Stagnant Water

[stefonavich2000]

hello i have a small 45l tank and the internal filter and pump has stopped working without me realising i took the lid off to do my fortnightly water change and maintenance and the water smelt awful!! the pump had ceased working .
PLEASE HELP what can i do? i'va already lost 3 fish

 

[waterdrop]

Well I see none of the experienced members have spoken up yet (they probably will, don't worry).. I'm inexperienced except from years ago so listen more to them once they show up.

They might want to know whether you have another tank (long shot!) to move fish to.

Do you keep the large containers with water for your next week's water exchange in a cabinet somewhere? That's what I used to do for a goldfish a while back. If you have that water, which would have lost its chlorine after some days and which would at least be up to house temperature it will give you a nice start on a partial exchange.

Your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates have probably spiked up and I'll bet they are going to tell you to do a water exchange of some amount (I can't imagine 20 percent would hurt, but remember I'm inexperienced and this might just not be enough in your emergency situation.. but I think it would be safe if no one else answers you soon.)

It may be that they will suggest you try to get fish to a fish store or a friend so you might think whether that will be a possibility.

OK, very sorry for your situation and good luck. -waterdrop-

 

[MHunt]

Dechlorinate some water that's roughly the temp of the water in the tank in a bucket. Put the heater in out of your tank to keep the temp stable, and put the surviving fish in there.

You may as well clean the tank out, and start afresh. If the filters gone stagnent you'll have to clean that out and start the filter cycle again. When everything's clean and running again you can put the fish back. Unfortunately you're going to be cycling with fish which will require daily water changes unless you can get some good mature media from a friendly fishkeeper to get you going again.

It's a pity you didn't keep an eye on your tank more regularly to make sure that everythings working ok. Making sure the fish are healthy and the tank equipment is working is one of my daily jobs along with feeding.

 

[evilchild]

have you checked your pump is not clogged with crap? can happen. i would surgest seeing if the pump is clogged first and if not get a new one asap. i would recomend water changes a few times a day if poss to try and keep down ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. but remember to treat the water first. if you can 't do a water change a few times, i would do a 40% or so while your pumps not working. do you have some sort of air pump? that may help a bit.

i would do a water change every week myself, but thats just me.

 

[Spooky76]

If its not been working for 2 weeks....and your fish have survived there might still be life in your filter media. Add something to move the water around sort your filter out.

What type of filter is it ?

Can you pull the impellor out and clean the slime off around the magnet ? That often causes filters to stop. Then try it again. Try to leave your filter in water as much as possible though, that way if there are some surviving bacteria they stay that way.

I think its easily done to NOT notice the filter running. But might be worth moving to more regular water changes and trying to check the filter daily to make sure, avoids the stress for everybody