Hiya all, Im panicking

[Kaozman]

Ok first off this is kaozman's fiance, Kaoz passed away in June suddenly. I can kick myself for not paying close attention to him when he maintained our tank. Tonight in Calif. we had a earthquack and my tank took the worst of it the pump disconnected and now im noticing loads of particales floating around and they are coming out of the side of the tube im assuming its the pump tube. I am so afraid they wont make it through the night.. We have 1 arowna, 2bobtails 2 turtles 1`convict, I knife 2 puffy orange ones (cant remember the name, looks like a huge goldfish) 2 botttom fish, one resembles a catfish and one stripped one.. and 1 huge sucker fish(im sorry i dont remember the name) im literally panicking I cannot lose these fish.. I can call a fish store tomorrow to come check it but im scared i will wake up and are gone. Any Ideas? Will they survive the night? the tank is about 170gallons

thank you with all my heart to anyone who can reply
Michelle King

[Kaozman]

ok i just read his past posts the tank is 130 gallons
anyone out there?? Please help...

[nickmcmechan]

hi michelle,

really sorry to hear about kaozman, didn't know.


so, do you have electricity supply after the quake, are you able to start the filter?

what water changes have you been doing do you have dechlorinator for it?

[Kaozman]

Hiya Hun, ty sooo much for replying im going crazy over here, ok Yes we still have power thank God..Ok Since Terry passed My Son has done 2 1/4 water changes, hes vacummed the gravel once, then the hose broke as for dechlorinator? Is that a chemical I should be adding? I feel really really bad By now I should have done my homework and figured things out, But mentally I just havent been there. The loss was so sudden

[Kaozman]

The fish are behaving odd as well, They are very very active and normally this time they are sleeping or pretty much keepin to themselves..well minus a couple niteowls.. I dont know if the earthquake has anything to do with that. Or The water is bothering them. What do u think, I know its hard to determine when I cant be of more help and im pretty vague on things, I'm just not very knowledgeable.. I feel so irresponsible now

[nickmcmechan]

ok, things i would do first

1) make sure all the equipment is running, not sure what type of filter you have but they all have an output of water, so look for where the water comes out and check that there is a flow

2) the behaviour could be down to the quake, but probably more likely is poor water quality

--> quick lesson --> fish produce ammonia as waste. this is toxic to the fish. ammonia munching bacteria (mostly in the filter) eats all the ammonia up --> the ammonia eating bacteria produce nitrite as their waste which is toxic to fish --> the nitrite eating bacteria (again mostly in the filter) produce nitrate as their waste --> nitrate is safe to fish at low levels, but lack of water changes to control it can lead to high levels which can vey slowly eat away at the health of the fish --> back to point (2)

2) its likely that you have high nitrates, if you do a big water change all at once the change will shock the fish so don't do that. My suggestion is take out about 10-20% water every dat using the gravel vac and replace that water. this means replacing about 20 gal for your tank every day for one week

3) when you put the new water in you must use a dechlorinator as your tap water contans chlorine to sterilise it for humans but is toxic to fish. can you see what he had in bottles of stuff - might be called "prime" or "aqau plus" or "stress zyme" or something, but the bottle will tell you that it removes chlorine and will also tell how much to use, give us a shout as you might need a hand working that out

4) on a regular basis after the week is out, and to keep fish healthy, someone needs to do a 30% or so water change per week...for your tank that means about 40 gal once per week, removed using a gravel vac

hope all that helps!!!

[Kaozman]

I have only one tank, it's a 130 gallon freshwater setup. No UGF, 1x RENA xp-4 canister filter, 1x RENA airpump w/ air curtain & air stone, 2x 300 watt submersible heaters. The tank is heavily stocked and still all parameters are excellent and water is crystal clear. Filter has a spray bar to diffuse the returning filtered water, and it is absolutely silent. The four internal baskets are divided in to two seperate canisters so you actually have eight seperate canisters to fill, which allows a myriad of possibilties and combinations to suit ANY situation. You can rest assured my next filter will be a RENA xp-?.

Just coping and pasting what terry wrote So You know what kind of filter we have.
Ok first off I dont know where the water filters in our out.. Left side of tank piping looks like upside down L and on the sides of the pipe there is lots of tiny holes, Well coming out of those holes is tiny particles..That has never happened before, Should that tubing be taking in water to filter? The right side has what looks like a submursible pump above that a tube that looks like a upside down microphone..
was that any help, Or did i just make matters worse.
And ty Nick for being so explaining in such a easy to understand way..

