Help Please

[loopy lou]

a teenager has poured a glass of red wine into my tropical fish tank

i didnt find out immediately - the tank went awful and cloudy - i contacted a local aquarium place and they said a 50% water change which i have done now

it never fully cleared and is now getting worse again

i have one large plecky and one small rainbow in there - the shrimp died

what can i do for the poor fish?



loopy

 

[tom130691]

tbh i no it will stress the fish i would change all the water and clean everything in the tank
i would also do alot of water tests as the alcohol may kill the bacteria in your filter
have you and other tanks you can move the fish to for now ?

 

[mattlee]

a teenager has poured a glass of red wine into my tropical fish tank

i didnt find out immediately - the tank went awful and cloudy - i contacted a local aquarium place and they said a 50% water change which i have done now

it never fully cleared and is now getting worse again

i have one large plecky and one small rainbow in there - the shrimp died

what can i do for the poor fish?



loopy

Hi and welcome

what an idiot!!!! i hope you gave him/her a good ear bashing for this, or worse.....

i would keep doing water changes to rid the water of any wine until the cloudiness clears completely. try a 50% change then leave it an hour or so and check the water. then repeat if still cloudy. im not sure if alcohol effects the bacteria growing in the filter or not, i hope not for the fishes health and the teenagers life.....

if you have a test kit then it may be well to test the water for ammonia + nitrite just to be safe. if these are affected then more water changes will be needed to reduce the levels back to 0.

fingers crossed for your fish, maybe get the person responsable to come round and do all the water changes to show how much of a pain they have been and how much work is involved to rid the tank of a drunken moment that they must have thought funny at the time but wont after several big water changes and hanging around all day checking water stats etc.

good luck

 

[loopy lou]

thank you for the replies - i dont have any other tanks so i cant remove the fish

there seems to be a build up of brown debris on the tank floor

i will try and do the tests - the person responsible is not allowed in my house anymore

loopy

 

[loopy lou]

the ammonia is between 2 and 4

the nitrites is zero

(first time kit user)

loopy

 

[mattlee]

the ammonia is between 2 and 4

the nitrites is zero

(first time kit user)

loopy

what kit are you using, test strips or liquid based?

 

[Tortea]

You probably have a plastic box or two, i would put the fish in there for a little while while you clean the tank, just make sure the don't jump out.

 

[loopy lou]

the kit is freshwater master test kit four test tubes and six liquid tests with plastic colour chart cards

right will get a plastic box

loopy

 

[fishyfeet]

hmm im wondering if the alcohol had a negetive effect on your filter bacteria, seeing as you have an ammonia reading, and i assume you normally have a 0 reading so its seems you may have to re cycle your filter, or at least go along that route.
As you cant remove the fish, (or temp put them in some one elses tank)your only course of action is to replace water on a daily basis testing everyother day until youve got the ammonia 0, nitites 0 and a good nitrate reading like 30 or so.
You say you have ammonia and no nitrites it means the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites have been distroyed and i assume the same goes for the nitrite to nitrate ones as well. Dont panic, just keep doing small daily water changes and testing your water every now and then, try and keep ammonia and nitrite readings as low as poss to minimise damage to the fish. I forgot to say if you feed less or not at all, the amount of ammonia will be less. di

 

[loopy lou]

right -

so i am going to catch the fish and put them in a box

then i clean the tank out - its got lots of brown debris on the floor

do i need to set it up with treated tap water?

sorry but i am a real novice

oh thanks di, i am panicing a bit

so i am just doing a 50% water change again - did one yesterday

loopy

 

[hamfist]

loopy lou. Really sorry to hear about what happened. It's something that I dread one of my daughter's "friends" doing. I have educated my daughter thoroughly, but she cannot supervise all her friends at all times in our house.

It certainly sounds like the wine has killed all the bacteria in your filter, hence the ammonia spike, with zero nitrite.
Fishyfeet's advice is good, and if you have no other option then you will have to re-cycle your filter with the fish in situ. It is a bit stressful for the fish, but you seem to have little option.
Test regularly, perform frequent water changes, with minimal feeding, and you should be OK. If at all possible, try and get some mature filter media (or water squeezings from a mature filter) from another fishkeeper. Your LFS may even be able to help you here, if you tell them about your misfortune. If you can add the right sorts of bacteria to your tank/filter from another tank then it will speed up the cycling of your tank hugely (changing it literally from weeks to days).

 

[loopy lou]

i am off to world of water to get a cleaning tube thingy and will see if they have any bacteria

loopy

 

[loopy lou]

have done a 25% change and bought some ammonia reducer stuff

i have now got a suction vac thing to get some of the debris off the bottom

will test the water again in a while

loopy

 

[loopy lou]

thats got the ammonia down to zero!

 

[loopy lou]

just to say thank you all very much for helping me yesterday, i was starting to panic a bit and i really didnt know what to do for the poor fish

am pleased to report that the tank is clearing and both fish are still alive, the rainbow fish is looking happier (you know what i mean) i have more water ready to do another top up again today and will give the filter another rinse out and clean

i really dont know what i would have done without your guidance


thanks all

Loopy