# New tank after tragic loss



## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

We recently were out of town and had a filter failure, and wound up losing all but 3 fish. Some of them I'd had for almost 8 years!

I cleaned the tank out, dumped all the old water (green and smelly) and gave everything else a good rinse and scrub with plain water. This was a very well established tank with stable chemistry. I've had the same substrate and rocks in there for years.

Right now the survivors are in a hospital tank. They have survived the past 24 hours in there and time will tell if they will make it or not.

My question is, how long should I wait before putting them back in their old home? (Assuming they survive, if they do not, I will be getting new fish - and a more reliable filter.) I was thinking a week, I've got everything up and running, filter, heater, and I am assuming plenty of good bacteria in all the substrate. It's really only the water that is totally new.

Thanks in advance!
Liz


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## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

I'm not the expert, but my opinion is to let them get calmed down a bit after removing them from their old home. Once they don't look like they're in shock, and the tank is ready for them, I'd go ahead and put them back. As long as they don't look like putting them back will kill them, they'd almost certainly be better off in a tank sized for them than in a hospital tank.


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## John27 (Jun 6, 2010)

You really need to test to make sure the "good bacteria" are in fact still functioning in the water. What exactly are your Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels? Also, if the tank has no occupants a small amount of ammonia should be added, either through straight ammonia with no surfacants found at some hardware stores, or just by tossing some fish food in there and letting it rot.

If you get readings (an hour or so after adding an ammonia source) of ammonia or nitrites, then your tank is not ready to hold healthy fish, I would read up on fishless cycling and do that, or order a bottle of this: http://store.drtimsaquatics.com/8-oz-On ... a_p_3.html to have it instantly ready.

-John

P.S., good luck, I hope the rest will make it!


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Hi John,

As of this morning, here are my readings:

Ammonia - 0
NitrIte - 0
NitrAte - 20ppm, however I have nitrate readings straight out of my tap. We have a well, and there are a lot of farms in our township.

The well is unchlorinated.

So far, my 3 remaining fish have survived. They are not eating, but they are slowly starting to become more curious, peeking out at me when I walk by. I am hesitant to put them back in the big tank because it's so much easier to see their behavior in the little one. Am going to guess that they would be a lot more active if they were feeling well.

I have not added any ammonia or fish food to the tank at all but can do that today. I don't think I have pure ammonia (might have some for cleaning but not sure where it is, or what else is in it) so I will use the food method. How much should I add for 50 gallons and how long should I wait to test?

Thanks,
Liz


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## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

Maybe scoop some fish poo out of the holder tank and put it in the main one. That will tell you whether you have the bacteria there to break the ammonia down. If you see a rise in nitrates and your ammonia and nitrite levels remain 0, you'll be fine.


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

How big is the old tank? Do you have a cycled filter on the hospital tank? Can you move it with the fish back to the main tank while the new filter gets colonized?

You definately don't want to move the fish back to the main tank without a cycled filter (unless you want to use them as cycling fish, which i wouldn't recommend)

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Hi Rick,

The main tank is 50 gallons. The hospital tank does have a cycled filter. And yes, I can probably move it to the main tank... however there was still quite a bit of gunk on the old filter that I left in place on the main tank, plus everything that didn't get cleaned off my substrate and rocks. (I cleaned it - water only, but didn't sterilize it.)

Fishies are still hiding (I gave them a few rocks from the main tank to hide under while recovering), and I'm concerned about that... hopefully they will come around in time. 

Liz


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## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Sounds like you should be good to move them back as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. Are you planning to re-stock the tank? If so, it may make sense to keep a fishless cycle going on the main tank until you're ready to buy the new fish, then do a big water change and move everyone in at once. Otherwhise you'll have to add fish a few at a time to the big tank to avoid a mini-cycle.

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)

P.S. What was the nature of the filter failure?


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

I do plan to re-stock the tank eventually, once I know everyone is going to be OK. I am in no hurry since we have more filter decisions to make. The 3 that survived are small - two juvies from this year and one small adult. They will have plenty of room in the 50 by themselves and it will give us time to decide on a better filter set up.

