Fish scraping against the sand

[breaktime]

I have 3 fish scraping against the sand in the tank. I dont see white spots yet to indicate ich. The 3 fish are eating well, and are active. I'll continue to monitor but I'd like to try to head off whatever this is.


Also I have some algae on top of the rocks closest to the water surface that is green. I also see spots that are tanish in color, further down the rock. What steps do you recommend, pull rocks out and soak in bleach and water? How much bleach per gallon of water is used?

 Flashing can be from numerous things. Most common cause is a fluctuation in Gh for some reason. But also can be from poor water quality...
 
 When was the last time that you thuroughly vacuumed your substrate and/ or maintained your Filtration System?

My 125 gal tank has been running for a month and I'm using  wet dry filtration in a sump. the last time I thoroughly vaccumed was last week. Now my tank seems cloudy today so I am going to replaced the filters and do a water within the next 2 days.

[breaktime]

 Most common cause is a fluctuation in Gh for some reason.
 

I'm guessing you meant PH? Otherwise I'm not sure what GH is.

[danielratti]

Your water hardness its either called gh or kh. It can reflect on your ph but generally doesn't show it too often.

[breaktime]

Your water hardness its either called gh or kh. It can reflect on your ph but generally doesn't show it too often.

How do I test for that? I am using city water for the tank. What range should I be in?

[danielratti]

I do 3.42 on mine with a saliferts test kit. Generally a lfs that does saltwater can test that for you.

[Steve]

You can buy a GH/KH test kit at most decent LFS. The one I have is made by API and I actually got mine at a Petsmart surprisingly.

[Mastiffman]

My 125 gal tank has been running for a month and I'm using  wet dry filtration in a sump. the last time I thoroughly vaccumed was last week. Now my tank seems cloudy today so I am going to replaced the filters and do a water within the next 2 days..
 

I'm guessing you meant PH? Otherwise I'm not sure what GH is.

 a Month???


 Could be an ammonia spike. My Suggestions:

-Stop Feeding them for a few days to a week to let the BB Colony catch up.
-Leave Filters running and Do Not change them as you will remove the Built up BB. (cloudiness is a Bacteria Bloom trying to balance the tank out.
-Use a Master Test kit and keep and eye on your Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates as this is a very new tank.
-Do 25% water changes daily and use a Dechlorinator like API Stress Coat, Sea Chem's Prime of Safe.

 I also use 1tbsp/10g of Aqaurium Salt and Epsom Salt (Mag-Sulfate) but the ES is more for Raising the Gh as it optimizes Adult African Colors and also Keeps Bowel Movements regular. I have mainly Tropheus...

 If you can... Pull some media from an Established tank and rinse it out inside the 125. it will get dirty looking but will clear up in 24hrs and put the nitrogen Cycle in Check! If no other tanks, Head to the Local Fish Store and ask if they can give you a bag or cup of rinse water from a healthy tank of theirs and you can pour that right in the 125g and it will do the same thing.

 NOTE:

 Gh is for "General hardness" and is basically the mineral content in the water (mainly Magnesium and Calcium though). Africans require between 8-20 (Dutch Scale) or 145ppm (8 x 17.9 clark scale) to 358ppm (20x 17.9 CS)....

 Kh stands for Carbonate and Bi-Carbonate hardness and that is basically the buffering capacity of your water. These will absorb harmful acids produced during the nitrogen cycle in times of high waste and insufficient Beneficial bacteria Colony size.

 Ph is the level of Alkalinity of the water. 7 is Neutral, 7 is acidic and >7 is basic (alkaline)

[breaktime]

My 125 gal tank has been running for a month and I'm using  wet dry filtration in a sump. the last time I thoroughly vaccumed was last week. Now my tank seems cloudy today so I am going to replaced the filters and do a water within the next 2 days..
 

I'm guessing you meant PH? Otherwise I'm not sure what GH is.

 a Month???




 Could be an ammonia spike. My Suggestions:

-Stop Feeding them for a few days to a week to let the BB Colony catch up.
-Leave Filters running and Do Not change them as you will remove the Built up BB. (cloudiness is a Bacteria Bloom trying to balance the tank out.
-Use a Master Test kit and keep and eye on your Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates as this is a very new tank.
-Do 25% water changes daily and use a Dechlorinator like API Stress Coat, Sea Chem's Prime of Safe.

 I also use 1tbsp/10g of Aqaurium Salt and Epsom Salt (Mag-Sulfate) but the ES is more for Raising the Gh as it optimizes Adult African Colors and also Keeps Bowel Movements regular. I have mainly Tropheus...

 If you can... Pull some media from an Established tank and rinse it out inside the 125. it will get dirty looking but will clear up in 24hrs and put the nitrogen Cycle in Check! If no other tanks, Head to the Local Fish Store and ask if they can give you a bag or cup of rinse water from a healthy tank of theirs and you can pour that right in the 125g and it will do the same thing.

