Worst Tank Ever....

[blackers92]

Well lately I have been having some troubles with my fish, a few of my loaches and my bristlenose died. I thought that the problem was the pH as I had tested it at lower than 6, so I fixed that problem only to find my KH was virtually non-existant so after a quick purchase of a test kit for gh/kh I am now monitoring it and sitting at an acceptable 6 drops or something.

So my stats are fine, no ammonia, 5 nitrate, no nitrite, pH 7 and a KH of 6

and yet my tank is still dying, the fish are showing signs of stress, my loaches are hanging near the surface. The tank has a unclear green tinge to it. It looks fairly terrible.

I found the answer.
my tank is a pretty cheap all in one it cost me about 450 Aus dollars, to my shock the filter was leaking pretty profusly and that the "Patanted Air System" was not working the filter looked like it was going to explode. So I have come to the conclusion that there is insufficient aeration in the tank as it was fine before. I think that there must be a hole in the pressurised filter or something that has gone wrong that is causing the low flow rate and lack of oxygen.

It pretty disheartening, this is my first tank and its been fairly shocking , so I am going to do what I dont think is possible, but contact my LFS that sold it to me and see if I can get a refund of some sort. The actual company AA Aquarium wouldnt accept my reciept and warranty as it was purchased in november, I got it December 25th and you had to send the recipiet within 2 weeks which is stupid.

and yes I know my chances are pretty bleak seeing as though it is three months old, but seriously! I havent done anything wrong, I am anal about cleaning and water changes, and yet all my fish are dieing

I really hope that they dont suggest that I bring in the filter, because then all of my beneficial bacteria will die, and I will have to cycle it again, which will be an absolute pain , is there a way to preserve bacteria if I have to start over

Im considering saving up and investing in a better brand, with an external filter that I can put in a soundproof cabinet under my desk

any advice/ opinions would be appreciated

oh and for anyone who is considering buying a "blue planet" or as they are distributed from china "AA Aquarium" I wouldnt reccomend it

 

[meguro]

Adjust the output of the filter so that it is near to the surface of the water if possible. This will increase surface movement and help boost dissolved oxygen levels. Make sure the temperature doesn't exceed 27-28C, the hotter the water, the less dissolved oxygen is possible (keep it above 24C though).

Depending on the quality of the tank it self will determine if you need to buy a new tank or just a filter. I would guess that the tank it self is fine and that you only need a better filter. According to your profile it is a 37 gallon tank, so I would suggest looking at an external filter.

Have a look through this site
http/www.thereefshop.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10
at the different models. I would suggest an eheim classic 2213 or if you intend to upgrade your tank size in future the 2215. Of course though, there are other filters that you could choose from. If you plan to buy from them, shipping charges are ~20$ depending on where you are. I've bought from them a couple of times with no issues.

If you do have to take the filter in to your lfs, you could probably remove the media and place it into a bucket with tank water. It takes ~8 hours for the bacteria to start dying without oxygen flow and a food source.

 

[minxfishy]

Am I reading those stats right, 5 NitrIte, 0 NitrAte? Cos if your nitrIte is 5, then thats causing fish deaths. Have you got those the wrong way round?

 

[karin]

You say your stats are fine but nitrite at 5 ppm will kill all your fish. I think big water changes are in order but I'll let someone else advise you on that.

 

[meguro]

I assume he has them backwards but a re-test couldn't hurt.

 

[blackers92]

whoops

no they are backwards there are no nitrites, just 5 nitrates

thats the problem though meguro, the tank is like an all in one built in hood, with lights etc. Im not sure if I could modify it.

The filter is constantly leaking, im worried it will spill on my carpet

 

[blackers92]

so it looks like I may need a new filter

which one is better

Fluval 305 or Eheim Classic 2215

 

[Inchworm]

Hi blackers92

Did you figure out what caused your tank to have low pH and KH? Please test your tap water and see if it's the same. If there's a difference between them you will want to find out what is causing it. Perhaps it's something in the tank and you will be able to eliminate them as problems.

