Riley My Mbu Is Not Well

[WILDER]

Sorry thought it was just one big undergravel filter.
If you turned it off I think the bacteria dies not sure.
Post in tropical discussion as I forgotten the info on them.
Thought you have some internal filters aswell.
So there all undergravel filters, no internal or external filters.

Done a search and you can fetch allowed of sites up and how to remove an under gravel filter.
http/saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/o...s%2F050699.html

 

[sharon000111]

Sorry thought it was just one big undergravel filter.
If you turned it off I think the bacteria dies not sure.
Post in tropical discussion as I forgotten the info on them.
Thought you have some internal filters aswell.
So there all undergravel filters, no internal or external filters.

i have
2 x fluval 4 inside the tank internal
1 x ehiem professianal 11 external
the filter that come with the cleair tank...that runs along the top...that runs the length of the tank.
and 3 undergravel filters

 

[WILDER]

Ok thats fine then.
I would take all the undergravel filters out.
Take a look a the link as there quite a few worrying things about removing them.

 

[sharon000111]

Sorry thought it was just one big undergravel filter.
If you turned it off I think the bacteria dies not sure.
Post in tropical discussion as I forgotten the info on them.
Thought you have some internal filters aswell.
So there all undergravel filters, no internal or external filters.

i have
2 x fluval 4 inside the tank internal
1 x ehiem professianal 11 external
the filter that come with the cleair tank...that runs along the top...that runs the length of the tank.
and 3 undergravel filters

oh wow...just read that...will do the gravel thing before i go any further

 

[WILDER]

Surprising isn't it that's why I left the link.
I would do a gravel vac and water change afterwards.
I bet you are fed up as it quite a big job and its late now in the uk nearly midnight.

 

[sharon000111]

Surprising isn't it that's why I left the link.
I would do a gravel vac and water change afterwards.
I bet you are fed up as it quite a big job and its late now in the uk nearly midnight.

just picked the gravel up like the link said...no smell and no slimy stuff...so do you think its ok to carry on...1 is out but there is so much waste under it...the water is realy cloudy now...looks terrible...and yes its realy late here...but i work late some nights...i make swarovski crystal cat collars and a lot of my customers are in the US...canada...spain...australia..well all over the world..so have to do some late nights... i also have a ebay shop.. sharron_persian_palace if you go on ebay and put this item number in 400004937749 and go to ..veiw sellers other items...you can see what i make...
do you think it best i just do 1 ugf for tonight...1 in the morning then 1 in the afternoon...so so i dont let out all the bad stuff at once

 

[WILDER]

I think I would remove them gradually if there kicking alot of muck up.
Do a water change now you have removed one and add some extra filter floss to your internal filters.
I would maybe remove the next tomorrow.
Not sure really as mine was only a one plate undergravel filter.

 

[sharon000111]

I think I would remove them gradually if there kicking alot of muck up.
Do a water change now you have removed one and add some extra filter floss to your internal filters.
I would maybe remove the next tomorrow.
Not sure really as mine was only a one plate undergravel filter.

yes doing the water change now...will do 30% for tonight...and as i remove each ugf i will do a 30% water change...then tomorrow evening do a 70 80 % water change...does this sound ok...cant believe whats under this thing...wow...im not suprised the ammonia shot up like it did !!!its terrible

 

[WILDER]

I know removed mine and it was like a brown soup undermeath it.
There terrible filtes and best thing I ever did was remove it.
I think I would move them out gradually if there kicking alot of muck up.
Good Luck,

Forever buying my cats new collars always wanted them cat collars that looked like diamonds
My three cats don't wear collars now.

 

[sharon000111]

I know removed mine and it was like a brown soup undermeath it.
There terrible filtes and best thing I ever did was remove it.
I think I would move them out gradually if there kicking alot of muck up.
Good Luck,

Forever buying my cats new collars always wanted them cat collars that looked like diamonds
My three cats don't wear collars now.

yes thats it..like brown soup..yuk...

i think i said in the last thread i have 12 persians but they dont go out...they are indoor cats...so they dont wear collars..shame realy...they used to...same as yours...

 

[rdd1952]

i have just done the high range test kit and it reads 7.4...this is a new test kit....could this be wrong.....going to test my tape water

with this kit my tape water ph is 7.2 to 7.5

You have to test with both pH kits. The high pH kit is only good if the pH is 7.4 (or whatever the LOWEST number on it is) or higher. Even if the pH is 6.0 or lower like your tank, you will still get a 7.4 reading. Along the same lines, if your pH were 8.0, the regular pH kit would only show 7.2 or what ever the highest reading is.

One good thing about your low tank pH though. Ammonia becomes less toxic as pH levels get lower. With a pH of 6 or below, most of the ammonia showing on your test is actuall the non-toxic version ammonium (the test kit measues total ammonia which is ammonia + ammonium). The down side of this is that beneficial bacteria reproduction slows severely as pH levels drop so even though the ammonia is probably safe, it will take a long time for the beneficail bacteria to multiply enough to catch up. I would start doing water changes to raise the pH (provided your tap pH is higher than the tank pH)rather than adding chemicals.

Ok so the tap ph is 7.4 and the tanks ph is 6.0
It could be the high ammonia reading thats altering your tank ph.

Ammonia is actually alkaline and has a pH of around 11 so it would actually push the pH up.

I know you've already removed the UGFs but I probably would have just started the new filters running rather than removing them. I'm sure there was beneficial bacteria present that is now lost so in essence, you may have gone backwards as far as how much ammonia your tank can handle.

 

[chesterscot]

glad hes trying to swim im watching this thread to see how hes getting on
scot

 

[Hayleamorgan]

Me too!! I really hope he gets better!! Fingers crossed!!

 

[sharon000111]

hi guys...not good today...riley is back on his side...the tank is a mess...i took 2 of the under gravel filters out as it seems this is the problem with the water....i have been trying all day to clear the water...buts still cloudy...not sure if taking the ugf out has set riley back...its bullcrap!!!! all the other fish are still ok nothing seems to upset them...the frontosa's are starting to breed as well now...thats all i need...i was up till 4am doing the tank ..then started again at 7.30am...you can imagine how i feel now ... i still have 1 ugf to take out...this is a nightmare!!!.....will keep you all posted xxxx

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the cloudy water will just be a bacteria bloom because of all the muck stirred up. it's completely harmless and will go in a few days so no panic's there. it's to be expected after stirring up a load of waste.

get some new big filters on the tank asap and get the last UGF out of there, then do as many water changes as needs be to clean up all the waste from the gravel/base of the tank.