I never had that issue and use Rid-X regularly. Just dosed last night as a matter of fact and I notice just the opposite any traces of order disapear the next day.
The Use of Probiotics in Aquaculture
- Thread starter RD.
- Start date
About three weeks after starting this, I had a massive issue with my 300 gallon tank and lost 5 fish out of 19. I'm not sure if it's related, but the timing is very suspect.
My tank has been up and running almost 2 years and I've only lost one discus this whole time. About 2 weeks ago, I started losing Geophagus Red Head Tapajos every other day until I lost 4 out of my group of 7. They all got hole in the head and infections. I was able to save the remaining 3 by moving them to a hospital tank and treating with Metro+. I also lost one angelfish from unknown cause. My nitrates were pretty high, around 40 so I brought them down immediately when the first geo died, but then I lost four more fish before stopping the deaths.
Maybe it's unrelated to this, I don't know. Going 2 years with only 1 fish loss, and now I lose 5 is pretty disheartening. Especially the geos I raised from .5" fry...
I will not be doing this anymore, I'm going back to the KISS method. My goal in starting this was to maybe do filter sock changes a little less frequently, or bump up my water clarity but it's not worth it. My water has always been very clear and I'll just have to change socks every 4th day as I have been for 2 years. It's a little more work, but I just keep going back to what makes a healthy aquarium - pristine water.
Good luck to everybody still doing this, I hope it works and you have more success than I did. As I said before, maybe the timing is a coincidence...
My tank has been up and running almost 2 years and I've only lost one discus this whole time. About 2 weeks ago, I started losing Geophagus Red Head Tapajos every other day until I lost 4 out of my group of 7. They all got hole in the head and infections. I was able to save the remaining 3 by moving them to a hospital tank and treating with Metro+. I also lost one angelfish from unknown cause. My nitrates were pretty high, around 40 so I brought them down immediately when the first geo died, but then I lost four more fish before stopping the deaths.
Maybe it's unrelated to this, I don't know. Going 2 years with only 1 fish loss, and now I lose 5 is pretty disheartening. Especially the geos I raised from .5" fry...
I will not be doing this anymore, I'm going back to the KISS method. My goal in starting this was to maybe do filter sock changes a little less frequently, or bump up my water clarity but it's not worth it. My water has always been very clear and I'll just have to change socks every 4th day as I have been for 2 years. It's a little more work, but I just keep going back to what makes a healthy aquarium - pristine water.
Good luck to everybody still doing this, I hope it works and you have more success than I did. As I said before, maybe the timing is a coincidence...
That's terrable news, that sucks. Why do you think your nitrates spiked so high? Like I posted above I have had no negative and only positive results since starting the probiotics. That is interesting info, I can't see the correlation but the timing is suspect which would cause you to raise an eyebrow.
I believe the nitrates gradually increased as I don't test my water on a regular basis. I am meticulous about keeping my tank clean (I have 3 syphons - 1 store bought gravel vac, and 2 homemade ones for the sump and overflow)
As for the nitrates, I think my 24/7 drip emitter was slowly getting clogged and not getting enough new water into the system. I haven't changed any stock since last October, so no issues there.
I have learned 2 things from this though - I'll be testing my water biweekly and changing drip emitters monthly.
The timing is definitely what made me suspicious. I have been on this routine for 2 years with no issues, and about 4 days after my third dosing of rid-x, this happens. I think either my tank was settled into a balance, even with high nitrates and the rid-x threw that balance off, or they are totally unrelated.
I'm not trying to discourage anyone from trying this, it sounds like most everybody had good results. I just wanted to post my experience and see if anybody might have had the same thing happen. There's just no need for me to continue, I have a good routine other than the 2 adjustments I mentioned.
It's good to see you might be getting a handel on this. All results are appreciated positive and negative. We all learn somthing from every post. Good luck and sorry for your losses that really does suck. I know from your posts you take very good care of your fish.
@ roger & dxdx,
if Ridx is put in tank withOUT being contained within a fine mesh sock, it's media which only 'holds' the beneficial properties (Bran, which does not dissolve) will have to be filtered from the system.
Putting that in a filter sock would probably impede flow through the sock.
If the media were added in such a way as to get into a drip system, that could obviously be problematic.
The 'gray dust-like' stuff seen on glass etc, is only a result of existing detritus being broken down to smaller more degraded particles. I notcied some of that after first additions of Ridx withOUT doing a canister maintenance first. Nevertheless, after one big wc, the stuff cleared up and water clarity was at all time high. Dust appeared after my 2nd addition also, but I had no mech floss in my filtration. WC had same crytal clearing results. but next time I did wc, I opened can & added some filter floss.
Have to say my can was SO CLEAN, it was shocking.
My guess is the 2 issues above are why you had problems.
1. Rinse dirty media in tank water prior to first addition of RidX.
2. Hang RidX in tank inside a mesh sock which is finer than it's bran media, NOT in a sump filter sock. Not straight into tank, so media still gets caught by your first sock. Doing it the way Roger did will add two diff larger filter loads- not only the bran, but also the extra broken down sludge throughout system, hitting a wad of bran.
3. ^ doing #2 will prevent RidX's own media particulates from compromising a drip system.
However, I am not sure how much detritus buildup within a tank might be broken loose in larger amounts than usual and possibly become problematic in drip systems. If a system is aged & has quite a lot of surface sludge, perhaps some cuts loose without becoming fully liquidized first. chunks, similar to peeled surface algae.
