Heater malfunction

[charmd2]

Had a heater malfunction killing off my mollie tank at some point in the last 24 hours.

The tank is heavily planted, and I have done two 75% water changes. How long do I have to restock fish before loosing my beneficial bacteria on the surfaces? I already threw the filter on my 55 gallon to keep the bacteria in it alive.

I will be unable to get to a pet store until this weekend, and needed to know if I should buy some ammonia just to small dose it today.

 

[Essjay]

The bacteria do not die off quickly, if you restock in up to a couple of weeks there will be no problem. The bacteria slowly become dormant without food, eventually die months later. If it is in another tank, that is perfect.


Don't forget the new heater

 

[Guppy10]

I sympathise with you. I had 2 old no make heaters and 2 weeks ago bought and replaced both with brand new Hidom ones off eBay. All was well, went away for a few days and came home to see 1 tank heater was on, which I thought odd. Next day I noticed that heater was still on, then saw that the glass was cracked in half and full of water so was amazed it was still illuminated ! Contacted seller, sent photo, explained in a respectful way my disappointment and today they msg saying they are sorry, thanks for photo and will send another ASAP so hopefully all will be good.

 

[AbbeysDad]

In an established aquarium, there's usually enough decaying detritus to sustain ample amounts of beneficial biology for quite some time. If the same tank goes w/o fish for an extended period, a very small pinch of fish food daily would be enough to keep things going strong. Still, I wouldn't add a dozen of more new fish at the same time if it's gone empty a long time. BB populations rise and fall relative to the available 'food' (which most often is relative to bio-load) so in some cases, number can dwindle over time.

 

[charmd2]

Thanks, glad to hear my thoughts were in line with everyone else's.