View Full Version : New dumb question
Hi,
You have all been great. The new tank is shimmed (with pennies inside the little rubber footers. Seems pretty stable, and I don't have to worry about shims splitting) and tied in to the wall. I did buy a used filter and ran it through the dishwasher. Now I'm hearing this was a bad idea? Anyone ever have problems with this before?
b.greene
05-14-2008, 9:00 PM
How did you attach it to the wall? I saw your last post and my tank is leaning as well....
I used four four inch L-brackets, bolted them together in pairs to make U's, and then bolted one side to the stand and used sheetrock screws to attach the other side to the wall. Make sure it's level the first time. ;)
ebola
05-14-2008, 10:52 PM
OK, to be honest, I lost patience and put two feeder goldfish in to move the cycling along. I didn't expect them to last, but one went belly up within three hours, and the other has very rapid gill movement and is not moving much otherwise. I do not know where to put him. If it's because I washed the filter in the dishwasher, putting him in a bowl isn't going to help. He's kinda slimey, like he's covered in a fine white gauze. But the rapidity makes me think something more than lack of cycling is off with the tank. Could residue from a dishwasher do somethign this quickly?
SchizotypalVamp
05-14-2008, 10:55 PM
Did you use soap in the dishwasher when you did this? If so, it could def. be poisoning. For future reference, if you're going to do a fishy cycle, it's a good idea to buy fish that can either stay in your tank or that you can house afterwards. Did you dechlorinate the water? Fishy cycles can take slightly shorter, but are a lot more work and much more stressful.
The Zigman
05-14-2008, 10:56 PM
What detergent did you use in the dishwasher?
I would triple rinse that thing, be sure no soap is left in there...
Is yout tank stand that is screwed to the wall, sitting solidly on the floor?
Yeah, I did condition the water, floated the bags, everything. The tank stand is tied into the wall. I washed the little foam insert in the filter, the one that goes between the filter cartridge and the output. I'm wondering if that acted like a sponge. You say I could just triple rinse everything in the dishwasher and be OK?
Any chemicals in the detergent I should look out for?
If you washed that sponge in anything other than clean water (ie soap of any sort) then get rid of it. They are cheap to buy a new one. If you also ran the rest of the filter through the dishwasher then I would rinse that a few more times a well. Also if you use Jet Dry in your dishwasher that may leave a residue.
Floating the bags does nothing but match temps. If the water in your tank is drastically different than the water the fish have been living in then it may kill them off with shock. The best idea if you don't know all the water params is to pour them and the fish store water into a clean bucket and every 15 minutes or so for at least 1 hour if not 2 add a cup of tank water. Then scoop them out and place into the tank.
So I'm taking it I should also change out the water? I'm just wondering how far the contamination has gone. Should I replace the substrate?
jenratico
05-15-2008, 9:00 AM
I suggest you put the remaining goldfish temporarily in a bucket or other large container with clean, declorinated water that is as close to the tank temperature as you can make it. Make sure it is a clean bucket - preferably not one used for household cleaning so that is doesn't have any soapy residue of its own. Then empty your tank and give it a good rinse as well. You can rinse your substrate in a colander under running water. Make sure the filter is well rinsed and replace the sponge. This should get all the soap out of your system. If you run things through the dishwasher to sanitize, do it without soap or a rinse agent.
I don't know if the goldfish can recover, but clean water can't hurt.
Do 1/2 water changes in the in the bucket throughout the day so that ammonia doesn't build up until you can get the goldfish back into a clean, filtered tank.
From my perspective, a feeder fish is still a fish and just as valuable as any other fishy life in your care. I feel bad for him, so I hope you will do everything you can to make him comfortable.
leighasnana
05-15-2008, 9:36 AM
Did you put the whole filter through the dishwasher? Just wondering if it would work after that because of the motor. I've always been careful not to wet the motor.
If you didn't use soap you should be o.k. I did lose shrimp this way before. I put a fish breeder through the dishwasher without soap and the residue killed the shrimp - or at least I assumed that's what killed the shrimp. Fish are another story. They can tolerate alot and I know that some people put driftwood through dishwashers without soap with no harm coming to the fish. If you ever want to disinfect something that's small like a sponge you can boil it or soak it in a bleach - water solution and rinse well with the final process being soaking it in dechlorinated water and then rinsing well under the tap.
I've put the tubing from my filter through the dishwasher without soap to get rid of algae and I've never had a problem. I've even done it with gravel which I placed in a collander and put through the dishwasher. Always rinse well even though you're not using soap. That's just me being extra careful....
If you think about it - you likely wash your hands before sticking them in the tank and there's got to be some soap residue there.... Just make sure all of the equipment you use in your tank is fish only - especially your pail.
leighasnana
05-15-2008, 9:58 AM
Just wanted to be clear about my post above. It's assuming you didn't use soap in the dishwasher or on anything including the tank itself. If you washed anything including the tank with soap I'd be rinsing it like crazy.
There are a couple of things you can do to speed up your cycle but get past the soap issue first.
ebola
05-15-2008, 10:02 AM
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm thinking about just replacing the filter - it's underpowered and I'd have to replace it anyway once my readings got too high. I'll drain the water and rinse the whole thing out tonight. It's a shame, I did really like one of the little guys, he was a bright orange with white finnage.
How many times do you think i should rise the tank?
wildman117
05-15-2008, 8:05 PM
also you can try active carbon in your new filter as that should help absorb any harmful chemicals
SchizotypalVamp
05-15-2008, 8:13 PM
I love feeder goldfish. They live a long time and grow up to be so beautiful and have a great personality. It's great to see them interact with each other. Since they grow to a foot long I wouldn't put it in anything less than a 75, and that would be the bare minimum.
I had mine for 10 years and then a racoon ate them, it was heartbreaking.
That's too bad, Vamp. I guess it was a kinda MAchiavellian method there.