Filter Was Off For 2 Days

[Mr Miagi]

My 10 gallon filter has 1 cartridge the 29 gallon is a 3 part system. But 1 of them was just replaced yesterday

DOH! Any chance you could cut oit in half?
Before i get carried away though, what colour is the cloudy-ness? From your test results we can assume its bacterial, but it might be algae too. Go the water change regime. If your ammonia doesnt start to lower within say 3-4 hours after Torreans regime, id move fish.

 

[Torrean]

fishing 4 exotics was talking about the bacteria going dormant. I have not heard this before but if it is true then you should not need to swap media. A little boost can be provided by squeezing one of your cartridges over your ten or swishing it into the ten. Swapping a cartridge may not be the best option. We don't want to cause another mini-cycle.

 

[Lexie3787]

Alright well first water change done is being done now- I took the betta out he wasnt look too good. And the corys are floating in the 29 gallon-took awhile to catch. I know they are pretty sensitive so I wanted them out.

 

[Torrean]

acclimation???


EDIT: Oh floating...i guess that means you found some bags... stupid me. =)

 

[Lexie3787]

Yes-they ar efloating. slowly adding water-waiting-adding water-waiting etc

 

[pica_nuttalli]

the massive ammonia spike is probably related to all the dead bacteria floating around in your filter. that's ok, but you definately will want to dillute that significantly.

what fish have you moved and which ones are left in the 10g?

if you can find a place to move everything that's in the 10g, then you should just drain it and completely refill with dechlorinated water. i'd drain it half-way first and then take a cup and pour about a gallon of clean, dechlorinated water through the filter. this should help knock most of the dead bacteria and ammonia build-up out of your filter. then drain the tank the rest of the way. but don't vacuum the gravel b/c you've got a lot of seed bacteria living there and you don't want to disturb it. just suck out the nasty water until maybe a gallon is left. then refill the tank with *heavily* dechlorinated water; add the normal dose of dechlorinator and then add half-again as much just to be safe. (don't worry, an overdose of dechlor is like 4x.)

after the dirt settles back in your aquarium, test the new water. if ammonia/nitrite are still really high, then you'll need to resettle your fish elsewhere until things die down. the bacteria left in your substrate should be able to transform this ammonia into nitrite and the nitrite into nitrate. leave the lights on and any plants/algae in the aquarium will help digest the chemical wastes. once both ammonia & nitrite are back to pseudo-safe levels, put a couple of tough fish back in to keep the cycle going and reduce the load on your other tanks.

if no one can immediately return to the 10g...

the betta can go live in a well-rinsed pitcher for few days. just fill ~2/3 full with declorinated water and put saran wrap over the top so he can't jump out. don't worry too much about air access; LFS bettas survive the world's worst shipping conditions. so long as he's got 2-3 inches of air, that'll be plenty for a day. just remember to give him fresh water every day that he's in the pitcher. if you've got a plakat, your betta would be a good fish to return first to the 10g. but if he's long-finned, he'll be susceptible to ammonia damage to his fins and should not return until ammonia levels have approached zero.

i'd then put the neon tetras in that fry tank you mentioned with the java moss. can you pull off a pinch or two of the moss and add it to the 10g? adding live plants to a tank with an ammonia problem is always helpful. to keep the bioload low on that fry tank, don't feed everyday. a little hunger is actually good for fish and not feeding them means that they aren't pooping nearly as much. feeding a tiny amount every 3rd day should be fine.

the cories can go in the 29g. if you've got an airstone, an extra pump and another empty pitcher/jar, you can add the platys to that for a day or so. the platys would probably be the best fish to add back first to the 10g.