 NOTE:

 Gh is for "General hardness" and is basically the mineral content in the water (mainly Magnesium and Calcium though). Africans require between 8-20 (Dutch Scale) or 145ppm (8 x 17.9 clark scale) to 358ppm (20x 17.9 CS)....

 Kh stands for Carbonate and Bi-Carbonate hardness and that is basically the buffering capacity of your water. These will absorb harmful acids produced during the nitrogen cycle in times of high waste and insufficient Beneficial bacteria Colony size.

 Ph is the level of Alkalinity of the water. 7 is Neutral, 7 is acidic and >7 is basic (alkaline)

I do water changes once a week usually 50% last week 25%. My last water test was 5 days ago Ammonia .25ppm nitrite 0 and Nitrate 20ppm. I use dechlorinator by seachem. I'll do a water test tomorrow to see where things are at and post. Also my wet dry filtration has 2 compartments Top has a polish filter with a courser filter on top of that. Bottom compartment is all bio balls.

[Mastiffman]

Yeah, a fully cycled and healthy established tank shouldn't show any NH3 (ammonia) and only NO3 (Nitrates) and even your NO3 is starting to build up. And with a reserve of NH3 on top end, the NO3 will get higher unless removed/ Diluted through a WC.  As they and Phosphates can only be removed through Water Changes, Plants or some type of Synthetic material that will absorb it.

[breaktime]

I have 2 P ics of  algae that is growing on my rocks on the top 1/3 and a pic of the wet dry filtration in the sump.

[breaktime]

Yeah, a fully cycled and healthy established tank shouldn't show any NH3 (ammonia) and only NO3 (Nitrates) and even your NO3 is starting to build up. And with a reserve of NH3 on top end, the NO3 will get higher unless removed/ Diluted through a WC.  As they and Phosphates can only be removed through Water Changes, Plants or some type of Synthetic material that will absorb it.

Should I follow the advice you gave eariler? Stop feeding for 3 to 7 days and do 25% water changes?

[Mastiffman]

yes!

 Until the Nitrogen Cycle is put in check.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

My 125 gal tank has been running for a month and I'm using  wet dry filtration in a sump. the last time I thoroughly vaccumed was last week. Now my tank seems cloudy today so I am going to replaced the filters and do a water within the next 2 days..
 

I'm guessing you meant PH? Otherwise I'm not sure what GH is.

 a Month???


 Could be an ammonia spike. My Suggestions:

-Stop Feeding them for a few days to a week to let the BB Colony catch up.
-Leave Filters running and Do Not change them as you will remove the Built up BB. (cloudiness is a Bacteria Bloom trying to balance the tank out.
-Use a Master Test kit and keep and eye on your Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates as this is a very new tank.
-Do 25% water changes daily and use a Dechlorinator like API Stress Coat, Sea Chem's Prime of Safe.

 I also use 1tbsp/10g of Aqaurium Salt and Epsom Salt (Mag-Sulfate) but the ES is more for Raising the Gh as it optimizes Adult African Colors and also Keeps Bowel Movements regular. I have mainly Tropheus...

 If you can... Pull some media from an Established tank and rinse it out inside the 125. it will get dirty looking but will clear up in 24hrs and put the nitrogen Cycle in Check! If no other tanks, Head to the Local Fish Store and ask if they can give you a bag or cup of rinse water from a healthy tank of theirs and you can pour that right in the 125g and it will do the same thing.

 NOTE:

 Gh is for "General hardness" and is basically the mineral content in the water (mainly Magnesium and Calcium though). Africans require between 8-20 (Dutch Scale) or 145ppm (8 x 17.9 clark scale) to 358ppm (20x 17.9 CS)....

 Kh stands for Carbonate and Bi-Carbonate hardness and that is basically the buffering capacity of your water. These will absorb harmful acids produced during the nitrogen cycle in times of high waste and insufficient Beneficial bacteria Colony size.

 Ph is the level of Alkalinity of the water. 7 is Neutral, 7 is acidic and >7 is basic (alkaline)

This is the best description of Gh and Kh I have ever seem, GREAT Job !   Thank you !

[breaktime]

anyone tell me if the 2 pics i posted of rocks, is the brownish stuff on the rocks algae? I thought algae is green color.

[four_by_ken]

anyone tell me if the 2 pics i posted of rocks, is the brownish stuff on the rocks algae? I thought algae is green color.

Algae grows in all shades of green and brown. 

You can either just let it grow natural or scrub it off all the time.  The only place I scrub algae is on the front and side glass.  The rest is left it do what it wants.  Plus, some fish graze on it.

Bristle nose plecos are about the only ones that will really eat it and make a noticeable difference.  But, thats only a little.  Some people talk about dramatic differences, I havent seen it myself.  I do notice a difference though.

Direct sunlight is the biggest promoter of algae growth also having your lights on a lot will do the same.  But, natural sunlight grows it like crazy.