Squirt Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Hi guys, Last week I did a remodel of my tank and figured it had been about 8 months since my last filter clean, so I got a bucket full of tank water and put my biological media into that bucket and hosed out the sponges and stuff. A week later I decided to test the water and Ammonia is about 3.0ppm nitrite and nitrate 0. Obviously signs that I've killed the bacteria in the filter. Tank isn't terribly overstocked: 530L, a red eared slider, 5-6 minnows, a couple of danios, a few tetras and a flying fox. I only feed every 1-2 days and only as much as he eats within a few minutes. I don't appear to have lost any fish, and no tell tale signs of ammonia poisoning which is weird, fish seem happy no red or bleeding gills. So what should I be doing? Just regular water changes until it cycles again? Thanks in advance Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Water changes, and dose with stability, or whatever it is you use. Prime can also reduce the toxicity of ammonia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikBok Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 i had a similar problem due to a clogged filter that I hadn't noticed until the water went cloudy! I did as calculator has suggested: water changes, stability and Prime. It took ages to settle down as I was doing daily water changes so as not to lose any fish. (thus prolonging the cycle but at least keeping the fish alive) I also dropped the temperature by 1 degree and kept an eye on pH .. used pH proper 7 while it was re cycling - i know it's not ideal (I have pants) but I wanted to keep all my fish alive. higher temp and pH increase the ammonia toxicity so that was my reasoning.. my pH was a little higher than 7 so I dropped it over a few days and will let it reach it's natural equilibrium now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Water changes, and dose with stability, or whatever it is you use. +1, this sort of scenario is the only time I would consider using the "bottled bacteria" necessary. I'd also suggest cleaning out your filter more regularly so this doesn't happen! How dirty was your bio media? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Any time I've had similar, left filters unplugged for a few days, etc. I just gave them a good clean and plugged them back in. No noticable issues over the week or so it would take to recolonize the filter from bacteria in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 You can buy a product called something like "water conditioner" from your LFS, and believe it or not it works really well. It certainly won't solve all your issues for a 530L tank (unless you bought litres of the stuff), but it re-introduces all the helpful bacteria. I've done it to 200L tanks and able to get my tank cycled within a week, as opposed to the normal 4 weeks. How old is your RES? Ours started noticing that fish could be food after about 18 months, just be sure not to put any fish in there you don't mind losing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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