The impellar quit on the filter, possibly due to a power flicker or some gunk, or both.  I was able to get it cleaned up and running again that night. We have a canister filter too but need parts for that, it's a much better filter so once that's going it will be a better choice than what we have now.

I just tossed some food in the main tank and I'll let that go. Again I want to make sure the little guys are OK before putting them back. They are just so quiet. I'm used to everyone being curious and active and of course voracious eaters... and right now they are not. It's hard, especially since I miss the others so much.


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

No ammonia as of right now. But fish are not acting normally (not in distress, but still not eating and they are hiding almost all the time) so I will wait.

Thanks everyone for the advice and support. I would love nothing more than to have a healthy aquarium again full of active and curious fish. I miss them so much.


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

What fishes do you have?

gotta hate equipment malfunctions >(

good luck with the 3 survivors!


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

This is really bad, but I don't really know what I have. I do know that the adult is an OB peacock (yes, hybrid, which I realize now is not a good thing, but you learn as you go sometimes, and it always got along great with everyone) and I thought I had an all male tank... but then there were babies so I am going to guess the OB is the female because everyone else was obviously male!

I am not selling fish or anything, just letting nature decide who survives and keeping the rest as pets. The babies were an accident... I never could figure out who the father was because I didn't have any other peacocks in my tank, mostly haps. Anyway maybe if one of the babies is a male, I will be able to tell who the father was.


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## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

How're they doing? Any changes? Did any ammonia ever show up in the big tank? Any nitrites?


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Hi, thank you so much for asking. They are still alive - they are not acting normal yet, still hiding and not eating, but not in any obvious distress. Just a little while ago, one of them had chased one of the others away, so maybe that's a good sign, but they are nowhere near acting like I would expect - they are hiding the majority of the time.

I did not check for nitrites in the big tank today but I did check for ammonia and there is none. So I am hoping that is a good sign.

Right now I feel more comfortable with them in the small tank, where I can keep an eye on them. When they are eating and starting to get feisty, I'll move them.

Again I appreciate your post.


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## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

No problem. Make sure you're testing the hospital tank's water as well. Even though the filter you're using has media from an established tank, it's a good idea to monitor it very closely. Remember that the tank is smaller, and that the bacteria is all completely in the filter (or was until very recently). Odds are, you're good, but the last thing those three need right now is water that's out of whack. :wink:


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Not to worry - the hospital tank's water is fine too, just checked that as well.  Along with the filter, there are rocks from the big tank that didn't get scrubbed at all so that should help - plus, they are not eating right now (I am only offering them about two 1 mm pellets per fish per day), so the waste must be very little... but yes, keeping an eye on both!


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

This morning, the two younger fish were out in open water! I am hoping to see more of this today and in the days to come. I also noticed some poop on the bottom for the first time since the accident so I am glad for that as well. Just happy that it looks like at least the two are getting back to normal, even if the third is still hiding for now.


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## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

:thumb:


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

hehe chasing is a great sign 

you should add some pics ^^


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Your wish is granted  I took these with my phone, so they are not great quality... and the tank is on my kitchen counter so you can see some fresh bread in the background!

It's so good to see them out, just wish the OB would come out...


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

hehe gotta love the OB lurking in that pic


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Sure wish the lurker would come out and play! Hopefully in time.... sigh


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

Well i had something like that happen once..

in this case, the guy that takes care of the manteinance of the Tank at my office (about 500lt) did a water change using tap water about a year ago.. (when the AH1N1 was the most recent news and everyone was scared, so everyone was adding extra clorine to the water). Needless to say he almost poisoned the full tank ... he did a quick 80% water change to eliminate the clorine and that solved it.

The Big dominant was a HUGE Auratus (the biggest i've ever seen), and after that he became very very shy for about 3 months... we could barely see him after the incident, he would run for food, eat 3,4 pellets and run back to his hiding spot..

Today he is back to his old habit and swims around freely... but yeah he took a while... 
i hope thats not your case


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

I hope not too! Poor fish. At least I would like to see the OB come out to eat, and when that's happening, will probably transfer them to the big tank. Things seem to be pretty stable with the water so I am hoping they continue to come around more now.


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

This is wonderful  They all came out to eat today!

