Ken Burke Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 So, filled up the auto feeder last nite. Headed out to enjoy some nature this morning. When I got back the feeder was stuck in the “On” position and the tank looked like a snow globe. Ugh. Did the emergency water change. Added a second sponge filter to help suck up the rest of the food. So, what are your thoughts, should I do a second 50% change tomorrow, or a 25%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcalberto Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 I'd do another 50% water change and gravel vac as much as possible. I'd also measure ammonia and nitrite every 12h or so, just to catch any ammonia spikes before they get bad enough to kill the fish 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Burke Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 12 hours? Think it would spike that fast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcalberto Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 1 minute ago, Ken Burke said: 12 hours? Think it would spike that fast? I'm not sure, which is why I would test it every 12h. better safe than sorry 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Burke Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 Short answer is yes. Tested water, 1 PPM. Doing research on toxicity relative to PH. Really interesting. http://www.aquaworldaquarium.com/Articles/TonyGriffitts/Ammonia.htm https://thefishsite.com/articles/ammonia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nataku Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 Seconding the testing for ammonia every 12 hours! Having had children get in and 'feed the fish' to my tanks before by dumping in the entire container of food, you'd be amazed how much of that gunk get sucked into your filters and substrate, only to cause havoc a couple days later when it gets really rank and spikes the ammonia. Its not over after the first day. The fish have jammed themselves full of food, they will poop for the next couple days more than normal. Plus, all the rotting food they don't manage to get to will also become ammonia. Keep up the water changes and monitor parameters closely for the next week. Stuff sometimes gets funky several days down the road from the spill. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Burke Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 18 minutes ago, Nataku said: Seconding the testing for ammonia every 12 hours! Having had children get in and 'feed the fish' to my tanks before by dumping in the entire container of food, you'd be amazed how much of that gunk get sucked into your filters and substrate, only to cause havoc a couple days later when it gets really rank and spikes the ammonia. Its not over after the first day. The fish have jammed themselves full of food, they will poop for the next couple days more than normal. Plus, all the rotting food they don't manage to get to will also become ammonia. Keep up the water changes and monitor parameters closely for the next week. Stuff sometimes gets funky several days down the road from the spill. Thought I had seen this b4. Suspect it will take several days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Burke Posted October 13, 2020 Author Share Posted October 13, 2020 BEHOLD the power of a planted tank! yesterday after a massive water change the water was cloudy, ammonia was 1 PPM, nitrite was still 0. Today the ammonia is .5, clear water and nitrite is elevated and without a water change. I think I got lucky, but the tank is recovering pretty well. BTW, I added a second Aquarium Co-Op sponge filter, but don’t used any other filters. Can’t complain about the results. @Cory I’m a definite convert to the coarse sponge filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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