last night i noticed that there where small black stones in my tank when i opened the filter the bags of carbon had riped and the carbon was everywhere,this morning 10 of my fish had died and the water was white, it also sounds like the filter is going slower than normal, what can i do?
Fluval Filter
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It sounds like the lose carbon has jammed the impellor and stopped your filter working properly, leading to increased ammonia (which will be what's killed your fish) and a bacterial bloom.
Remove all the carbon from the filter, and wash the rest of the media gently in some old tank or dechlorinated water. Do a massive (80 or 90%, warm, dechlorinated water, of course) water change.
Have you tested the water at all? What model Fluval is it, what size is the tank, how long has it been running and what fish do you have?
Remove all the carbon from the filter, and wash the rest of the media gently in some old tank or dechlorinated water. Do a massive (80 or 90%, warm, dechlorinated water, of course) water change.
Have you tested the water at all? What model Fluval is it, what size is the tank, how long has it been running and what fish do you have?
You're welcome; hope the worst is over for you; sorry for your losses 
+1 to what fluttermoth said. Water change should be first priority and if you know what's good for the fish, you're already half way though it as I'm typing this. It is very important that the filter starts running soon.
For future reference, you should not be using carbon on a daily basis and if you need to remove medication from the water, remember that it will need to be changed every few days as it gets used up quickly.
For future reference, you should not be using carbon on a daily basis and if you need to remove medication from the water, remember that it will need to be changed every few days as it gets used up quickly.
Yes, that is the carbon we mean.
There's no real use in using carbon as an everday filter medium; it doesn't remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, so there's really not much point having it in there. What it is good for is adsorbing (that's not a typo; aDsorbing is chemically binding substances, as opposed to aBsorbing, which is just sucking stuff up, like a sponge) tannins from bogwood if you don't like the look of 'tea-stained' water (but a lot of fish do like it) or medications; either because you've finished the course, or because you need to change the med you're using.
Carbon will have used up all it's surface area after a few days or a week, and so won't be doing anything useful; it does, however, make quite a good home for bacteria, so only remove one bag at a time, separated by a few weeks, if you want to take it out. You'd be better off replacing it with sponge or ceramic rings or other bio media; then if you do ever have to mediacate, you won't have to lose some of your bacteria before you start treating.
There's no real use in using carbon as an everday filter medium; it doesn't remove ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, so there's really not much point having it in there. What it is good for is adsorbing (that's not a typo; aDsorbing is chemically binding substances, as opposed to aBsorbing, which is just sucking stuff up, like a sponge) tannins from bogwood if you don't like the look of 'tea-stained' water (but a lot of fish do like it) or medications; either because you've finished the course, or because you need to change the med you're using.
Carbon will have used up all it's surface area after a few days or a week, and so won't be doing anything useful; it does, however, make quite a good home for bacteria, so only remove one bag at a time, separated by a few weeks, if you want to take it out. You'd be better off replacing it with sponge or ceramic rings or other bio media; then if you do ever have to mediacate, you won't have to lose some of your bacteria before you start treating.
hi again, in my filter i have 2 bags of the black stuff carbon i think then 2 bags of white stuff which i cant remember the name of some little ring things and 4 white filter pads. Is this all ok if i take the carbon out? and i clean the filter every 4 month is that about right with a 20% water change every 2 weeks?
I'd replace the carbon with more ceramic rings; like I said, only do one bag at a time though, because it will have been colonised by some bacteria by now.
Water changes depend a lot on your stocking; what does your nitrate climb to before a wc? Personally I do 60/75% a week on all my tanks. Filters need cleaning when they start to lose flow, although I give mine a quick rinse once a month or so.
Water changes depend a lot on your stocking; what does your nitrate climb to before a wc? Personally I do 60/75% a week on all my tanks. Filters need cleaning when they start to lose flow, although I give mine a quick rinse once a month or so.
take the black carbon ones out, and keep in the white rings in, they hold all the good bacteria x also keep the pads in.
Only clean the filter gently with tank water, or you could be washing good bcteria away, which can lead to a mini cycle,raising the Ammonia (not good)
The water changes sound good.
have you tested you water recently?
So, what's your (rough average) nirate level before a water change? That'll give you an indication of whether you're doing enough or not.
edit; and how big is your tank? BGK can get to over a foot long quite easily...
edit; and how big is your tank? BGK can get to over a foot long quite easily...
Google tells me that an Osaka 155 is 61cm long x 61cm high x 46cm wide, which explains why the knife fish is so small. It should have a much bigger aquarium immediately.
What was your stock before the fish died and what is your stock now? I am starting to think that the carbon accident exposed a bigger problem.
What was your stock before the fish died and what is your stock now? I am starting to think that the carbon accident exposed a bigger problem.
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