HELP! any fish people here!!!

H

hannabanana

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 May 2010
Messages
640
Location
Newcastle
Visit site
My dad tried to fix the pump at lunch time today as its being faulty and stopping (we are getting a new one) so anyway he did something with the filter but now the tank is REALLY cloudy and the tempature has went up a bit, there tropical fish and a few have already died! :O What should i do? take fish out and put in temporary water? my boyfriends a fishy person but hes at work and wont be home till 11, i need a temporary solution for remaining fish
 
I think there is a member on here who is a fish expert, not sure if she is online though, I think it is Blackcob? Hope someone can help you soon.
 
What did he do with the filter? Was it the filter or the pump that was playing up?

I'd try first of all to turn the heater down a bit and maybe do a partial water change. What sort of fish do you have and how many, in what size tank? Is the filter working at all now?

Sorry for all the questions but I can't really help without the info :)
 
JadeyyAndLadyy said:
i think you should just get a large bowl or something and keep them in cleaner water until tomorrow then get a new filter :) sorry its not much help x
Click to expand...

That would be my sugestion too, although my family goes through goldfish like theres no tomorrow! Wish I could help you more.
 
honeymum said:
What did he do with the filter? Was it the filter or the pump that was playing up?

I'd try first of all to turn the heater down a bit and maybe do a partial water change. What sort of fish do you have and how many, in what size tank? Is the filter working at all now?

Sorry for all the questions but I can't really help without the info :)
Click to expand...

weve turned heater down and done partial water change. We have 2 Angel fish which seem to be very stressed,4 tetras and 3 cat fish, 2 tetras died and the tank is 90 litre. filter is on now but no bubbles, think motor is on way out, the fish seem to be gathering at the top and look they are trying to breath the air at the surface :S All my dad did was clean it, he just rinsed that cotton wool thing inside it and put it back in
 
Agree - partial water change, but have you got any of the stuff to put in the fresh water? it reduces the amount of chlorine - if not you need to really run the water so it bubbles - this releases the gasses.

How much has the temp gone up by? are you sure ?it takes a reasonable amount of time for a tank (what is the size) to heat up or cool down... do not feed - this will only increase the amount of **** in the tank.... what did the fish die of? if they are guppies it is probably a sign of the tank maturing,.... which fish died - do you have any loach? these are the ones to watch they are very very sensative - especially clown loach
 
No just a rinse under the tap, im not sure what kind of filter it is its just a fluval filter. I've just got my mam asking for my help and for my boyfriend (the almighty fish professor) to come fix it but hes not available!!
 
What sort of catfish, sounds quite a lot for a 90 litre tank? You should always wash the filter out in the old tank water and not under the tap as this takes out all the good bacteria as well as the dirt.

Have you got a water testing kit, if you do what are the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels in the tank?

Did he clean out the impellor in the filter (should be a little propellor shaped bit in the filter) as the filter won't work properly if that's bunged up.

How much water did you change when you did the change and did you add any dechlorinator?

Sorry fr more questions.:o
 
god i didnt know fish could be so difficult to look after! there not even mine! We have 3 loaches(cat fish) but they are the ones who are alive still! it was 2 tetras that died. yes we have put in the fresh water solution (tap safe) and that stress relief stuff. thanks for the tips guys!
 
Tropical fish are not the same as goldfish- so please do not put them in a bowl of fresh water- unless you have some means of keeping em warm ! - no not the stove !... some filters work on bacteria - so if you have rinsed the filter you may have killed the bacterium. What % water change was done today? did you use boiled water? did you use warm water? did you put in cold water and let it warm up? did you disturbe much of the gravel? did you put anything in the water - except water?
 
honeymum said:
What sort of catfish, sounds quite a lot for a 90 litre tank? You should always wash the filter out in the old tank water and not under the tap as this takes out all the good bacteria as well as the dirt.

Have you got a water testing kit, if you do what are the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels in the tank?

Did he clean out the impellor in the filter (should be a little propellor shaped bit in the filter) as the filter won't work properly if that's bunged up.

