Will do. I'll do a 50% change today, take out the plants and other items.
I think the rocks should be fine as I don't bleach clean them (I was in
error on the first post), they're smooth river stones from the pet store, so
I only have to wipe them down with a paper towel and rinse to get rid of
alage growth.

Fish were in two other small tanks I have during the cleaning, two 10 gallon
tanks that I let set for 2 days with bubbler prior. All water was tested
prior to moving them over.

Salt levels are at just over 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons. I've read
everything from 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons up to 2 tablespoons per 10 gallons
and none of them seem to agree (salt packages, websites, books and
magazines). So, I split the difference. Levels should be exactly that, as
I top off the tank with fresh water before removing water with waterchange,
and then I replace with aged water with the 1.5 tablespoons per 10 gallons.

Why no charcoal? Just curious.

NEVER replace the batting, or just once a month? After 3 or so rinsings, it
becomes pretty stained.

Thanks for all of the advice, as usual.

Devin

wrote in message
...
dump the charcoal. use polyester batting and dont replace, just rinse out
in treated
water.
what ARE your salt levels?
get rocks, coral and silk plants out of tank. ... something might be
leaching bleach
or ???
dont ever break down the tank and clean that thoroughly unless you got
dying fish.
the walls have considerable biobug activity.
where were the fish while the tank was going thru this?
what is your alkalinity?
dont use coppersafe.
I would try 50% water changes for 3 days in a row and see if everyone is
booking.
dont feed for 1 day and then only very small amounts of high quality food.
see how
they are acting after 24 hours. report back. Ingrid

"Devin" wrote:
I have a 40 gallon tank.
Emperor 280 filter
charcoal cartridge
extra media tray filled with floss
24" bubblebar
change 6-9 gallons of the water every week
1.5 tablespoons of aquarium salt and declor added to water.
polished river rocks
4 small silk 1 large silk plant,1 live plant.
1 small piece of coral in there to keep the PH up.
temp is 76-78 degrees depending on time of day.

Nitrite 0(zero) ppm;PH 7.6; Ammonia 0(Zero)ppm;
Nitrate is between 5 and 10 ppm (closer to 5 on chart).
5 goldfish in tank, 2 small (only an inch long, hatched last year),
one is medium with a 2 inch body, and two are large, about 8 inches
overall.

Here's the thing: had high Nitrates (almost 20ppm) a few weeks back- I
think
I goofed and overfed or something. It had been over 6 months since last
total cleaning, so I did one. Drained tank, rinsed and scrubbed the tank
with hot water. Broke apart and scrubbed out filter with hot water.
Plants
and rocks were soaked overnight in bleach and water solution, rinsed over
several days and in several different vats of fresh water, and air dried.
Scrubbed the bubble bar with hot water. (scrubbing of everything is done
with old toothbrush that is only used for aquarium cleaning, and one of
the
white nylon acrylic tank scouring pads).

Set tank back up, let it run with the filter going, bubble bar running,
and
a hang on canister filter with fresh carbon for about 36 hours.
Re-introduced fish. Have been checking water every other day over past
week
and a half and readings stay as listed above.

Okay, here's the problem. I have a large fish who keeps hiding. He gets
in
the back and wedges himself under the bubble bar and sits on the bottom.
When the tank was first re-setup, he was active. As the days went on he
first started hiding when the light was on. Now he hides all of the
time.
When it's time to get fed, he comes out and is active, eats, forages for
an
hour or so, and then hides again. I also had one of my favorite fish die
last week; I don't think it was related to this (she had had a pea stuck
in
her mouth 3 weeks ago and it was overnight before I found out about it
and
removed it, and I think it lead to her death), but I can't be sure.
Besides
the one fish hiding, none of the other fish show signs of injuries, fin
veining, or any other problems.

I think there is something wrong with the water that the tests are not
showing. Should I have replaced the bubble bar and bleach cleaned the
tank
and filter as well? Are there any other water tests I'm not doing that I
should? It seems to me that there may be waterborne parasites at work
here.
In the past I have had situations similar to this, and adding CopperSafe
medication to the water seemed to help for a while. I've done tests on
the
water right out of the tap, and they coincide with the results I listed
earlier.
Devin




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