Filter died - will this save the bacteria population?

Linda N

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The tank I am talking about is a 10 gallon half round with lots of plants. I have 6 pygmy cory cats, 5 male Endlers and 7 dwarf rasboras, along with a couple zebra nerite snails and a bunch of pond snails. Yesterday I turned everything electrical off to do a water change which was badly needed since I had been in the hospital for 3 weeks and there were no water changes in that time frame. My neighbor was feeding my dogs and fish and would top off the tanks when the water level dropped due to evaporation with dechlorinated water. Anyway when I turned everything back on after I added the fresh water the filter would not come back on. I had a sponge filter that I dropped in until I can buy a new HOB filter at the end of the week. I took the media out of the filter that quit and just left it in the aquarium resting against the side. Will this preserve the bacteria population in the media so that I can use it when I get the new filter to establish a new population in the new filter? And will it keep the ammonia and nitrates from spiking?
 
Yes. What you have done is just what you should have but before you buy a new filter check the impeller in your HOB. Clean the housing and impeller and the gizmo the impeller sits in really good. Spin the impeller in your fingers to check it. It shouldn't bind up one little bit. It should spin freely. Sometimes a bit of hair algae or filter floss or even a human hair will wrap around the shaft and stick it. Reassemble and try again. Those HOB's are usually pretty reliable.
 
I agree. You did exactly what I woould have done. Hope you’re feeling better too!
 
Definitely try to clean the impeller and filter housing thoroughly and chances are your filter will come back to life. You should do this about once a month to keep it running reliably.

If it still binds, you can also use a slender object like an ice pick to spin the impeller while filter is powered up and usually this gets it going again.
 
Too late - in a house cleaning frenzy the filter went right into the trash but I will remember this for next time a filter dies on me. I'm feeling okay - had a pleural effusion due to rheumatoid arthritis and stuck in the hospital with a chest tube. Might still need to have surgery on that lung - will know in 4 or 5 weeks when I go for a follow up. If there's still fluid in there, surgery in my future.
 
Take care of your new filter by cleaning it as stated in my previous post. Hope your health improves and no surgery is needed.
 
Too late - in a house cleaning frenzy the filter went right into the trash but I will remember this for next time a filter dies on me. I'm feeling okay - had a pleural effusion due to rheumatoid arthritis and stuck in the hospital with a chest tube. Might still need to have surgery on that lung - will know in 4 or 5 weeks when I go for a follow up. If there's still fluid in there, surgery in my future.
I’m so sorry, Linda. Prayers for a good outcome.
 
I'm on the mend - usually changing out the water in my two tanks - 10 gallon half round and conventional 20 gallon - is something I have to spread out over 2 days but I was able to do both of them in just a few hours, which is progress. I will get a new filter for that tank this weekend and maybe pick up a couple more red cherry shrimp and a couple more endlers. The endlers (all males) and the dwarf rasboras all hang out in one big group - they are about the same size.
 
Hi i woke up this morning and the filter on my
fluval 40l tank edge led aquarium has died.
I've tried everything but it is not working.
 
I got my new filter installed - crammed the media from the old filter into the compartment with the new filter media. I also got 2 more Endlers and 3 more pygmy cories so now a total of 7 endlers and 9 pygmy cories. There's also 8 dwarf rasboras in there - it's a busy little place with all of these tiny fish.
 

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