Depending on your long term plans for the tank and whether or not you will want to replace it eventually, you might want to look at the possibility of getting a less expensive, temporary filter to tide you through. One or two box filters can be run off an inexpensive air pump by dividing the media in your current filter and adding a bit of filter floss to fill the box. Afterward they can be put away and taken out to filter and aerate a hospital, quarantine, or fry tank. This is the kind of set up I have in mind.

 

[blackers92]

I came to conclusion that the bog wood must have caused the low pH and KH, My tap water has a pH of 7.2. My tank had settled on a pH of 6.5 so I thought I would just go with it rather then fight against it, but I guess this wasnt a good idea . Some crushed coral raised the pH and it is better now.

I took some photos of the hood and the filter, just to show you what it is. Does anyone think it would be possible to rig an external canister filter to it? There isnt much space but my dremmel could probably make short work of the plastic its only about 2-3mm thick.

http/i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb237/nbalakers69/photo6.jpg

http/i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb237/nbalakers69/photo7.jpg

http/i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb237/nbalakers69/photo8.jpg

Im obviously not going to do anything until I hear back from my LFS that I bought it from. Im going away for two weeks on saturday so if I do need to install a new filter I want to do it soon and I just got out of hospital aswell so im pretty restricted in what I can do

I was watching an installation video for a fluval edge and it had clamps that go over the glass, mine wont have glass because of the hood, would this be a problem?

 

[Nyu]

Uhm, I have a Blue Planet, the filter is exactly the same as yours, but I never seem to have any problems with my filter apart from this one time when I had accidently changed the outage, I hope things work out for you soon

 

[blackers92]

well I have some good news,

my LFS actually replaced my filter

but they suggested I get a better media that would last longer. I kept my bio balls and ceramic noodles as they had my bacteria, and purchased some EHEIM Substrate Pro. The man told me to take out the carbon which I should of done already and put the EHEIM substrate in two compartments, with sponge and filter wool on each side. The only thing is that the EHEIM substrate doesnt reach the top of the filter lid, would this be a problem?

it was really expensive about 70 dollars


Nyu!
tell me everything haha, I thought I was the only person in the world with one (joke)
I found that the lack of instructions with it was terrible, there was nothing about the aeration or flow control! BluePlanets website only just went online aswell. How long have you had yours for?

 

[superman1]

That hood and filter looks the same as the one i used to have which was a fish r fun tank i had which was all in one. never had any problems with mine.

 

[Nyu]

Nyu!
tell me everything haha, I thought I was the only person in the world with one (joke)
I found that the lack of instructions with it was terrible, there was nothing about the aeration or flow control! BluePlanets website only just went online aswell. How long have you had yours for?

Oh yeah, the instructions were terrible! I've learnt most of what I know from this site. I just fiddled with the flow control until I found it worked well for me, and I found for mine that if it's fully open then the control actually tends to leak! I've had mine since July of last year. (I got it for my birthday x3). To be exact I have the Haven 70 tank. Maybe you just got unlucky with a bad one? Or maybe I got lucky with a good one >w>

 

[blackers92]

yeh I have the atlantis 140

but I think they all use the same type of filter, yeh I have my flow rate valve open. I found alot of information on AA aquariums website (they are distributed by masterpet in Aus and NZ as Blueplanet). I guess we got what we paid for

 

[Nyu]

yeh I have the atlantis 140

but I think they all use the same type of filter, yeh I have my flow rate valve open. I found alot of information on AA aquariums website (they are distributed by masterpet in Aus and NZ as Blueplanet). I guess we got what we paid for

Oh I see. I thought we paid quite alot for mine being perfectly honest >w> (But I am quite a cheapskate so xD) And again, mine seems to work fine for me, just turn the valve to half open, it'll help.