wellayeman
New Member
I started a new job in a school last week and noticed the aquarium on the first day. I believe it's a Aqua One 275 with a sump and protein skimmer underneath but the water is no longer being filtered for some reason. There is no water entering the sump and none being pumped up into the aquarium. There's one large 4" fish in there and some smaller ones but I can't see how many due to the condition of the glass and plants. I want to help so bad but I'm not sure where to start with this kind of setup and the person who used to care for the fish doesn't work here anymore. I did a water test today and the nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels are really bad. Only thing that was OK was the pH.
Apparently it was all working OK until recently but I'm surprised the fish are still alive. I have never dealt with a sump system before so I don't know where to begin looking for problems or what to DO and NOT DO to ensure the problem isn't made worse. Can I take out the none essential things within the sump such as the protein skimmer and just strip it down to basics? E.G keep the layers of filter media in one section and remove everything else other than the submersible pump and heater?
I'm not sure what is wrong with the pump but I'm hoping it is just blocked with snail shells or something and will work as normal once I've cleaned it all out.
Can anyone give me a breakdown of what I should do in order to try and get this aquarium sorted out? Obviously removing the fish to a large container and getting rid of the trumpet snails is crucial but I need to know what I'm doing to get the aquarium clean, refilled and have a working filter system in place gaily quickly.
Ps. I have no money to go towards this so buying a new filter is not an option unfortunately.
Thanks!
Apparently it was all working OK until recently but I'm surprised the fish are still alive. I have never dealt with a sump system before so I don't know where to begin looking for problems or what to DO and NOT DO to ensure the problem isn't made worse. Can I take out the none essential things within the sump such as the protein skimmer and just strip it down to basics? E.G keep the layers of filter media in one section and remove everything else other than the submersible pump and heater?
I'm not sure what is wrong with the pump but I'm hoping it is just blocked with snail shells or something and will work as normal once I've cleaned it all out.
Can anyone give me a breakdown of what I should do in order to try and get this aquarium sorted out? Obviously removing the fish to a large container and getting rid of the trumpet snails is crucial but I need to know what I'm doing to get the aquarium clean, refilled and have a working filter system in place gaily quickly.
Ps. I have no money to go towards this so buying a new filter is not an option unfortunately.
Thanks!