Help! I Removed 1 Of The 2 Filters, Now Fish Are Sick.

[mike_nofx]

Hi, ive had my 4" tank (approx 350Litres) up and running for over 2 years now, and almost no problems at all until now.

The tank has an overhead 3 chamber spray bar filter. approx 3-4 months ago i added a canister filter which is good for 500Litres. It has been running excellent, and really clean as it is over filtered with both the filters running.

Last night i decided it would be a good idea to stop using the overhead filter as it is really noisy, and not as easy to maintain as the canister filter. I also done a big water change. I thought it would be ok as the canister is good for 500L. (so its just running canister only)

but when i came home from work this afternoon, which is 24hours since i stopped using the overhead i found the fish all gasping for air at the top of the tank.
I checked my levels and they were: Ammonia - 0, Nitrites - 0.25 or higher, and nitrates were very high.

Ive now done a 50% water change, and set up the overhead filter again. The fish seem better now, not gasping anymore.

What else can i do to keep my fish healthy? I need help urgently as ive had some of these fish for 3 years now and i am very attatched to them and dont want to see them die!!!

(Sorry about this post not being in "Tropical Fish Emergencies" but i kept getting an IE error and couldent post in there!)

Mike

 

[PRW1988]

Alright, well to me it sounds like that shouldn't have started a mini-cycle... But if your fish are at the top gasping for air then it's more than likly that the oxygen to water ratio in the water is very low. First off do you have an air pump? If not I recommend investing in one ASAP, this will help with the oxygen to water ratio. If you don't have an air pump, then your over hang filter probably broke the surface of the water which allowed oxygen to get into the tank. Hope this helps, and hope you don't lose any fish.



PRW

 

[Tolak]

The canister filter may take a day or two to catch up in regards to bio filtration. Feed every other day for a week, less food means less waste produced.

The water change was a good thing, drops the nitrite level, and increases the O2 level. Nitrite inhibits a fish's system from processing O2, increasing aeration by positioning the spray bar so it creates more surface movement will help bring up the O2 level.

BTW, I moved this to the emergency section for you.