[nickmcmechan]

hi michelle

this is the filter, it will be underneath the tank:

http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/500288/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=500288

and this is how to get it working

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92473

there should be a ube which pulls water out of the aquarium donw to the canister, there will then be return tube that puts the filtered water back in...you should be able to put your hand in front of it and feel the water flow coming out

[wataugachicken]

okay. . . if particles are coming out of the tube, something inside of the canister might have gotten jostled around, or if the power flickered and the filter turned off and then onn again, the change in water flow can often knock particles loose inside of the tubing and then release them into the tank. technically, all of those particles were in your system already, just not in the tank. while it makes the tank look dirty, nothing has changed with the water quality chemically - only physically/visually. the dirt was always there, hidden, but now it's in a place where you can see it. this physical debris should not be very harmful to the fish, and should either settle down to the bottom or be picked up by the filter if it is indeed still running. if something shifted inside of the canister, though, those particles will keep circulating from filter to tank until it is fixed.

you will need to either find or buy test kits for your water. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and maybe pH. or take a water sample to an local fish store and have them test it, and give you the exact numbers. saying the water is good or bad is not an answer - and i bet if they tell you it's bad they'll try to sell you something to "fix" it. you also need a dechlorinating product, and a new gravel vac/water change hose if yours is broken. Prime is very simple to use, with no measuring - each capful treats 50g, so you would just use 3 capfuls to treat the tank.

i don't know the specifics of your situation except that it seems to have been very stressful - one option if you have some extra money would be to hire an aquarium maintenance service, at least for a couple months until your tank is back to normal and you understand what to do.

[Squawkbert]

Sorry tohear about your loss -

re: above posts Agreed - quake probably knocked some mulm loose in the pump, that's what's coming out of hte spray bar. Don't sweat it. Keep an eye on the flow from the spray bar though - you may need to backwash the pump if the flow is (or gets) lower than usual.

Test kits - always a good thing to have around, especially if used periodically.

It aquariums really aren't your thing, it's OK - there are people out there who would be happy to buy it (them) from you and take good care of the fish.

[Star_Rider]

Michelle,
Loks like you are getting good sound advice.

I just wanted to welcome you to AC

Sorry for your loss..I lost my brother last month...


don't be afraind to ask questions and keep us posted on your progress.

Star_rider(ed)

[Kaozman]

Thank you all for your replies I am so glad I had this place to come to as a outlet, Terry would always be here reading and reading he just couldnt get enough.. I am going to go ahead and take some water in but I been looking through the cabinets and i found lots of test kits so thats where I am going to begin. Whataugachicken I believe you are right something got jostled . The quake lasted 30 seconds and I was panicking it seemed like it would never stop and I was just waiting to hear a crack and swhooooooosh poor babies were scared. My apt is next to the pool and literally water splashed outta the pool about 6 ft. My Daughter happened to be here and she was shouting Mom get in the doorway, I said I cant my fish :-( It was so scarey, and typically I dont freak out about quakes But I never had a tank before and that was my main concern.. When I woke up this morning I went straight to tank and it had cleared I was so relieved and they seem to be back to their normal routine. When My Son gets home, Im going to have him check the baskets, He has watched Terry do this I think will remember..As for now Im off to test with what Terry already has ..Nick, Whataugachicken and Squackbert I thank you all for your help you are all Brilliant.. I love the tank im attached to all my fish, I lost my puffer last week, it nearly killed me, He looked as though he broke his back fin, all that would keep him swimming was his tiny tiny wings, he was so cute he was sooooo small and loved acting like the boss of the tank, Anyhow I'm going to try to keep the tank, I' t brought both Terry and I alot of pleasure and I hate to let it go and regret it, But if i feel I cant handle it I will definitly make sure they get good homes..

Thank You all again, Happy Halloween be safe hugs Michelle K

[Kaozman]

Hope it is ok to post these pics here, I just wanted to Share what Terry And I used too, Now its just me *sigh* If you prefer I post elsewhere no worries just let me know~http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/wickedly_angelic/Picture163.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/wickedly_angelic/Picture113.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/wickedly_angelic/Picture126.jpg