Ok so ive had a number of tropical tanks over the years....probably been doing this for about 5 years over a 10 year period. When cleaning my tank out I have ALWAYS cleaned the sponges out thinking that when they are dirty..the filter doesnt work properly.

Well...today even though i have been reading through this site all day i did the same thing!! At a time when tabby (my blue gourami) needs the water to be at its best....what can i do now?? Im worried that i have ruined things. no wonder everytime i go to buy new fish they tell me the water isnt ready and dont believe me when i say ive had it up and running for a year or so.

any suggestions on what i should do now?

monitor water quality over the next few days, if you get any ammonia or nitrite then you need to do regular water changes as per the link in my sig ;whats cycling'.

I really need to buy a water tester kit. ive never had one (as you can tell i didnt realise i needed one).

I wish i had found this site before this weekend. I have just spent £60 on the tank (new fish, plants, tubing etc) and now dont have the £25 i need to buy the tester kit. grrrr

should be able to pick the api kit up from ebay for about £15 if thats any help.

in the mean time assume the worst and do daily 50% water changes until you can get a liquid test kit and confirm the results.

did you wash out all the media?

there's really nothing wrong with washing filter sponges under the tap, its just how much you wash.

Edit - remember to check how you've spelt "how".. the W is dangerously close to the E

This post has been edited by Esfa: Jul 1 2008, 09:35 PM

Thanks for that will do....about to do it now. Just one quick question...does a water change stress the fish out? Ive got one injured fish and one on its last legs just floating around the tank looking sorry for itself.



Yeah i washed the lot. Ive always took the approach of "clean is best" when it comes to the filter thinking that its job was to keep the water clear grrr this is why you should research things first!

if you've thoroughly cleaned all the media under the tap then it'll probably mean at least a mini cycle, without test results we can't confirm anything for definate, but water changes do not stress fish out or do any harm, so it's a case of better safe than sorry.

Thanks for your help everyone...off to do a 50% change now. Will really annoy the fish beings that most of them are resting

Yes, I agree. Without ammonia and nitrite tests, you will have to do frequent and significantly sized water changes to be on the safe side (don't forget to use water conditioner and rough match the temperature with your hand.) As soon as you have those tests, you can use them to gauge whether your changing regime is keeping those two levels below 0.25ppm and adjust accordingly.

The good thing about Esfa's comment is that no matter how hard you clean old sponges out, there may still be some good bacteria clinging inside them. The bacteria can get in there with a very good anchor. That means you will have a much better start at re-cycling the filter than would someone starting with brand new media.

Glad you are having a good read of the pinned articles, especially the cycling ones. The whole nitrogen cycle is really fascinating stuff and knowing as much as you can about it really helps you in the hobby and makes it more fun in the long run I think. As you get into it, you will continue to shake your head, thinking how crazy to be cleaning away these things that take so much care to grow and are so central to a healthy tank!

~~waterdrop~~

Thanks for your help people. I did the 50% change last night and will be doing it again tonight. The fish seem to like it when i do the water change lol...they all start showing off at the front of the tank.

Ive ordered a testing kit off ebay so as soon as that arrives i can figure out what i need to do.

One question...would it help me getting some filter media from an established tank?

in the dim and distant past (dim being me!!!!!) i used to wash my sponges under tap water every week!!!!! then id scrub the tank clean - i hated a 'dirty' tank!!!! i must've been doing cycles every week!! luckily i never lost fish (well maybe the odd one) but i just didnt know all this stuff. now i've wised up to it and embrace my dirty tank and mucky sponges!!!! the point is not to stress yourself out over things you've done 'wrong'. we all makes mistakes, learn by them and do our best not to do them again. good luck with your fishkeeping!!!

Ive been doing it for years now The good thing is im lazy and dont do it very often. I probably clean the tank out once every 3-4 months. So now i know what i should be doing and how often i should do it, i will do it properly thanks to the guide on here!

Strange how i never lost that many fish either but it was a slow and steady cycle of losing the odd fish here and there. Hopefully if i do things properly i will lose hardly any.

if you can find an LFS that sells 'bactinettes' then this will help, it is sold in chilled form and can help with these types of problem

They look good mate, no doubt they are a pretty penny too. Couldnt believe how expensive the products are for their size. Will price them up tonight

its usually around £5.99

Ok cheers mate ill look into this.