Fish Dieing Fast!new Filter Etc!

[danny ..]

hi there iv changed my filter in my duwel 350ltr for a fx5 external on sunday,, i done a 50% water change too, but come home from work today and iv lost 12 neons ,my two torpido barbs and the other day lost a congo tetra? can any one advise the best thing for me to do as dont wanna lose my other fish ,,, im assuming its cause iv got rid of to much bacteria,my fault really. i can drop them into a friends tank also! thanks dan

 

[fluttermoth]

Did you put your old filter media (sponges or whatever) in the new filter?

Best thing you can do is more water changes...lots of them; as much as you can, while still leaving a few inches for the fish to swim in.

You could scrounge some filter media from your friend too, that would help.

 

[KittyKat]

Did you move the media from the old filter into the new filter? What are the water parameters? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH please, as well as last set of readings before the filter was changed.

If you didn't do the first and don't know the second, do a 50% water change now and then every day for the next 4 weeks, reducing feeding, because you will have to cycle the filter.

 

[fluffycabbage]

oh dear same Qs as above

 

[Athena]

Hi Dan

When you changed your filter, did you keep any of the old mature media to put into the new filter? Or did you just literally take the old filter out, put the new filter in and switch it on etc?

If the latter, then, yes, you would have thrown your tank into a recycle with fish in - which isn't good if you have a full stock of fish in an uncycled tank...

They will be suffering the effects of shock from levels of ammonia/nitrite that will be creeping up daily, plus possible PH shock from the 50% water change.

Rather than remove your fish and dumping them into your friends tank, why not ask them if you can have a portion of their mature filter media to quickly add into yours? I know you will still have an issue with your tank stats for a while but something is better than nothing, at least it will give it a real kickstart into action as the bacteria multiply. The higher levels of good bacteria the less ammonia and therefore less water changes.

For now, though, you will need to be doing daily water changes of about 15-25% - but do test the water at your earliest opportunity, using a liquid test kit as you may need to do larger water changes depending on the amount of ammonia showing up.

When you have your stats, let us know what they are and that will help guide you a bit more.

Unfortunately, with fish-in cycles (with a full stock of fish) there are more than likely to be fish deaths or illness at some point or other.

Regards, Athena

 

[danny ..]

hi there , sorry the 1st post was rushed.i changed the filter sunday and didnt put the old media in ! my bad just didnt think,or thought it wouldnt be this bad as i left some water in etc. iv droped my clown loach into my friends tank and left my others in as the mollies etc look better then the loach did(pantting for air etc)
so were saying do big water changes every day till the water levels are ok . i dont own a kit so sorry i cant post up any reading but have normaly used my local shop to test it for me. iv just done a 20% water change and most of the water that went back in was from my friends tank so hopefully that will help!! would it be worth takin some of her water every day for a week,and how long do you think it will take to stablize?
relly not happy as it took so long to set the tank up nice and i really liked the torpido barbs n neons!!!
but on the up side i was very impressed with how many responses and how fast they came!!! thanks guys

 

[fluttermoth]

Well, if it's a new filter and new media, you're basically in a fish-in cycle now...lots of water changes (probably at least 50% daily) until things settle.

Don't bother using the water from your friend's tank; there is not enough bacteria loose in the water to make it worth while. Try and scrounge some filter media instead, as that will help seed your filter. Do try and get some test kits of your own; I don't think any fish-keeper should be without them TBH. I know they can seem expensive, but they do last a long time.

We all like to help if we can and time can be of the essence in emergencys

 

[fluffycabbage]

oopsy, well hey dont beat yourself up about it, but defo do some things to help the fish out now, like steal some of your mates filter media

 

[danny ..]

ok nice one guys,, sorry but does anyone know how long the cycle normaly takes? thanks again ,live and learn i suppose.

 

[fluttermoth]

It depends on the tank but about 6 weeks is the average. I'd really recommend you get some filter media from your friend's tank if you can; it would be much better for the fish and give your cycle a really great head start. They can give you as much as a third of theirs without causing problems in their tank too.

Don't beat yourself up too much; we all make mistakes sometimes.

 

[Athena]

Aw, well at least you're doing your best to remedy the situation now eh?

Definitely don't put water from someone else's tank into yours LOL. You don't know for sure what the water stats are on a friend's tank unless they did a test immediately prior to removing the water for you. There is no beneficial bacteria in it, anyway. You're better off with fresh, dechlorinated water (I take it you do have some dechlor for your water changes?)

If you're going to buy a test kit, try to get a liquid kit, not test strips. It's a bit fiddly and time consuming but more accurate than those strips.

Also, to help disperse the chemical build up of toxins in the tank water, make sure that your filter output flow is causing plenty of turbulance at the water surface. If your filter is currently completely submerged with no turbulance, move it up so that it's a tiny bit elevated above the water line. An airstone added to the tank will also create surface turbulance which helps to expel toxins.

One last thing ...if you can afford to buy some anti-bac medication, like Myxazin, I would have some of that to-hand as it is likely that if your fish are suffering stress it could lead to bacterial disease and if you already have meds at home you will be able to start treating them as soon as you notice any symptoms.

Good luck and let us know how things are going.

Regards, Athena