New Filter = Dead Fish?

[miss_rawr]

the filter i was using recently decided to give out me D=
if i add a brand new filter, will this kill my fish?
sorry if this queston seems ridiculous
thanks for any help

 

[Craster]

If you just throw away the old and add the new one, you'll definitely have ammonia and nitrite problems because your new filter will have no bacteria in it.

How long has your old filter been out of action? If it's only a day or so and you've kept it full of water, you should be able to transfer over the media from the old to the new, and the bacteria with it. As long as you do it before too much of the bacteria dies off, you shouldn't have much trouble.

 

[Davo86]

the filter i was using recently decided to give out me D=
if i add a brand new filter, will this kill my fish?
sorry if this queston seems ridiculous
thanks for any help

when you add the new one simply take the media out of the old one and place it in the new filter

 

[miss_rawr]

How long has your old filter been out of action?

it stopped working about 6 days ago now
my friend said it went really quiet the day after i left to go on holiday and that she realized it wasn't doing anything and it took it out the water becasue she was worried it would malfunction and kill the fish or something...

i just ordered a new one and then i started thinking about the cycling and everything...so i came here lol

 

[Craster]

OK, after 6 days of no flow through the filter, I suspect you'll have problems. Transfer all the media from the old one to the new one anyway, but you'll probably end up doing something of a fish-in cycle. Keep testing the water and be prepared for water changes any time you see ammonia or nitrite.

 

[Athena]

OK, after 6 days of no flow through the filter, I suspect you'll have problems. Transfer all the media from the old one to the new one anyway, but you'll probably end up doing something of a fish-in cycle. Keep testing the water and be prepared for water changes any time you see ammonia or nitrite.

Are you sure that would still work if the filter has been out of the tank for 6 days? I don't know how quickly bacteria die off but would have thought 6 days out of water a bit of a long time to expect anything to be flourishing...maybe I'm wrong...would be interesting to see if anyone on here knows the die-off rate of filter bacteria.

Athena

 

[Craster]

Well no, that's why I said you'll probably end up with a fish-in cycle. There's nothing to lose by using the old media though, on the off chance that some of the bacteria has survived.

 

[miss_rawr]

thanks a lot for the advise

 

[jennybugs]

Do yourself a favour and get some Tetra SafeStart. It's very good for boosting bacteria when you have a new filter or tank to start up It's obviously not a total substitute for a matured unsquished filter sponge (which would be much better) but it it better than nothing.

Has your tank been running for 6 days without a filter? Have you been doing regular small water changes?

 

[miss_rawr]

Has your tank been running for 6 days without a filter? Have you been doing regular small water changes?

yes it has D=
I've been doing water changes to try and keep the oxygen levels ok while i found a filter and got advise becasue i really don;t want to lose them all

 

[OldMan47]

If the filter media has been wet the whole time, you probably still have something like half of the bacteria alive. Put that media into a new water flow path and it will help immensely. If you have an air stone, place the media across the top of the air stone while waiting for the new filter to arrive. If it is a pebble type media, use a nylon stocking to keep it in place. That way there will be some water flowing across the media to keep the bacteria alive and help the tank chemistry somewhat.

 

[miss_rawr]

If the filter media has been wet the whole time, you probably still have something like half of the bacteria alive. Put that media into a new water flow path and it will help immensely. If you have an air stone, place the media across the top of the air stone while waiting for the new filter to arrive. If it is a pebble type media, use a nylon stocking to keep it in place. That way there will be some water flowing across the media to keep the bacteria alive and help the tank chemistry somewhat.

thanks a lot for that advice!