It may be too late

[chrisrad]

My daughter dumped an entire can of fish food into my tank yesterday that we know must have gone undetected by us for several hours. We did a massive waterchange but some of them were already gasping at the surface for air (those were dead this morning), now I am having a nitrite spike. What else can I do?

HELP

 

[impur]

a good vacuuming and water changes is your best bet. And maybe a higher shelf for the food Good luck with the fishes, hope they pull through.

You could also look into a chemical that eliminates nitrites. I am against adding chemicals but it might be your best bet. Check with your lfs.

 

[chrisrad]

Thanks impur for responding so quickly. I'm at work right now and hoping everyone will not be floating when I get home. I have had my tank for over a year and never had a death - all it takes is a toddler who knows how to use a chair.

 

[dolphin]

Hi chrisrad

Sorry to here of your problem.

If you have another tank, then put the fish into that. The nitrogen compound absorbing chemicals will deal with the problem, but not the cause. You will need to vacume the gravel to get rid of all the uneaten food, which is causing the nitrite spike.

HTH

 

[sandyd]

Sorry to hear about what happened, but know you are not alone, i have a 5 year old and a 2 year old who think they can feed the fish whenever they want. It may be nuts, but if i catch it in time, i use a Turkey Baster to suck the excess food out. It works pretty well when there is notheing else available at that moment. I also use it to get the baby fry out of my tank and into the net. Its something that has pulled me out of alot of sticky cituations with kids in the house as well as tanks sandy