Tank Filter Crash, No Clear Reason

[Fella]

Ok so this evening I did a water change as normal, and for some reason a few hours later all the fish (including catfish I don't usually see) are at the surface gasping for air.


Stats were

Ammonia - 4.0
Nitrite - 0.25

and I didn't bother doing nitrate as this is a disaster at this point. I immediately changed the water 75% and the readings changed to

Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrite 0.25

Although I think the ammonia reading may be false due to testing straight after the change. Clarification on that?

I don't know what's going on here, or what even caused this, but advice on what I should do to keep parameters down, and all the fish alive, would be very, very gratefully received. It's 2am here and I'll probably be online till late...

 

[modernhamlet]

Wow. That's awful!

Fortunately, it sounds like you've done what needed to be done as far as keeping the fish alive. Obviously closely monitoring your water parameters and fish behavior for the next few weeks will be essential.

Did you do anything at all out of the ordinary on the water change? Different conditioner? Different order of doing things? Did you clean the filter as well? Is there ammonia or an ammonia containing product kept anywhere near your fishkeeping supplies?

While I doubt the spike was caused by an oversight on your part, we should be sure.

Something had to have actively added substantial amounts of ammonia to your water almost instantly. Even a bacterial dieoff wouldn't have caused that.

I'd give your water authority a call. Maybe they can shed some light on this?

Wish I could help more, but you got me...

Good luck, Fella! I hope everyone comes through ok...

 

[Fella]

Wow. That's awful!

Fortunately, it sounds like you've done what needed to be done as far as keeping the fish alive. Obviously closely monitoring your water parameters and fish behavior for the next few weeks will be essential.

Did you do anything at all out of the ordinary on the water change? Different conditioner? Different order of doing things? Did you clean the filter as well? Is there ammonia or an ammonia containing product kept anywhere near your fishkeeping supplies?

While I doubt the spike was caused by an oversight on your part, we should be sure.

Something had to have actively added substantial amounts of ammonia to your water almost instantly. Even a bacterial dieoff wouldn't have caused that.

I'd give your water authority a call. Maybe they can shed some light on this?

Wish I could help more, but you got me...

Good luck, Fella! I hope everyone comes through ok...

Thanks mate, it's nice to just have some words of encouragement!

I used the same conditioner as always, did everything in the same order, and did the same for everyone. The only difference is that there are now 2 small catfish in the tank, but, to turn the ammonia to 4.0 is insane, and something I don't think would happen in under 24 hours.

I did a gravel vac before the water change, and removed all previous uneaten food particles, so I'm doubting it's that.

As I have a tank running with a pair of identical sponges in, I removed one of them an added to what must seemingly be a dead filter, and swapped in a new one. I don't think I'll be feeding the fish for a few days either, to keep waste down to a minimum to allow the tank to clone. Both tanks will now be under a bit of strain, which is a PITA as one of them has my first batch of fry in that I've ever raised. Not a dream situation.

I start my new job tomorrow, I'll be in a right state haha.

 

[Fella]

at 3:10 I did another water test -

Ammonia 0.25

I'm picking up a pre-cycled (albeit with a small bioload) filter tomorrow morning (well, in 5 hours), so that should help.

 

[WILDER]

You did right in doing a water change, the filter might of been blocked through lack of maintanance, not having ago, and changing a sponge can put you back if you have removed most of the beneifical bacteria, i would add some nutrafin cycle if you have any to kick start the bacteria colony faster.

 

[Fella]

Nah, I'm not slack with maintenance so I very much doubt the filter is to blame. To go from "everything ok" to "ammonia top of the scale" in under an hour spells out that it's more likely the water I put in had something bizarre going on in it.

 

[black angel]

I take it youve been testing all morning? After doing a huge water change its best to wait an hour or so before testing.
What ammonia levels are you getting now?
Did you check the ph level and nitrates at all? A risisng of nitrate level and lowering of ph may have given you a clue that this was happening.
MH could be right and the water source is to blame.
Test your tap water as well just to make sure before any other water change.
Really sorry this happened but its great you were around so you could deal with it.

Heres something for you to read
http/www.algone.com/old_tank_syndrome.htm

 

[littleimp]

Dead rat in the mains water pipe??

 

[WILDER]

Lovely, never in a million years would i thought of that.

 

[Fella]

Lovely, never in a million years would i thought of that.

Urgh. I have to drink that water!

I tested my water this evening -

0 Ammonia
0 Nitrite


Seriously, I'm not an idiot. I did the tests the same as I always do them, everything the right way round, all the fish are fine, and nothing has died/is ill anymore.

I have no idea what happened. My guess is, I changed out all of the bad water I put in with the water change, replenished it with decent water, and now everything is back to how it was. The ammonia added was removed by the bacteria in the filter, and everything is fine.

I am so stunned by the whole thing though!