reptile use, not aquarium use? It's a shame, it's a nice looking ornament, but I won't risk using it again.

 

[divegirl]

Hmmm....sounds like exactly what happened to mine.....smelt awful!!!! I have sawn one piece in half and made use of my cork screw to drill holes in another piece [and to open the wine ]. Hopefully this should make for better circulation...if not...out it goes!!!!!

Lisa x

 

[mattlee]

i also have a tree root resin ornament that smells horrid when you take it out of the tank..... maybe this will have to be sorted too then! i have a large root thats fine but the smaller one smalls really bad, its open at the top and the only holes are in the bottom of the legs/roots so i cant see much water flowing through it. i dont get any ammonia, nitrite on tests but it smells really bad. its made by algarde i think.......!

 

[divegirl]

Bump

Just want as many people to see this as possible......

Lisa x

 

[lilacamy931]

Jeez hon! Glad your little guys are ok, hope they get a yummy treat as well as you and your daughter (quick thinking on her part by the way!) xx