The fish tank thread.

[Braxton Brigade]

I just noticed some eggs in my tank. They are attached to a fake coral cave ornament and dark green in color, very small but not as small as like a ghost shrimp egg. What fish could these have come from?

Do you have snails in your tank?
Also I'd buy my plants online instead, it's cheaper and you'll find more variety of healthier plants.

 

[PerfectPlumage]

Do you have snails in your tank?
Also I'd buy my plants online instead, it's cheaper and you'll find more variety of healthier plants.

I have two or three assassin snails but the eggs seem to big to belong to those.

Okay, cool.

 

[PerfectPlumage]

HELP! My filter broke at the worst possible time! It's a HOB filter that has a wheel thing and no lid. It used to work great but then the water instead of going through the media just overflows over it down the spill way back into the tank. My media is covered with algae and gunk and maybe that's why the water won't go through? I don't want to wash it because that's all my good bacteria. I don't wanna cycle the tank again. I do a 2 gallon water change every day. I can get another filter in a few days... Will my fish be okay until then?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

HELP! My filter broke at the worst possible time! It's a HOB filter that has a wheel thing and no lid. It used to work great but then the water instead of going through the media just overflows over it down the spill way back into the tank. My media is covered with algae and gunk and maybe that's why the water won't go through? I don't want to wash it because that's all my good bacteria. I don't wanna cycle the tank again. I do a 2 gallon water change every day. I can get another filter in a few days... Will my fish be okay until then? 

Sometimes if you give your filter a good cleaning it can get it working good again. I'm not familiar with that filter. Your tank has bacteria everywhere, I personally rinse my biofilter on a regular basis, and take my filters off and clean them every few months, the trouble comes if you clean everything at once. If you have a gravel substrate and tank decorations those hold a lot of bacteria. I would try cleaning the filter, if it doesn't help your fish should be fine for a couple of days, I would add or run an air pump to keep the surface disturb to help keep the tank oxygenated.

 

[Rocky64]

Sometimes if you give your filter a good cleaning it can get it working good again. I'm not familiar with that filter. Your tank has bacteria everywhere, I personally rinse my biofilter on a regular basis, and take my filters off and clean them every few months, the trouble comes if you clean everything at once. If you have a gravel substrate and tank decorations those hold a lot of bacteria. I would try cleaning the filter, if it doesn't help your fish should be fine for a couple of days, I would add or run an air pump to keep the surface disturb to help keep the tank oxygenated.

X2

 

[mophead]

Yep.

 

[Happy Dad]

Quote:
If it is a Marineland filter then that wheel thing is your "Biowheel". Do not clean the biowheel but DO clean the filter media. Rinse it off at least weekly to prolong the life of the media. If you biowheel ever stops spinning try cleaning the sides of the wheel to get it rolling again. Only clean off the filter part of the wheel as a last resort to get it spinning as the cloth part is loaded with nitrifying bacteria. And always use declorinated water. Also monthly take the entire HOB filter apart and clean the inside of the box, the impeller, impeller housing and the tubing going to the filter. Sometimes I'll even soak these parts in a mild water/bleach solution for a good cleaning, followed by a good rinse. Happy Fishkeeping!

 

[PerfectPlumage]

Quote: Quote:

Sometimes if you give your filter a good cleaning it can get it working good again. I'm not familiar with that filter. Your tank has bacteria everywhere, I personally rinse my biofilter on a regular basis, and take my filters off and clean them every few months, the trouble comes if you clean everything at once. If you have a gravel substrate and tank decorations those hold a lot of bacteria. I would try cleaning the filter, if it doesn't help your fish should be fine for a couple of days, I would add or run an air pump to keep the surface disturb to help keep the tank oxygenated.

The wheel doesn't spin anymore now that the filter broke. It's dry. I don't have a bubble pump so I kept the filter running to stir up the water a bit.
I will clean out the media and filter best I can.

 

[PerfectPlumage]

I cleaned the filter out really well. The water I was using turned dark brown!

And guess what? It did nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am gonna save the water I used to clean out the media so I can use it to seed new tanks.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

When I start a new tank I take a handful or two of gravel from an established tank as well as a dirty plastic plant, the new tank is almost instantly cycled, I also to this to my pond when I fire it up in the spring, I don't get an algae bloom anymore, instantly clear water, the tank sits for a day to allow and dissolved solids to settled than I add my fish. You won't be able to keep any bacteria alive in the brown water you saved and it will start to stink as the bacteria die.