How much water did you change when you did the change and did you add any dechlorinator?

Sorry fr more questions.:o
Click to expand...

Hey i dont know what kind they are, corry something? 2 white albino ones and a brown one, all the fish are quite small. We dont have a test kit :( . I dont know what part of it he did, apart from take the woolie bit out, he also cleaned the sides of the glass with same wool, rinsed it and put it back in filter...sounds daft to me and i know sweet FA about fish. We took about 15% to 20% out and put some of that dechlorinator in
 
Sorry about this but a couple of questions to add to Gingerwitch's, how long has the tank been set up and how long have the fish been in there?:)

Fish aren't really that hard, I have 2 tropical tanks and a coldwater one, only take a bit of maintenance, Goldfish are much messier and time intensive to look after than tropicals.
 
we used warm tap water with the tap safe solution ginger witch :) No disturbance of gravel, must be filter, must of took all the good bacteria out and its just went wrong
 
honeymum said:
Sorry about this but a couple of questions to add to Gingerwitch's, how long has the tank been set up and how long have the fish been in there?:)

Fish aren't really that hard, I have 2 tropical tanks and a coldwater one, only take a bit of maintenance, Goldfish are much messier and time intensive to look after than tropicals.
Click to expand...

Erm around 3-4 month its been set up. only a few of them have been there since we got the tank, the rest have been for a month and a half
 
The fluval filters have a little propellor under the main head, if you pull off the sponge holder again and look in the top of the filter (the piece where the lead goes in) you will see it (4 white x shape plastic things). Pull it out and rinse it in tank water and then replace it, it is magnetic and pops back into place easily. Place it back together and it should work again.

The fish are at the top of the tank due to lack of oxygen in the water. Do you have an airstone you can put in, if the filter will not start working again.
 
Ok then, I would probably suggest another water change as it sounds like the water quality isn't great. About 20% again, make sure you put dechlorinator in the water and then some Cycle or Stress Zyme if that's waht you have, make sure you measure them. Do you have a gravel cleaner to use when you do the water changes, if you do give the gravel a decent clean.

There should be some spongy filter pads inside the Fluval, maybe they need changing when you can get some more (not all at once though).
I wouldn't move the fish as this will be more stress for them if they are put into fresh water.

Where are you getting your new filter from? I would recommend that if you can't buy a test kit that you take a sample of the water to the shop with you and ask if they can test it for you as they will be able to tell you what you need to do to restore the tank.

Think that's it for now but I'll let you know if I think of anything else.:D
 
I know it sounds bizarre, but can you get a straw and blow bubbles into the tank (from the top?) until your Dad gets home? He really ought to sort it if they are his fish.

You need to find some way to agitate the water in order to create bubbles.

Good luck - know how you feel. We have fish at work and one day during the holidays I came in to feed them and found them lying very listlessly at the bottom of the tank. I realised the pump wasn't working and rang the company owner (small company) and insisted he came in to sort it out. Turned out there had been a power cut and the timing system had failed.

Once the pump got going again they were ok.
 
if its making a noise but no bubbles are coming out, its not an airlock is it?? my filter gets that and i do something to it and it works again. mine would be different to yours i expect so cant help you there.
 
If you used warm tap water - do you have a water softener? Just wondered in case you've added slightly salty water - some softeners add salt.

My OH uses cold tap water (straight off of the mains in the kitchen) to do a water change, adds all the dechlorination chemical and then leaves the water to reach room temperature during the day.

We once had the thermostat go and nearly boiled our fish as the heater kept going thinking that the water was too cold. Luckily my daughter spotted our fish floating upside down. We turned off the heater and had to add cold water. It was better to leave the tank at room temperature (especially now it is summer anyway) than heat it too hot.
 
If all else fails - take a mug and keep pouring water from the tank back into the tank to try and get some air going into the water surface...if nothing else starts to work you can either leave em and see how they fair or if they start to suffer too much its the catch em and wack em approach.

Keep us posted - hope they pull through for you X
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top