# ummmm



## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

l8 last night while i was allseepmy cat tipped over my diy c02 syphining the entire bottle of mix into my tank just wondering are the plants salvagable? im thinkking not my hands burn when i put them into the water meaning the ph has got to be horribly low any way just wondering


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

did a quick strip Ph was 1.4!!!!!!!! nvm all my fish are dead with what looks like burns the plants are half rotted and the only thing alive i managed to pull out were my cherry shrimp witch blew me away im thinking theyll be dead b4 too long judging by the condition of every thing else im just wondering if my 40 lbs of flourite is still good? how about the filter?it must have been like that all night for the plants and fish too have rotted the way they did. good thing my plants for my new tank are in today or id proly be crying right now


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

pH strip was wrong, (assuming your DIY CO2 was of the yeast, sugar variety - sugar, yeast, byproducts can't lower a tank's pH that much).

Sorry about the losses. Cats are evil that way.

I have a thread, with a bunch of #^T&@#% stuff as the title, around here somewhere from when my 4yo niece tipped my bottle over. It took some serious plant rinsing and a little scrubbing (and 3 or 4 ~80% PWCs) to clear things up, but everything lived. If leaves have melted, prune 'em. keep any crypt roots & rhizomes from other plants - they may come back.

- found the thread - wasn't here, but at AC http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91838 it includes some lovely pictures.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Cats aren't evil! They do what they do. Live and learn, Cassius, to make everything "cat proof" in the future!  That's what I had to do!

Sorry about the losses. At this point, you may want to start over. I doubt that your bacteria bed is still alive, which means you will have to start the bio-processes all over again. You could try saving your plants, but I doubt they'll make it.

And, make figure out how your water is turning so acidic! Unless you are using battery acid as a DIY for CO2 injection, your pH should NEVER approach those type of levels! HOLY MOLEY!!


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

yeah i was shocked serious my hands burned and turned red after being in the tank for awhile. the plants are ruined the roots,leaves and stems on every thing has melted. i discovered this when i came out of my room to grab the UPS guy whom had my new light and plants  so ive been a bit busy with tanks today around 8 hours of set up then tear down argh  any way though the substrate is still good ? that was my only REAL question i dont just wanna throw out 40 lbs of it


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Siphon it. It'll be OK.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

pH1.4?? is that achievable with the form of acid CO2 and water creates?? siphon out all of your water and replace it with new. i suppose the new water will dilute wtv acid that is still in the substrate. sorry for your loss.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

stepheus said:


> pH1.4?? is that achievable with the form of acid CO2 and water creates?? siphon out all of your water and replace it with new. i suppose the new water will dilute wtv acid that is still in the substrate. sorry for your loss.


No, a pH of 1.4 is not possible w/ aquarium water & CO2. THat's why I said the strips weren't reading properly. If hands were irritated by the water, than something else was added too (not by the cat). The only thing that could drop the pH to ~1.4 is a fair amount of a fairly concentrated acid (muriatic, phosphoric, perchloric, nitric, maybe sulfuric).

I'd toss all of the old water, rinse everything and start over w/ the cycle, keeping any remotely decent looking root balls & rhizomes - just in case one wasn't totally killed. And I'd be more careful about who/what has access to the aquarium (in case the evil wasn't all feline).


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## cassiusclay (Feb 19, 2007)

yeah the strips were definatly wrong my chem teacher said 1.4 would have burned my hands to the bone. he said 1.4 is around the Ph of sulfuric acid lol  so lets pray my water isnt that bad according to him at least the absolute lowest the Ph couldve gotten would have been around 5.5-6 and that would be extreme. how ever good news my little cherries are still alive !!!!!! im shocked i was under the impression they would be the first to go.any way i couldve been worse at least the cat didnt poo or pee in it im thinkin that would have caused a rather large waste spike and killed my shrimp as well


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

You may want to rinse out the gravel too, if possible! All will be well, eventually again!


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## Muirner (Jan 9, 2007)

Sounds like your on your way to being all set again. With a good cleaning and a new plant order you should be set to go.


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