cessna driver Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hi everyone. Yesterday I installed a CF1200 canister filter on my AR980. Now half of my neons and glowlights are dead or dying, and my dwarf gaurami has little interest in food (normally pigs out). But I have 2 blue rams and BNC fry who seem to be fine Also in the tank are 3 x redtail sharks (all alive but dominant one not as active) Male & female BNC (female was trying to jump out then going down and blowing bubbles out of her gills. I have a pearl gourami that I moved to a quarantine tank just after I got the new filter on (Had been scrapping with the dwarf and has a damaged fin) he seems fine apart from going dull in colour from the move, he is still eating. lastnight ammonia was 0.25 - from adding fish a few days before i thought Nitrite 0.0 Nitrate less than 10 PH 6.4 (no change) KH 0 Then did a 50l water change Tank has lots of plants but i have put an airstone in to see if that helps. And help greatly appreciated, Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 do you still have your old filter running on the tank? Did you give the new one a good rinse out in some old tank water? anything else that you have changed since? Reccomend 30-40 % water change immediately, with dechlorinator. Air stone will help keep O2 up and keep water circulation. by the sounds of this (female was trying to jump out then going down and blowing bubbles out of her gills. She is trying to get extra O2. Or her gills are irritated/mucosa. Have you checked your temperature settings or anything else that may have been bumped in the changeover? The Low PH may mean that the ammonia is locked up as NH4+, but it is still there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted December 29, 2009 Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 The female bn is indicating a lack of oxygen in the water and the ammonia level (although low) certainly indicates a presence of it in the tank. I think you have had an ammonia spike overnight which has killed off a lot of fish in the tank. Keep up the water changes and keep an airline running until things settle. May be 2-3 weeks. I can't imagine that the new filter is totally responsible for this (is it a brand new one or second hand?) but will certainly not be helping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cessna driver Posted December 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2009 Hi guys Filter is brand new and washed out with hot water and air dried. I put the noodles from the original hood filter mixed with the new ones in the bottom 2 baskets, so the original filter is not going. Tank temp set at 25 but has been around 27, is now at 24.3 after w/c I have done a 30% w/c, will do another one later. One of the dead neons has a ruptured chest and i don't think i crushed it under a rock either . I have a quarantine tank set up with a pearl gourami in it filled with 3/4 water from the main tank before the new filter when on but it's not cycled yet, I thought of putting the other fish in here not sure if the sick fish will harm the pearl, and it's only 40L other than the filter, and the 10 glowlights and 2 rams I got on Sunday, nothing has changed Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricketman Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 other than the filter, and the 10 glowlights and 2 rams I got on Sunday, nothing has changed Bingo... Whats happened is youve coupled new bio-load (extra fish) with a new filter (some, but apparently not enough bacteria) and the resultant ammonia spike has caused the deaths (probably more locked up as NH4+ due to your low pH, but due to most test kits only testing the reactant NH3, you might not know its there). Keep up the W/C on both tanks. Adding a bacterialogical supplement such as prime etc will help induce a bacterialogical flourish to help avoid the spikes. You've now had your ammonia spike, next shall be nitrites (already underway probably), then nitrates... the nitrate spike causes the "new-tank-algae" All of which can be avoided by W/C daily. you win some, you lose some, you learn some... 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cessna driver Posted December 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Cheers guys I have poured in a bottle of Start Smart that is supposed to the bees knees so I was told, this stuff looks like the sludge in the bottom of the old filter that I though was just dirt build up, may be I should have poured that into the canister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 is that the TLC one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cessna driver Posted December 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 is that the TLC one? Yip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Interesting post this as it just caught my eye whilst thinking about what precautions I should be taking when I put my new cannister filter in to effect over the next few days. With the setup I have, I will be unable to keep the existing filter running but will transfer over some of the noodles etc as part of the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 I would advise both of you to add a handful of sea salt to your tanks. It wont harm the fish and it will react with any nitrite (if you get a nitrite spike) and neutralize its harmful effects to the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Yip i have found that excellent recently when setting up a new tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 i have found that excellent recently when setting up a new tank +1 to that. It's the best stuff you can buy for setting up new tanks and controlling ammonia spike imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 As per my previous post, I too have just introduced a new cannister filter. I did this early yesterday and transferred over all the noodles as well as some of the filter wool from the old filter. Today i did a few checks and noted amonia up to 0.2 similar to the inital poster however I havent introduced any new fish. Have done a 30% water change today and will do another tomorrow and keep an eye on things. Also have an airstone cranking away doing its thing. Oh yes, some sea salt added too. Anything else I should be looking to do? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Sounds like you are on the right track. Aeration helps to decrease the toxicity of the ammonia as does a slightly reduced temerature (within reason). If it were me, I would do a slightly larger than 30% water change and check again the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Cheers Jennifer. Did my checks again today and all coming up A OK but have done another 30% water change to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Cheers Jennifer. Did my checks again today and all coming up A OK but have done another 30% water change to be safe. Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy77 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 I had the same thing happen last week. It ws he same filter into the same tank but i still had the old filter running in it while the new filter cycled for a couple of weeks. But when i got home after the first day of it running i found 4 dead fish. I took the filter out and am still trying to decide the best way of getting it set up without killing more fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JK Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 That sounds a bit strange vwboy, especially if you had the old filter still running. Was the new filter actually 'new' and did you give it a good rinse out with fresh water first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy77 Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 yep straight out of the box gave everything a good rinse out before i used it. i'm thinking of running it in another tank for a couple of weeks then changing it over and hopeing i have more luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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