OK ......Tank Emergency???!!!!!!!!!!

C

cdems

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Mar 22, 2010
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Ok so I'm an idoit, I know mistakes happen but this one could be bad. I in anticipation of getting cichlids inthe near future needed to add crushed coral to my tank.
So instead of washing it off first and I ment to I swear, I accidentally added it to my tank, I took the fish that were in the tank out with some tank water and have them in a 5 gallon bucket with an air pump and air stone right now. I don't know what happened and I put the crushed coral in the tank!!!!! I thought I washed it but I soon realized what I did.
The tank is now milky cloudy and I still have the filter running so that the bacteria does not dry out. Will it all settle or am I (and my little guys(fish)) screwed. What do I do if anything. Urgent replies would be appreciated. In all my years I have never done this but It was a laps of mind.:duh::nilly::thud::rant2::swear::swear::help::help::help::help::wall::cry:
 
Lapse of attention is nothing new. Welcome to the world of humans. It will eventually settle but will take a couple of days to do so. It wouldn't hurt to do small water changes.
 
I agree. I also would slow drip acclimate the fish back to the tank as the crushed coral has likely changed the water chemistry enough that it may cause a shock to your fish if you don't.
 
ok but the fish are in a five gallon bucket right now when can they go back, I can't leave them in the bucket half full with an air pump in it in my living room ..........can I, Thank you for the quick response to this thread guys that was awsome. Oh and won't the small water changes hurt the cycling period.
 
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Once the water clears. Just do partial water changes on the bucket daily and the fish will be fine for now. Treat it just like it was a new tank you are cycling. If you have Prime, dose the full volume of the bucket every 24 hours and that will keep the ammonia from going totally toxic on the fish.

I would do several BIG changes on the actual tank to get rid of most of the silt. Stir it up as you do it to get rid of as much as possible. I agree with drip acclimating the fish.

Kristina
 
So this will mess up the cycling process ---this is a new tank i am cycling
and don't shut the filter off? also its just an air pump on the fish bucket with 3 gallons maybe thought it was gonna be short term ---like 20 minutes tops, I have 2 play's a molly and 4 black neons in there.
 
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No, it should not hurt your cycle as long as you don't leave the filter off for more than 30 minutes, less is better. I understand it is just a airstone on the fish. That is why I said DAILY water partial water changes. But if you do a few big changes on the tank, get most if the silt out that way, and let the rest settle, you could get the fish back in there rather quickly. It is just going to take some work.

Kristina
 
cool thanks alot rather quickly 1-2 days I hope, Oh and I can shut it for 30 min to help some stuff settle? ---- sorry just never happened to me I'm normally OCD about that kind of stuff.
 
ok..

What fish do you have in the bucket...how big are they.? What size tank is this..?


Do you have any more buckets/air pumps?

If this tank was not cycled, it makes no difference about losing your cycle. Also Prime does not erase ammonia, it simply makes it non-toxic to your fish. It does the same with nitrites, but not nearly as effective, as both ammonia/nitrites are toxic to the fish.

If your fish stocking is too heavy to start you may need to consider returning or finding temporary homes for a few fish. Cycling a new tank can take weeks/months depending on the bio-load you want to keep.
 
I am fully aware that it can take 2 months or more. I have a 37 gallon tank. I previously stated that I have 1 molly, 2 platys and 4 black neons cycling the tank since day one, I am in week three of my cycling and i made a rookie mistake, that i did not know how to recover from. I had tanks my hole life up until 5 years ago so i'm alittle rusty. I just #1 don't want to kill the fish I have, #2 would like the milky look out of my aquarium asap, #3 would not like to screw up my cycling and put my self 3 more weeks out, amd # 4 please see # 1. I donot have anymore air pumps and the 5 gallon bucket has about 3 gallons in it since i did not plan on being an idiot today and assumed that they would be in the bucket for 20-30 minutes while I placed the crush coral and added some rock.
 
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