HUGE screw up during filter maintenance…

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
M

Myarbro

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 31, 2010
245
0
0
Memphis TN
I have no excuse besides that I was utterly exhausted after work (beginning of year is a nightmare at work). Bare with me here so I can feed you a little background info.

I had a stock of very small juvie SA Cichlids and oddballs in a 40 grow out while I waited for my 120 to be fully ready. They got bigger and I waited a little longer than I had wished. Over the break, I finally made the move. Moved them all over to the 120 with a sole XP3 running on it. The XP3 was fully cycled for a LONG period of time, keeping BB fed with a large stock of gold fish.

On the 26th of December, I added a Fluval 405, and 2x Penguin 305’s. I am a filter fanatic, and the tank looked awesome as a result. Needless to say, I would think that the other filters have gained some BB, but the XP3 is still the workhorse of my Bio filtration.

Last night, I came home, started the process of normal filter maintenance, and severely screwed up. I took a tray out, not paying attention, and let sink water run over it to clean the outside. When I got it clean like I wanted, I opened it up and it was MY BB MEDIA TRAY!!!! After much cussing and yelling, I started to really worry. Well, I cleaned the rest out, and plugged it back up to the tank.

My question is… After just 12 days, do you think there is any BB on the 3 new filters to help keep my toxic levels down? If not, what should I do? I usually cycle my tanks with stock and Stability and never ran into a problem. I am considering this. Perhaps put some prime in to reduce the level?

Any help is appreciated. Flame on… I feel like a moron…
 
I don't think this requires flames. I would just watch the water quality and act accordingly. I doubt if a tap water rinse killed all the BB in the filter. Also, if you have a substrate it should also have a lot of BB in it by now. My guess is that you will be fine. I normally give most of my biological media a light rinse and have never had a problem.
 
Ok, you guys have me feeling a little better. I ran it with the water for a good while, and it was very very hot.

I will keep an eye on water parameters and do water changes if needed. I suppose I panicked a bit. I live my little guys and was afraid of them gulping toxic water. lol
 
Well, BB also populate on the inside of your tank. So you would at most go through a mini cycle. Not to worry, the BB from your tank would seed into the media of your canister soon, thus saving you the hassle of going through the cycle process again. If you are really worry, just use API ammo-lock to keep NH3 in check
 
If you used Matrix for your bio media
you could run it under tap water without killing it completely off
It's still not a good idea

I would think that the established filter would have
slowed the seeding of the new ones by keeping Ammonia in check
next time when you add filters distribute the cultured media
across all old and new filters and top off with fresh media

watch water params
get ready for a mini cycle
handle with frequent small WC
no one is going to die

Matrix
 
Your tank will be fine. Slight bacterial die off should have a minimal impact on the overall health of the tank.
 
In all honesty I clean my filters in tap water. I only clean one at a time and dont do a water change either. I havent had a problem in about 6 years of doing this. I think it will be fine.
 
:headbang2 Thanks
 
A deep clean with hot water might've killed what was there, but a quick rinse is no biggie unless you've got severe chlorine amounts in your water, like a public pool amount.

If you're worried, just get some Seachem Stability and dose it for a week. That worked for my highly overstocked tank after I killed all my biomedia with oxolinic acid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom