Filter Advice For A Newbie

[Term`]

I have kept tropical fish for about 8 years now, and I still consider myself to be a begginer,
I have the average community aquarium, with easy to keep tetras and the such....


recently I came back from 3 yrs at uni and I decided to stock some new fish (as my tank only really had 2 or 3 fish left in it), I got a range, including 2 angel fish, 4 guppys (2 male, 2 female, for breeding), 2 otocinclus (my tank was looking a little green), 5 neon tetras and 1 corydorus.

Unfortunately, all but the otocinclus have died, due to becoming stuck behind my filter during the night,

I am gutted about loosing so many fish, not only can I not afford such losses, it is upsetting for me as I have never had much of a problem with this filter. All these fish died in the space of a week, most within the last 2 days.

Appologies I realise this is no help, but I dont know the model of the filter, other than that it is a simple box filter from interpet.

I have tried looking at how they have got into behind the filter, and I cannot work out why or how they have managed it, any advice is welcome.

also any help on a possible new filter that would be better in the £15 - £35 range would be apreciated.




This is my first post so go easy on me,

thanks in advance guys,

Term

 

[Bloo]

It's horrible to loose so many fish in one go

But to give advice, we need to know how big your tank is ? Length and litres/gallons.

I very much suspect that you added far too many fish to a tank that's obviously been long established with extremely low stocking levels. Your filter (as would probably any other filter) just could not cope with the massive new demand - which resulted in a cycle and ammonia / nitrite poisoning.

How often do you make water changes in the tank and give the tank a gravel vac ?

 

[Term`]

do a partial water change every 3 or 4 weeks, and hose the gravel each time, I test for nitrates and have not had high levels.

cant remember the exact dimensions of the tank, as I set it up when I was very young.

I only actually had 2 unexplained deaths, the rest died from getting stuck behind the filter

Once I get the internet at home I will post more useful information about my tank.

sadly at present, after moving home from uni, I am forced to use my mums 56k connection, which is terrible compared to my old 8mb adsl connection. I am posting using a friends net at the mo.

hopefully be back soon with some more useful info for you guys to formulate some kind of help for me.

thanks again guys


Term`

 

[Term`]

read a few reviews on interpet filters (which I think are similiar or the same as mine)


and they all say its a bad filter for sucking fish in, and kiling them,

so I am now looking for a new filter, any ideas ?

Term`

 

[Bloo]

do a partial water change every 3 or 4 weeks, and hose the gravel each time, I test for nitrates and have not had high levels.

cant remember the exact dimensions of the tank, as I set it up when I was very young.

I only actually had 2 unexplained deaths, the rest died from getting stuck behind the filter

There is absolutely not the slightest possibility of recommending a filter without knowing what size your tank is. At least tell us how long, high and wide the tank is. You must have some kind of ruler or measure tape somewhere ?
Of course you're going to test low nitrate - because you've only ever had a handful of fish. What's most important are nitrite and ammonia - especially when adding some many fish in one go - which will usually induce a cycle or mini cyle. Ammonia and Nitrite are dangerous to fish life and even the lowest of levels will make them feel unwell, can then lower their immune system and become suseptible to disease and die.

All your fish had very explained deaths - and not because they got stuck behind the filter.
They got stuck because they were ill, weak and had no strength and energy - therefor the natural current carrier them to the filter. That's what almost always happens when any fish die with any filter in any tank.

Hope that helps a bit ?

The bottom line is your fish died as a result of extreme instant stocking with a filter that could not cope. Which resulted in ammonia/nitrite poisoning and hence they died.

You need a test kit for ammonia and nitrite so that when you buy (a few) new fish, you can monitor those levels. When those readins are anything but zero, you immediately start doing 10% water changes daily until that's back down and remains stable at zero.

Good luck

 

[Term`]

I test for nitrates on a weekly basis and have never had a problem, and fish that had appeared totally healthy have seemed to wedge themselves behind the filter.
I dont really have any idea of the size of my tank, and as I have already said, I am not at home at present, so i cannot check, altho I have a feeling it is 3ft along its widest dimension, but as I said before, once I am home and able to get more info for you guys, I will.


as for the fish being sucked into the filter due to illness, I think with my paticular make of filter, it is actually a known problem....

http/www.ciao.co.uk/Interpet_IPF_Duo_No2..._Review_5002065

"This machine, this killer, this murderous cyborg seems uniquely capable of sucking fish (even of modest size) through a fair distance of water and into the mechanical bits."

I have a Interpet IPF Duo 2 in my tank,



I realise what you are saying, but I dont think illness was a problem for the majority of deaths, I think in this instance it could be possible they simply got stuck and died due to the combind stress and suction.

I will take onboard what you have said and possibly look into changing a few things, and buying a full testing kit, I will still possibly look into gettin a new filter tho.

Thanks again

 

[Term`]

guess all I can do is make damn sure my water is perfect, and if it happens again, I kno its the filter, otherwise I kno the water is fine,

I think up until now I relied too heavily on nitrate detection, and that was always clear, guess I need to check for everything else,

 

[Bloo]

I test for nitrates on a weekly basis and have never had a problem, and fish that had appeared totally healthy have seemed to wedge themselves behind the filter.

If your tank is stable and stocking doesn't change - there is no need to test for nitrAtes weekly. They generally remain more or less the same.

However NitrItes is what you need to test for when adding lost of new fish or making a big tank change like putting a new filter in.

 

[Term`]

I test for nitrates on a weekly basis and have never had a problem, and fish that had appeared totally healthy have seemed to wedge themselves behind the filter.

If your tank is stable and stocking doesn't change - there is no need to test for nitrAtes weekly. They generally remain more or less the same.

However NitrItes is what you need to test for when adding lost of new fish or making a big tank change like putting a new filter in.

ok, I am left wondering which it is that I test for now......


well I am still getting back into the hang of things after 3 yrs away from my tank, I'm gonna get a new filter, along with a test kit to make sure everything is fine, and then wen I buy fish try to limit the amount I get each time to about 2 - 4 at a time,

thanks for all your help bloo