In such conditions, I suspect that starting with smaller initial doses to permit slower breakdown of buildup would be safe.
HTH. I'm going off common sense, combined with what I observed when starting.
Now I only get the actual RidX cloud, for 24 & diminishing to clarity in 48 hrs. no more big deal.
if Ridx is put in tank withOUT being contained within a fine mesh sock, it's media which only 'holds' the beneficial properties (Bran, which does not dissolve) will have to be filtered from the system.
Putting that in a filter sock would probably impede flow through the sock.
If the media were added in such a way as to get into a drip system, that could obviously be problematic.
The 'gray dust-like' stuff seen on glass etc, is only a result of existing detritus being broken down to smaller more degraded particles. I notcied some of that after first additions of Ridx withOUT doing a canister maintenance first. Nevertheless, after one big wc, the stuff cleared up and water clarity was at all time high. Dust appeared after my 2nd addition also, but I had no mech floss in my filtration. WC had same crytal clearing results. but next time I did wc, I opened can & added some filter floss.
Have to say my can was SO CLEAN, it was shocking.
My guess is the 2 issues above are why you had problems.
1. Rinse dirty media in tank water prior to first addition of RidX.
2. Hang RidX in tank inside a mesh sock which is finer than it's bran media, NOT in a sump filter sock. Not straight into tank, so media still gets caught by your first sock. Doing it the way Roger did will add two diff larger filter loads- not only the bran, but also the extra broken down sludge throughout system, hitting a wad of bran.
3. ^ doing #2 will prevent RidX's own media particulates from compromising a drip system.
However, I am not sure how much detritus buildup within a tank might be broken loose in larger amounts than usual and possibly become problematic in drip systems. If a system is aged & has quite a lot of surface sludge, perhaps some cuts loose without becoming fully liquidized first. chunks, similar to peeled surface algae.
In such conditions, I suspect that starting with smaller initial doses to permit slower breakdown of buildup would be safe.
HTH. I'm going off common sense, combined with what I observed when starting.
Now I only get the actual RidX cloud, for 24 & diminishing to clarity in 48 hrs. no more big deal.
Petspoiler:
I stated in my post that after adding to filter sock, it began to clog quickly. That goes along with what you said, the bran was overloading the sock. After a few days it "cleaned" itself. I attribute that to the bacteria doing it's job and breaking down the bran. That is pure speculation on my part. Another observation is, when the return pump is turned off I no longer have the protein film on the surface. Another benefit to help gas exchange. The last thing is the odor. When I open the cabinet or pull the tops the smell coming out is quite strong. If we weren't smokers, it would be an issue and the wife would kick me out. It has been a month since the one time I added RidX. I am not doing every other week. The dust film wiped right off and has not returned. I am going to change the socks when I change water this weekend. I intend to add it to the sock to see if I get the same result of clogging and unclogging. If the smell stays the same I will live with it. If it gets worse I may need to change my methods. I did NOT clean the canister that is on the system, but will do it as well. It will be interesting to see what I have since it hasn't been serviced in 6 months. (FX5)
I stated in my post that after adding to filter sock, it began to clog quickly. That goes along with what you said, the bran was overloading the sock. After a few days it "cleaned" itself. I attribute that to the bacteria doing it's job and breaking down the bran. That is pure speculation on my part. Another observation is, when the return pump is turned off I no longer have the protein film on the surface. Another benefit to help gas exchange. The last thing is the odor. When I open the cabinet or pull the tops the smell coming out is quite strong. If we weren't smokers, it would be an issue and the wife would kick me out. It has been a month since the one time I added RidX. I am not doing every other week. The dust film wiped right off and has not returned. I am going to change the socks when I change water this weekend. I intend to add it to the sock to see if I get the same result of clogging and unclogging. If the smell stays the same I will live with it. If it gets worse I may need to change my methods. I did NOT clean the canister that is on the system, but will do it as well. It will be interesting to see what I have since it hasn't been serviced in 6 months. (FX5)
I see no need to re-enact RidX clogging your filter sock by putting it there again... why not just put it inside a fine mesh bag?
I can understand if you want to see proof & be 100% sure what happened. but THIS time the sludge conditions are different to some degree. the amount of sludge breaking down adhered to bran clog at first. so, not accurate experiment.
If you don't have any fine mesh filter bags, I think a tied-off tube of ladies hosiery would work.
Even when I started the RidX the hard way: added the whole stuff w/bran loose in my tank, did no canister maintenance to rinse off sludge, etc.. there was NO odor. In fact, prior to this when opening my canister it looked & smelled awful.
Since adding RidX during wc's, my opened canister is so clean that I almost wondered how it is working just as well, because people always say so much BB lives in that sludge.
The only job to open my can for now is changing the fine mech floss, and on eheims, that is right on top
no more gagging.My biggest tank is 180G, and younger than your system. stands to reason that yours will have more gunk.
IMO, RidX is breaking up & thereby revealing what has been "out of sight & out of mind" in your system.
Do some maintenance, man.
It'll never get this bad again with RidX or similar products.
I now do somthing simalar, I put the Rid-X in a med sized net and let it sit in the tank I close the lid of the tank on the net to hold it in place and give it a shake every so often to release the cloud into the water. After about 3 hours I remove it once I stop seeing it releasing stuff.
Sounds exactly like my process. I assume your just dumping out the bran particles as ive been doing with it?
