Keep Your Filter Clean!!!

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R

rojowe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2009
242
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Ontario
I went out today and when I came back I noticed one of my cichlids was dead :(
So further investigation led me to find my other cichlid looking like he was gasping for air??? I did a quick google and found that most likely the parameters were off. I did a quick check and everything seemed fine. Another google and found it could be a lack of oxygen?? Now that can't be right my filter is ace at creating a good current and giving solid water disturbance right? WRONG!!! I put my finger up to the output from the filter and there was literally nothing coming out WTF!!!
Quickly raced to the bathroom with my filter, tore it down and started cleaning off all the media. What I forgot was I just moved my tank a few days ago so I emptied all the water, when I filled her back up the water was cloudy from all the sand! Who does that job, the filter cleans the sand from the water.
You probably got the idea by now that the sand in the filter clogged it up and it wasnt working. Now that its running solid again the fish are all happy and swimming in the current...
Don't let this happen to you. Im so glad I caught it before it took out my ID Shark, African Knife, Rope Fish or my precious Dwarf Puffer.
These may not be the most amazing fish on the forum but to me there pretty sick and there my monsters...
 
Best to have 2 forms of water movement, least one becomes still.

Just pulling down my sump, to collect the 10 :WHOA: babies, caused the bigger fish to become stressed in the half hour or so.
 
yep, this is why you have more than one filter and an airstone and maybe a powerhead.
 
Airstone inside a 1 1/4 " pipe with a dual 60* cut at bottom and let it lay from left to right in tank top to bottom at least 3" from top and will turn the water better than any flow controller and will give good algae a place to grow.
 
yep i totally forgot cause i was stressed out about the tank and school stuff...so im pretty sure thats what killed my fish...i woke up this morning and all the fish were dead....sucks big time. oddly though the inverts are all seemingly fine?
 
yea thats what did it, ive got 2 powerheads with attached filters running, an under gravel filter, 1 HOB filter, 2 air stones , a powerhead, and a fluval 205 all working together in my 125. theres plenty of movement and airration but still not as much as i would like. sorry for your loss man
 
yeah i hope it all turns out ok...time to start fresh and re stock
just sucks mostly cause my knife and my rope fish died...those werent the easiest to come by. I bought the last of both of em from my lfs. today im getting 2 convicts to restart by fish stock...
 
two convicts? i started with two convicts in my cichlid tank... now i have about 20-30. it will be interesting if you have a male and a female
 
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