BobbyBray
Fish Fanatic
I've been keeping community freshwater fish for over a year now in a number of different types of tanks and setups. My current on is a 55 gallon with a Enheim canister filter and power ball to keep the water flowing. In the last year I've picked up a lot of tricks, tips and of course increased in knowledge, but unfortunately that doesn't protect me (or my fishies) from stupidity.
Last night I did a routine water change, pulling roughly 50% out and filling it back up. All fishies were fine, and swimming happily around the tank. About an hour later the auto light timer switched off and the fishies went to sleep. Later my wife and I also retired for the evening. This morning I woke up, and went to my computer desk to check emails and get ready for the work day. I idly looked over at the fish tank, and noticed some whiskers dangling from the top of the water, and quickly realized one of my pictus cats was at the wrong depth, and not moving much.... Upon further inspection I realized the water was not moving at all, and I HAD FORGOTTEN TO TURN THE FILTER BACK ON! Almost 14 hours of no filtered water and the final body count (as of this morning) is 13 floaters and 2 sinkers.
All my catfish, cories, pleaco, and most of the tetras were all goners
All that remain now are two rainbows, one lemon, one bleeding heart and a farlowella. I kinda feel like the Hitler of fish right now.
Anybody else make a mistake like this that nearly killed your entire tank? And of course the inevitable question is what to do next? Scrap the whole d@mn thing and sell the setup, restock the tank with more community fish, or take advantage of the situation and bring the survivors back to a store and switch to a different setup like cichlid?
Maybe I need to create a checklist for tank cleanings and make the last step: Turn the filter back on you MORON! haha.
Last night I did a routine water change, pulling roughly 50% out and filling it back up. All fishies were fine, and swimming happily around the tank. About an hour later the auto light timer switched off and the fishies went to sleep. Later my wife and I also retired for the evening. This morning I woke up, and went to my computer desk to check emails and get ready for the work day. I idly looked over at the fish tank, and noticed some whiskers dangling from the top of the water, and quickly realized one of my pictus cats was at the wrong depth, and not moving much.... Upon further inspection I realized the water was not moving at all, and I HAD FORGOTTEN TO TURN THE FILTER BACK ON! Almost 14 hours of no filtered water and the final body count (as of this morning) is 13 floaters and 2 sinkers.
All my catfish, cories, pleaco, and most of the tetras were all goners
All that remain now are two rainbows, one lemon, one bleeding heart and a farlowella. I kinda feel like the Hitler of fish right now. Anybody else make a mistake like this that nearly killed your entire tank? And of course the inevitable question is what to do next? Scrap the whole d@mn thing and sell the setup, restock the tank with more community fish, or take advantage of the situation and bring the survivors back to a store and switch to a different setup like cichlid?
Maybe I need to create a checklist for tank cleanings and make the last step: Turn the filter back on you MORON! haha.