 

[Lexie3787]

The betta got moved to the 2.5 gallon made for the fry. The corys are floating for the 29 gallon. Neons im still not sure- I could put them in the 29 but im worried about the ABF. The platys i wanted to eventually move them to the 29 so maybe I could just do it now. For now the neons and the platys are in the 10 gallon. Im doing a water change and going to see if that helps. If not then I guess theres gonna be a move-at 12 am always fun.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i'd go on ahead and remove everything. the easiest and fastest way to reduce the ammonia in that 10g is to empty it and start fresh. all your bacteria is living on a surface somewhere; your water is just full of poison.

the betta will deffo eat any fry in that 2.5g; since that's also the only safe place for the neons, i'd put them in there and put the betta in a bucket. i'm hesitant to add the platys to the 29g for fear of the butterfly eating them, but then i'm used to the dwarf variety.

you've obviously already got plenty of ammonia in that 10g! it's going to eventually cycle whether you add more ammonia sources or not. i suggest a heavy dillution of the ammonia followed by a slow readdition of fish. basically, a partial fishless cycle followed by a fishy cycle. it'll be a bit tough on the neons, but it can be done.

have you got any plants? i've got an excess at the moment; if you want or need any, drop me a pm and i'll try mailing you some. live plants are magnificent for managing wastes in a tank.

 

[Lexie3787]

i'd go on ahead and remove everything. the easiest and fastest way to reduce the ammonia in that 10g is to empty it and start fresh. all your bacteria is living on a surface somewhere; your water is just full of poison.

the betta will deffo eat any fry in that 2.5g; since that's also the only safe place for the neons, i'd put them in there and put the betta in a bucket. i'm hesitant to add the platys to the 29g for fear of the butterfly eating them, but then i'm used to the dwarf variety.

you've obviously already got plenty of ammonia in that 10g! it's going to eventually cycle whether you add more ammonia sources or not. i suggest a heavy dillution of the ammonia followed by a slow readdition of fish. basically, a partial fishless cycle followed by a fishy cycle. it'll be a bit tough on the neons, but it can be done.

have you got any plants? i've got an excess at the moment; if you want or need any, drop me a pm and i'll try mailing you some. live plants are magnificent for managing wastes in a tank.

I have one in the 10 gallon-Vallisneria. It was just added a few days ago. There are currently no fry in the 2.5 gallon, and im sure the pregnant platys are going to abort with all the stress that they are probably exploding with. If not I have another 2.5 gallon-just not set up yet.
With the ABF I recently put a pair of German Blue Rams in the tank which are smaller than my platys and so far the ABF hasnt even cared to notice them. He just Swims around a thte top minding his own buisness. Ahhhh this is stressing me out.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

don't worry, it'll all be fine. just focus on lowering the ammonia levels to a reasonably safe amount. add the java moss; floating plants like that are absolute sponges for chemical waste. once you get the ammonia lowered, nature will take over and you'll see a lot of green shooting up. limiting everybody's food for a while will also help control the waste levels in the tanks. (what i learned this Christmas break is that even teensy baby fry can go for two weeks without you feeding them!)

with just plenty of clean water, everything will be ok. try not to stress too hard, k?

 

[Torrean]

I second that about the fry... my sister had a tank full of lik 200 cichlid fry that she left for over a week. They all lived...until they met my dwarf gourami.

 

[Lexie3787]

Well I did the water change-gonna check the stats in an hour and a half I guess. Ive never had a problem like this before so yeaa im new to the stress from it-thats a good thing I guess. My corys are now in the 29 gallon. 1 has already found his new home in a castle. I want them to stay in there for good-just worried about the gravel. Btw I have 2 Bronze corys and 2 Juhli. Are they fine just in pairs in the 29? They all basically school together.My betta is in the 2.5 gallon and loving it. Hes old and I think he got picked on by the platys.

 

[Torrean]

I think pica is right about moving the betta. wait you said you had another 2.5 right?

EDIT: just reread some of your posts and yes apparently you do have a 2.5 gal. Do you have a filter and a heater for it?

 

[Lexie3787]

heater- no
filter-currently MIA my mom prob threw them somewhere up in the attic (she hates my fish and everything about them) But if I do find the extra filters I have 2 whisper minis and 2 aquaclean minis. Id have to set it up and my parents wont let me go into the attic at 11 pm

 

[Torrean]

Here's what I suggest then. Take the heater and filter out of the 2.5..the betta doesn't desperatly need it. Put it on the other 2.5 and fill it up barebottomed if you have to. Then put the neons in there. Then you should clean the tank and filter like pica said. Then put the fish back once your ammo = 1 or less. Basically.


edit: that's a little too complex. I'm not sure what you should do. maybe forget about switching the filters. Just fill the 2.5 and put in the neons then clean the ten and put the neons back?