Help! Dodgy Aquarium!

[claireylou]

Please help me! I 'inherited' some fish from my sister's friends whose family moving to America. We transported them over to my house and set them up, none of them died. That was about 4 months ago. Well I know I have a Juwel tank and from investigations on the internet I think it is a Rekord 600. Well I was looking at the filtration system (built in) tonight and touched that pipe where the water comes out while removing the filter sponges. The water stopped coming out and then the tank filled up with tonnes of scum and the water went cloudy! I touched the pipe again and now lots of water is coming out and the water is still cloudy. Is water supposed to be coming out? Why did the water turn all green and cloudy? Will my fish die? What can I do to help them?

 

[nessar]

I dont know what went wrong, someone more experienced will have to tell you that. But I do know you should do a water change asap if the water quality has gone bad. That should keep them alive till someone else can advise you.

 

[waterdrop]

This is correct advice. You need to do some "emergency" water changes. A good water change should always be done using a "gravel-cleaning-siphon" (unless you have sand, in which case you can use a simple siphon tube held far enough the sand to not suck up the sand.) With gravel the cylinder is moved around deeply in the gravel so that settled debris is stirred up and carried out with the old water. Unless your tank has never had water changes, you should perform a 75% water change (turn off the filter and heater and any powerheads to be safe.) If you don't have a gravel cleaning siphon just do the water change any way you can as its still going to help to change water.

The return water needs to be "conditioned" (treated to remove chlorine/chloramines) and an excellent conditioner is Seachem Prime because it is both concentrated and also has good quality chemicals for the functions it performs. The return water also needs to be roughly temperature matched (your hand is good enough for this.)

OK, so those are the elements of "good technique" in water changing and will get you started on your situation. You can do another large water change as soon as an hour after the previous one. It may take multiple changes to get your tank more clear again.

Now that the water changes with good technique have bought you some time, it would be good to have a good liquid-reagent based water test kit (do you have one of those?) Many of us like and use the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, but there are others (Salifert, Nutrafin) too. Post up your test results for tap and tank water and people here who see your post will no doubt help you or else bring the questions over to the beginner section.

After that you will need to learn about your filter and how to clean it properly (always use tank water, NOT tap water!) That's a topic for another time!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[claireylou]

Thanks to both of you, for answering my concerns and not making me feel like the idiot I feel!

I tried a water change (I had some Tetra AquaSafe given with the tank)...I also cleaned the filter sponges (as I only have 2 of the required 4 filter sponges to replace), the water this morning is less cloudy, but still cloudy and the filter sounds like its going into overdrive! Thankfully no fish are dead, and hopefully after I have been to the fish shop this morning and do a water change, change the filters and clean the sand as you said, there will be no fatalities! Better go and get on with it!

Oh the only other "stuff" that came with the fish was 3 bottles of Interpret Aquarium Treatment - one of Anti Internal Bacteria, one for swimbladder and one a Liquisil General Tonic and Tetra Aqua Easybalance. I am going to buy the water tester you mentioned, replacement filters and a syphon.

Just one more stupid question - do I have to take the fish out when I do a partial water change? If so how do I catch the loaches? I rarely see them as they are always burrowed down in the sand.

Thanks

 

[fett999]

You're doing a good job so far. And you shouldn't feel like an idiot at all. None of us know this stuff before we are told by someone or we find out the hard way by making mistakes, and we all have to start somewhere. You've found a great website here where people will always be willing to help if they can.
When you change the filters, don't change them all at once, otherwise you'll loose all the good bacteria that is in them.
If you only have 2 of a possible 4 filters in place then leave the 2 in for now and put the extra 2 in. Then, after a few weeks, change 1 of the originals for a new one, and after another couple of weeks change the other. This way you won't loose enough bacteria to cause your' fish any problems.
When changing the water I don't take the fish out. I personally think that it can cause more stress for the fish than doing the change when they're in, and my fish have never had a problem with this.
Keep up the good work and let us know how it goes.

 

[Essjay]

Claireylou, have you found the Juwel website with the instructions for your filter?
http/www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/rekord.htm
The instuctions are in a download at the bottom of the page.

It will tell you what should be in the filter, so you know what you need to buy. Only you don't need the carbon sponge, and the green nitrate sponge doesn't work like it says, but it is perfectly good for growing bacteria on - treat it like a blue sponge. But ignore the part where it says to replace the sponges every 3 to 6 months. The blue and green sponges only need replacing when they literally fall apart in a few years time. Just wash them gently in old tank water.

Edited for spelling.

 

[claireylou]

Thanks for that. Yes I found the instruction book for the jewel tank filter, but found it limited...The part I found hard without an instruction book was how to pull bits out of the built in filter, and even that you could! I think someone like me should write them and say: "Just pull the bits out, it will take some pull, but don't worry you won't break anything!"

