Help Me

[arron]

something has gone horribly wrong in my tank , i think they may have been poisoned.
i changed 2 filter pads in my fluval 305 this afternoon and i normally do it with tank water when they are in use but before i put in the new ones i rinsed them under the tap in the sink (being new pads i didn't think it mattered ?)
we have being decorating and the only thing i can think happened is that work top next to the sink had some thing on it maybe paint thinners from cleaning brushes .
i'm guessin all this cos i really don't know ..... this morning the fish were as always happy eating and lookin good, the only thing that i've done is change the pads i don't even know if there was any thinners on the worktop.
the fish are kinda floating about gasping or dead , so far my female convict has gone aswell as 2 upside down catfish and my texas is lookin like a goner as well.
the remaining fish (male jack dempsey , male convict and sailfin plec) have been moved into a tub filled very qwickly with fresh water useing a hot/cold water mix and tapsafe , all my filters are too big for the tub i need to know
1. the tub is about 45 litres how do i keep the water good without a filter ?
2. is there anything else i can do ?
3. is all my bogwood going to be toxic now ? it was about 4 hours from me changing the damm pads to me coming home to a tank full of death

i've already had a weep , i'm devastated.
any help would be good
.
Arron (possibly the biggest idiot in england)

 

[rdd1952]

I'm not certain what could have happened but it does sound as if you got something into the tank. I doubt the bogwood would have had time to absord any toxins in that time frame but I could be wrong. You might want to PM one of the mods and ask them to move this to the Emergencies section as very few members frequent this subforum. You will definitely get more responses there.

One question though. Why were you changing the filter pads? I assume you mean the sponges (maybe not). I have 2 fluval 304s on my 75 gallon tank and I think the 305 is just the newer version. I've had them running for 2 years and have never changed anything. I simply rinse the sponges as well as the ceramic rings in old tank water every 3 or 4 months and put them back in. When you change them, you are throwing away a lot of your bacteria colony. Since your problem happened so fast, I don't think that was an issue but it could be next time.

If you did indeed get something into the tank, you will most likely have to clean the filters thoroughly. They would have what ever it is in them or on them. You will most likely have to trash all your media and sponges as they would have soaked up or absorbed what ever it was.

 

[arron]

The male texas and male convict have now passed on ..... the male dempsey and sailfin plec are now swimming normally but don't look too happy , i've added a fluval 2 internal filter.
i have spare tanks just no where to put them they were in a 4 footer and i'm clearing space in my very full of crap cellar for my new 6 foot tank but that ain't gonna be a quick job i'm hoping i'll be able to start that tank up by the weekend but even thats going to be a challange. The plan is now to strip the 4 foot, remove from cellor and if the fish are still with us fill a old 3 foot tank i have a spare fluval 105 but have no media for it .... then get stuck in sorting the other side of the cellor out for the 6 foot tank.
it's ironic that i only changed the pads becouse a mate had problems with his filter and had to start the cycle again so i was trying to speed his cycle up because my filter was so mature and running sweet. i am very passonate about keeping fish and never miss the weekly 40% water change but i don't test very often ...... the afore mentioned mate has my test kits but the tank is off now and the filter is empty and void of media so testing it isn't really needed i'm 99% sure from how quick it all hit the fan that it has to be some sort of contaminate from the filter pads although i've been sniffing around the sink area and nothing smells of thinners i only put them down on the worktop which wasn't wet and didn't let them touch the sink when i rinsed i guess i'll never really know =/
sorry i'm rambling on ....
qst's
1. can i avoid the cycling ups and downs by doing daily water changes ?
2. should i add any melafix in case the fish have any gill damage ?
3.would a fluval FX5 be ok on a 72x18x24 tank ?

Thank you for the info
Arron