What To Do With Filter During Treatment

[Meggy]

i made another post regarding my problem (no replies yet), but i wonder what i am supposed to do about filtration when i am treating the tank for fungus. the treatment says to remove the carbon, but not the other media. well, it's all one cartridge.

also confused about whether or not antifungal meds will kill beneficial bacteria.

i'd really love help with my problem on either post! i feel like this is going to become an emergency what with the filter/treatment confusion, the cloudy water/slime/odor, and the molly with the weird lips.

 

[julia298]

yeah, i bought a small filter for my small hospital tank and its all one cartridge. Which is no use at all if youre putting med in. I thought the carbon part would have been separate.

The carbon absorbs the med so you need it out. With mine I broke the plastic at the top of the cartridge enought to shake out the carbon/zeolite stones and put it back inwith just the white foam. It worked ok but a carry on to break it.

 

[tidytourniquet]

If you cant just open the cartridge you can cut the top and empty out the carbon

 

[Meggy]

yeah, i bought a small filter for my small hospital tank and its all one cartridge. Which is no use at all if youre putting med in. I thought the carbon part would have been separate.

The carbon absorbs the med so you need it out. With mine I broke the plastic at the top of the cartridge enought to shake out the carbon/zeolite stones and put it back inwith just the white foam. It worked ok but a carry on to break it.

this seems like the best idea to me, too, but the second part of that is knowing whether or not the bacteria living in the foam will be killed by treatment. i am so frustrated!

 

[tidytourniquet]

What kind of medication are you gonna be using?

 

[julia298]

this seems like the best idea to me, too, but the second part of that is knowing whether or not the bacteria living in the foam will be killed by treatment. i am so frustrated!

I think all meds will affect your bacteria, the longer your filter has been cycled the better.

 

[Meggy]

i don't recall the name of the fungus stuff i put in the tank (i'm at work), but at the moment, i don't have a filter running at all. it's only been a couple of hours and i wanted to see about what to do before attempting filtration. i have some new, unused filter cartridges, and for now, the old one is sitting in another tank so as to keep the bacteria alive.

i realized later how stupid a move that was - this may infect the other tank. however, i think it unlikely. it's hard to discuss without going into the initial problem, posted here.

 

[Meggy]

i think it's possible the problem is both bacteria and fungus. fungus perhaps is what's behind the mollies' slight lip problems, and bacteria may be what's clouding/sliming up the tank.

no fish seem affected by this cloudy crap, but it's wigging me the heck out. i don't think i did anything wrong. sure, i made a drastic change in the tank's environment by changing to a new gravel and plastic log (and most of the water), but i kept the same established filter running without messing with the media at all.

what gives?

again, if you want details i made a pretty long post under a diff. subject.

 

[Durbkat]

how long has the filter cartridge been in the tank? Because if it has been in the filter more than 3 months then the carbon is no longer active and you won't have to do anything to it.

 

[Meggy]

ok! i may have a false sense of hope, but just today i asked someone what they were doing with their little acrylic hex tank, because i noticed it looked pretty much out of commission. there is indeed a betta in it, who somehow looks like he's doing ok, despite some sort of adverse conditions.

welll, this seems like something i could use to help with the 10 gallon dilemma. the betta can go in another bowl, and perhaps i can use the hex for some medicating/quarantining. it has a very established UGF.

but what exactly to do?