The man in the fish shop was VERY helpful and reinforced the advice you gave here (which means he must be good!)! I bought the filter sponges, but he said not to replace them all at once, that the white and black would probably need replacing and then the blue a couple of weeks later and the green a few weeks after that! Otherwise I would lose valuable bacteria from the tank.

I did a massive water change today, but either I REALLY am thick, or the siphon I bought doesn't work because it didn't do anything! I got a battery operated one where you have to insert it at a certain point up to the water line called aquaVac. It hummed, but didn't seem to suck anything up! Instead I emptied the water with a cup into one bucket and filled it up again with the cup from a bucket with water with the seachem stuff in it. I did about 50% water change.

I also out the pump, rinsed it in the old tank water and rubbed the scum off and then re-inserted it into the tank, it is now pumping lots of water out, seems and sounds a lot better than this morning! The tank is still rather scummy even though I have done the water change, probably because I couldn't hoover it?

What do you think? Is there anything else I should do now? I did buy one of those water testing kits with the test tubes and about 7 different bottles and a pipette in - Nutrafin test I think. Do I leave it for a bit before I do that?

Thanks x

 

[fett999]

I'd do a test now and another tomorrow and see what results you get. If after a few days the stats stay at a good level then you can cut back on the amount of tests you do.
Give the filter a day or two and it should start to clear the tank, but you do need to do a gravel vacuum too really. I always went for the basic syphon cleaners myself with no power. Theres nothing to go wrong on them. The gravel cleaner will actually need to be put into the gravel when syphoning to get rid of the detritus in the gravel itself.
You should be ok now but keep an eye on the stats. Worst case scenario is that the filter wasn't pumping enough through the pads and the bacteria has died off. I don't think this would have happened but the tests will soon show if it has. If it has then it'll be a lot of water changes ahead of you and looking at the fish-in-cycle section of the website. It's not the end of the world though so don't worry.
You're really trying hard to do whats best for the fish which is great.
Keep it up and you're fish will be with you for a long time yet.

 

[claireylou]

Thanks Fett!

I have sand at the bottom of the tank, coz it has loaches in it, but am trying to suck the crud out that is laying on top. I did go back out to another fish shop and got a "normal" manual siphon, but it must be a girl-action (or lack of it) because I am failing at that too! If I post my test results on this topic stream will you translate it for me, or is it best to post in another section?

Thanks I really appreciate all of your help x

 

[Essjay]

I'm a girl too if that helps
With manual siphons there are two types - with and without a valve. All the ones I've seen have a wide plastic tube at one end, attached to a length of bendy tubing. Where the two join there may or may not be a one way valve. It should say on the packaging. If not, look down into the wide plastic end and see if you can see a flap that moves around when you shake it. If it doesn't have a valve, then either suck on the end of the tubing till the water starts to flow through or immerse the entire thing in the tank a bit at a time so the whole thing fills with water (no air pockets) and then lift the bucket end out carefully with your thumb over the end till it's in the bucket, making sure the wide end stays under water. If it does have a valve, you put the wide end in the tank, the other end in the bucket, and move the wide end up and down quickly while completely under water. It'll take a few up-and-downs till the water starts to flow. It'll get easier with practice. Or just immerse the whole thing as for the valveless type.

I have gravel, but I understand that with sand, you hover the wide end about an inch above the sand and either make gentle swirling motions with the end to lift the debris, or make fanning motions with the fingers of the hand you are holding the tube with.

 

[nessar]

oh and if you do try the sucking method, just remember to stop before it reaches your mouth, first time i did it i got a mouthful - not nice!

 

[claireylou]

Well I did some water tests today...Nitrite was 0 looked the same before and after the test, Nitrate was 5, PH was 8.0 and Ammonnia was 0.6. What do these readings mean? The fish look OK, the water is still not completely clear, going to try the siphon again tomorrow, think I know what I'm doing thanks to your advice.

Thanks x

 

[Essjay]

You might be better starting a new thread in the "your new freshwater tank" section as more people will see it there to help with your readings. The nitrite and nitrate are fine, but your ammonia isn't. It should be zero. and anything above 0.25 will harm the fish unless you do water changes to lower it. The changes should be as big and as often as necessary to get it below 0.25 and keep it there. Once you've mastered the siphoning and substrate cleaning, that will help too.

If you do post in the "new" section, people there will want to know the size of your tank, a list of fish you have, and what kind of test kit you are using. And explain about getting the tank off your friend. It is quite possible you have too many fish or ones that are too big, and the filter is struggling to cope. For instance, you mentioned loaches - do you know what type they are? Some get huge and need a much bigger tank than you have. Don't worry if you don't know what all the fish are - there are people in the "new" section who are good at identifying fish if you can post pictures.

 

[claireylou]

Thanks essjay x

 

[OldMan47]

Your ammonia reading of 0.6 ppm indicates a need for an immediate large water change. Ammonia should never be allowed to climb above 0.25 ppm.