Will check the big tank again and maybe move them within the next week or so!

:fish: :fish: :fish:


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

Great!!


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## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

It looks like they're going to fine, then. I'm happy that these three are going to be back in their home soon. :thumb:


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

What kind of filter was it that failed? Surprised no one else asked, unless I missed it.
If you can afford to, it's a good idea to run a canister as well as a HOB, especially when going away.
Glad to hear the survivors are on the mend :wink:


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Hi GTZ, it was a whisper HOB, an older one, with two "waterfalls" that flow through the pads... had been running fine but I have found that the power sometimes will flicker during bad weather, and just that second is enough to stop the impellar. We live kind of out in the country and the power often goes out just long enough to reset the clocks, then comes back on. Sometimes it doesn't even need to be stormy out.

I do have an older Marineland Magnum that we repaired and got up and running, we still need to order a couple of parts for it but we do not plan to be out of town again for a while - we will have back up next time we leave, for sure! Learned that the hard way, unfortunately!

I am slowly trying to make some decisions about which fish to get, there are a couple that I miss terribly so I am hoping I can find them locally! Was drooling over the photo contest pictures last night!


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Everyone seems to be acting normally now - even the OB who had been hiding for the past week! They were all out this morning begging for food and chasing each other... I think it's going to be time for the big move soon. I can tell they are not going to be happy in that little tank for much longer!

We had some heavy rain the other night and had a very short power outage, just enough to make the lights flicker and it was enough to shut off the filter that died while we were away. (Gotta love country living!) I've had it running to keep the water circulating and even though there were no fish in the tank it still about gave me a heart attack! So that filter has got to go. The hospital tank filter kept running, but the impeller is almost new. (Both are whispers, but the hospital tank's is newer.)

Thanks everyone for your support and help, it will be nice to get them back to their old home, I sure miss having fish in that tank!


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## Ant-man (Jul 23, 2010)

Are you running ant air stones in the main tank? Cuase I know when we get hurricanes, battery operated air pumps are the only things in the past that kept my fish alive. And my rubin is the same way about hiding in my ten gallon, eats when he wants and stays hiding. Think its just the size of the tank that does this sometimes. To small stresses them. But I gotta keep him in ther till the move in a few months to the new tank.


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

I wasn't running an airstone, just letting the water coming out of the filter splash. I had one in there but the cat took a liking to aquarium tubing and chewed it full of holes! I stopped at my LYS to look for pump parts and the owner said the same thing about an airstone, that it would have come on when the power came back on and kept everyone alive longer. I am home with my kids so I'm here the majority of the time, usually not gone more than a few hours. But there will be some redundancies the next time we are gone for any period of time.


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

If redundancies and health are more important than aesthetics, get yourself a decent sponge filter (see the link for what I use) along with an air pump with a battery backup (link also provided). If the power goes out, not only do you have continued aeration, you have continued filtration.

Sponge Filter
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... catid=3936

Air Pump with battery backup
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... catid=8120

For the record, I keep air driven sponge filters in each tank, as well as a series of them in my sumps. In the event of an extended power outage (ice storms, hurricanes, etc....), I use these, along with battery powered air pumps, to provide continued filtration. The battery powered air pumps I use are these:
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... catid=3693

I once survived a two week power outage, with Discus, using these.


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## timneh_mom (Nov 30, 2003)

Kmuda thank you for the links, I will go check them out. When we are away I do not care at all what it looks like or sounds like. Even while we are at home, I'm not a perfectionist as long as everyone is safe and healthy.

I tested my water tonight and it was: Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0. The fish were getting more active in their little tank, so now they are home! It's so nice to have them back in the big tank again! I sure missed it! (Now I will miss having fish on my kitchen counter, but before anyone gives me any ideas for a shellie tank or anything, I do need to mention that it was taking up too much of my counter space!)

And I am planning on doing some fish shopping in the near future, I like to get juvies and I really liked the personalities of a certain few that are gone. So hopefully by a month from now I'll be restocked and will also have a better system and back up for when we're away. Thanks again for all the help!


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## Ant-man (Jul 23, 2010)

Good to hear, hope all goes well :thumb:


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