what happened? what did i do wrong?

[mconrad75]

I would say it is much more likely that the container, bag, or whatever carbon is held in will trap debris and cause problems way before that carbon ever "leaches" back into the aquarium.

But, point taken, well done.

Sorry to derail the thread.

I agree, sorry to hijack the thread there. My point was mostly that I think the OP got a toxin in his or her tank from somewhere, and so should probably consider all possible sources. The water, the bucket, the filter, the media, even the atmosphere in there room (cleaning products, air fresheners, bug spray) could be suspects.

 

[hillbilly]

i took some of the old media from the previous filter and placed them in the canister filter. you think i should have left the old one running as well?? could that have been the problem, that there was no old bacteria in the filter to help with the water change?

Yes, you should have run both filters at once to give the new filter a chance to cycle. You did not have enough cycled bio media for your fish load, and the resulting ammonia spike killed your fish.

 

[hillbilly]

I agree, sorry to hijack the thread there. My point was mostly that I think the OP got a toxin in his or her tank from somewhere, and so should probably consider all possible sources. The water, the bucket, the filter, the media, even the atmosphere in there room (cleaning products, air fresheners, bug spray) could be suspects.

I'm sorry, but air fresheners and the like don't cause ammonia burns on the gills of fish. Go back and look at pictures.

 

[mconrad75]

I'm sorry, but air fresheners and the like don't cause ammonia burns on the gills of fish. Go back and look at pictures.

Oh they definitely have ammonia burn, and I wasn't really being literal with airfreshener idea just pointing out the need to consider all possible sources of pollution.

Also even though we call it ammonia burn, and most often in the aquarium ammonia is the culprit, I would think any toxin that passes over the gills would cause inflamation like that.

 

[5am]

thanks everyone for your replies. the bucket i used for the water has always been used for my fish. in terms of carbon, i dont have carbon in my filtration because i was told it burns holes in the head of fish (ie arowana). its mainly mechanical (filter floss) and bio (bio balls). i tested the water and everything checked out fine. i normally top off 3-5gallons everyweek, so i am still stumped as to how the new water could have spiked up any ammonia or nitrate/nitrites.

the tap water in my area have a PH of 7.8; usually i fill up a bucket, then i put in dechlorinizer, amquel, discus buffer, kent freshwater plant food, and flourish excel (in that order). i mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes before i dump it in my tank... now im really thinking it was the lack of bio-load in the canister filter that resulted in a spike and killed them off....

 

[darth pike]

I think you are right, amquel works on chlorimine ... in your intial post I thought you just added the canister while still fully running the orinigal filter, hence why I focused on the water. I do believe it was the drop in the bacteria now.

 

[FishPimpin101]

i 100 percently agree with natural killer umm not just cuz she is hot either