Problem adding new filtration to an established tank

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peterhql

Feeder Fish
Jun 29, 2009
3
0
1
New Jersey
My father has by my estimate... a 200 gallon tank with two generic brand canister filters and some very large parrots and an arowana. This tank has been going on now for 5+ years plus and there hasn't ever been a problem with filtration.

I recently added eheim 2028s to the tank in preparation of replacing the older ones. The original filters are still running. However, the tank seemed to go into a mini cycle a day or two after I added the new eheims.

It's been about two weeks and the cloudy water still won't subside and we've had 3 deaths. Is it possible that the new filters somehow killed the bacteria colonies of the older filters? The eheims are clearly more powerful than the original two... are they overwhelming them?


Thanks for any insights on what the problem is,
-Peter
 
First off, welcome to MFK! It sucks to hear that you've been having problems with the new filters - hopefully we can help.

Are all of the intakes connected together? My concern is that if they are, the new eheims might be lowering the flow rate on your existing filters, causing bacteria to die off.
 
Thanks for the welcome. Each filter, four of them, have their own seperate intake and outtake piping. I forgot to mention the eheims were brand new. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping all the filters running at the same time. Since the water problems occurred after adding the new filters, I can only assume they are the problem. Can this even be possible though? New filters ruining old filters?
 
did you throw away all the old filter media? if you did, there goes most of your bb colonies. so your tank has to re-establish new ones on the new filter media.
 
The new 2028's should not affect the old canister filters at all unless they were somehow contaminated. Did you rinse the new media prior to starting the 2028's?

Also, if you cleaned all the media in the OLD canisters, this may have caused the mini-cycle.

What other 'things' are in the tank, that is, gravel, rocks, plants, etc.? Has anything else changed since adding the new cans?
 
Did perhaps the new plumbing added to the tank change the current and stir up some junk in the sediment that was just sort of lying dormant? Or maybe your BB in the old filter are starving as you develop BB in the new filters?
 
Thanks for the replies so far. The old filters were untouched and the new filters and its media were installed as per the instructions. There are rocks in the tank and some driftwood. Its been a stable tank for years, the only thing thats changed was the addition of 2 eheim 2028s. Now I have 3 dead 6 inch parrot fish. I meant to replace my fathers old filters as a sort of a gift to him! haha what a terrible turn of events.


Semper fi, Yea thats the only thing I can think of but I didn't even know that was possible. Has anyone had this problem ever? Old BB starving because of developing BB in new filters?
 
This link http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265384 is a very good discussion on Beneficial Bacteria. I think it will give you a good understanding of how BB works.

I think it may just be a coincidence that you have lost fish given the info you've posted. What is the normal maintenance that is done on this tank? What % of water changes are being done & how often? Is the new water being treated with a product that will remove chlorine/chloramine (unless using well or cistern water)? Are there any other additives or buffers being added? Can you post what the water parameters are for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Hopefully you have a good test kit for these are important to know for water quality issues.

Also, have any rooms in the home been painted recently or any insecticides used?

There are a lot of variables that can cause fish loss but I really don't think that it can be caused by the addition of the new filters.

Hopefully someone else will join this discussion to help sort out what the problem could be.
 
I have added extra filtration on my tank in the same way as you have and have not noticed any changes. I also think that some other factor must have caused the problems and probably not the new filters. It sounds like something has gotten into the water and killed off some bb. Hopefully water changes will remove whatever contaminant may have entered the water.

Speaking of water changes, have you switched to a new type of water conditioner lately? I only use prime as it is supposed to get rid of chloramines as well as chlorine.
 
Did you clean the new filters before you installed them? and if so, with what? Maybe some kind of residue in the new filters killed off your bacteria? I once lost a bunch of fish because I got a used canister filter which I cleaned thoroughly. In my haste to get it set up though, I neglected the used tubing. As soon as I plugged the filter in, a huge cloud of crap came shooting out into the water and I knew I was screwed. I did massive water changes but still lost fish over the next week :(
 
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