I have a fluval 4 plus i was giving from a friend who used it with his turtle tank i used the filter with the same foam catridge which he gave me i gave it good wash and my fish seem to got sick with bateria diease now i am unsure if i change all fliter foams and boi gravel and use brand new everything all this same device and i am still in a risk of having the same bateria issue on my new setup this fitler works very well
if your friend was feeding his turtle feeder fish then theres a possibility the filter media might contain some of the bacteria and disease from those feeders ideally you should have cleaned or sterilized the filter and started with new filter media i'm not sure it would be good to change that out right now as it might stress your fish is your tank cycled that might also be part of the problem if the tank wasnt cycled the bacteria youre seeing might just be that the fish are in shock from ammonia nitrites nitrates but without more information its hard to tell so what i would do is i would still use the filter if it works fine and treat the fish for disease if they really are sick and then after a few weeks or so maybe try changing out the foam the main thing is you don't want to shock already sick fish and if you change the filter right now you risk doing that.
Don't put any fish in the tank just let it sit for 3 - 4 weeks so that it has time to fully cycle and in that time pretty much any pathenogenic bacteria fungus and parasites will die off since there are no fish to infect and then once the tank has had time to cycle you can consider placing new filter media into the filter or simply rinsing out the debris in the foam and reusing that overall i think it will be fine you just have to give the tank some time to build up good bacteria and stabilize the water parameters
alright i will start the process tomorrow but i feel more save buying new foams and bio coal for the filter and ill just let it run for a month to be save because i plan on getting a discus pair and i dont want to spend so much money on a fish that i will kill on lack of information
if you're getting discus make sure to spend the month doing lots and lots and lots of research and then research some more while the tank is going through the cycling process because discus are not the easiest of fish and they require fairly large tanks pristine water quality and quite a bit of care and maintenance
Some species of FW turtles are carriers of salmonella bacterium. This tuff little critter can exist with out a host for weeks. The bacteria has been found in dried excrement after 2.5 years! When we had a turtle we were advised to wear hospital type gloves when handling the turtle and during filter cleaning. Also a good hand washing after is a must.
Salmonella can be killed with heat. They perish after being heated to 131 F (55 C) for one hour or a half hour at 140 F (60 C).
If heat is not an option (plastic melts) a good scrubbing in a 10% bleach solution with hot water should do the trick. I would toss the filter inserts and replace with new ones.
Since your tank was running with this filter in it and if it is salmonella the bacteria has more than likely spread to everything in the tank.
You can pour boiling water over the substrate and let it soak. Do the same with anything else that can take the heat.
You can also wash things and place them in your oven at the lowest setting it will go. Be careful not to melt anything. Open the door to control the temp from getting to hot.
Use the bleach solution on the inside of the tank and anything else. Be sure to rinse very well after cleaning with bleach.
Some species of FW turtles are carriers of salmonella bacterium. This tuff little critter can exist with out a host for weeks. The bacteria has been found in dried excrement after 2.5 years! When we had a turtle we were advised to wear hospital type gloves when handling the turtle and during filter cleaning. Also a good hand washing after is a must.
Salmonella can be killed with heat. They perish after being heated to 131 F (55 C) for one hour or a half hour at 140 F (60 C).
If heat is not an option (plastic melts) a good scrubbing in a 10% bleach solution with hot water should do the trick. I would toss the filter inserts and replace with new ones.
Since your tank was running with this filter in it and if it is salmonella the bacteria has more than likely spread to everything in the tank.
You can pour boiling water over the substrate and let it soak. Do the same with anything else that can take the heat.
You can also wash things and place them in your oven at the lowest setting it will go. Be careful not to melt anything. Open the door to control the temp from getting to hot.
Use the bleach solution on the inside of the tank and anything else. Be sure to rinse very well after cleaning with bleach.
I have a fluval 4 plus i was given from a friend who used it with his turtle tank. I used the filter with the same foam cartridge that he gave me. I gave it a good wash and my fish seem to have gotten sick with a bacterial disease. Now I am unsure if I change the filter foam, buy gravel, and use brand new everything. I am using all of the same devices and am still at risk of having the same bacteria issue on my new setup. This filter works very well.
Phew. I think you need to boil it down and clean it out...if you're friend was using it in a turtle tank there is a great chance it has some leftover death and disease that really should have been bleached/ boiled off in the first place. Turtle tanks are...what's the word? DISGUSTING if people don't keep them clean. Most of the time it's because they don't change the water....ever. I hope you get this worked out and your tank cycled and ready to go, friend! Welcome!!!
