clogged filter

Neke · Sep 21, 2008

Hey, I have a feeling I've clogged up my filter with brine shrimp... I'm trying to do a fishless cycle, and I got impatient and probably put in more than I needed too. I didn't go crazy, but the cycling page says to add a source of ammonia 3 times during the cycle, and I added some a few more times because the ammonia and nitrites dropped back to 0 at the beginning after I just left it for days.

Now the water flow seems to be really weak and it looks like there's heaps of brine shrimp stuck in the filter - It's an internal canister filter. Should I do anything to try and fix it?

Thanks =)

blueberlin · Sep 21, 2008

Open it and look inside?

-Eva

Neke · Sep 21, 2008

Lol, ok now I feel silly - I've never had tanks before and I have no idea how filters work. If I figure out how to open it and its all clogged up, how do I clean it? Will it ruin my cycling?

Jacquie · Sep 21, 2008

Neke said:
Lol, ok now I feel silly - I've never had tanks before and I have no idea how filters work. If I figure out how to open it and its all clogged up, how do I clean it? Will it ruin my cycling?

Hi Neke,

Just give the sponge media a shake in a bucket of the tank water - this will preserve the bacteria living in the filter and declog the filter. Your cycle will be fine.

Cheers Jacq.

blueberlin · Sep 21, 2008

Hi Neke,

No worries, I did the same when I set up my first aquarium - took me about six months to learn that I have to clean the filter occasionally, too (imagine the nasty surprise waiting for me) (or rather, don't).

I honestly don't know anything about internal canisters. If you can figure out how to open it up (you may be able to find a user's manual online if you look up the manufacturer and model), you can see how bad off it is. If it's really nasty gloopy, you may want to wash it out and start cycling again.

If you rinse the filter media out like Jacq wrote, it shouldn't set you too far back in the cycle.

Good luck to you,

-Eva

Neke · Sep 22, 2008

Thanks guys, it seems to be working again and now I know how to clean it!
(except I made my partner do it because it looked ikky...) I suspect it was a wise decision to cycle the tank before subjecting any animals to my "love", hopefully I'll have it all figured out soon.

I tested my water before I cleaned it and I've got 0 Ammonia, 2 Nitrite and between 40 and 80 Nitrate, so I'm crossing my fingers that its nearly finished and I didn't stuff the cycle around.

blueberlin · Sep 22, 2008

With those values, it sounds like your cycle is almost done - congratulations! Once the nitrite is gone, you have established your bacterial colony enough to handle the muck in your tank hehe. Once you put axolotls in, they may change the ratios a bit, so keep an eye on the water values, but fromthe sound of it, you made more waste in the tank than they will.

You know you'll need to do a good water chnge before adding the axolotls, right? (The nitrate is too high.)

Good for you on a fishless cycle!

-Eva

Neke · Sep 22, 2008

Thanks for the reassurance! I had a feeling it was near the end - I jumped up and down when I saw the nitrate reading

I know I have to change the water, but I'm not sure how much - is it around 30%, or more? I've lost quite a lot of water as well, do I just take out a little and top it up, or do I still do a large change?

I'm mostly worried about the temperature atm - its 25 degrees and its only the beginning of spring, so it looks like I might have to invest in a chiller first. The whole ordeal is beginning to test my patience, it seems that as soon as I fix one thing, another comes along!

blueberlin · Sep 22, 2008

Hi Neke,

If you've just washed out the filter, I'd (personally) let that count as a water change and wait at least 12 hours and then do another round of water tests.

The temp is of course too high - do you have a lid and/or light on the tank? If so, please remove both. You will find that coolers are extremely expensive (they are intended for folks who keep saltwter fish from cold oceans, I believe), but there are plenty of other ways to deal with the heat. There are an article and a thread about just that topic:

Article:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/cooling.shtml

Thread:
http://www.caudata.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55815

-Eva

Neke · Sep 22, 2008

Thanks Eva,
I've read everything I can find on cooling and it looks like it comes down to this - constantly change frozen water bottles in the tank, put fans over it or get some kind of chiller - store bought or something rigged up. I'm sure I could get it down to a lower temp using water bottles and fans but it's not even hot yet so I'm picturing a long summer

I've got a canopy over my tank, but I took it off and the temp was only 0.1 degree different
I don't want to have to worry about it, so it's more effort that I'm concerned about than anything - I was going to get a 2nd hand bar fridge to use in summer if it got too hot anyway, and I've got some cash put away. I want a bigger tank one day so it won't be a waste I hope.

This one does up to 220L - do you think it would be suitable?

I realize this is off topic, sorry!

blueberlin · Sep 23, 2008

Hi Neke,

I want to shop in Australia! I looked for chillers earlier this summer and the cheapest I could find was 800 euros!

I therefore don't know anything about them. Maybe you could go to an aquarium shop and let them tell you all about chillers (and then buy at ebay hoho).

Like I kind of wrote, Austrlian summers are legendary (infamous) and a lot of people's axolotls spend them in the fridge. If I could afford a chiller, I'd buy one, too.

-Eva

coichards · Sep 23, 2008

Why are they so expensive. They are not made of gold. Are they?
:angry:

Amiracle · Sep 25, 2008

LOL. They are really expensive in Australia too. I got mine 3 years ago and it cost $600 and another $200 for a pump to run it. That said, it has saved me and my family a lot of heartache with heat related issues, and we only live in Sydney. It will get super hot in Brissie in summer. Also, good luck trying to get a repairman if anything happens to it...Alhoug I have found that refrigerator or airconditioner repairmen can fix them at a pinch. They're rarely sold unless in big marine aquarium centres for cold saltwater fish.

Neke · Sep 25, 2008

Lovely, pumps and repairmen - 2 things I hadn't thought about. I only have a 2ft tank... what kind of pump do you need to run a chiller?

Bellabelloo · Sep 25, 2008

I had looked into getting a chiller last year for my tank, but I was reluctant to fork out so much money ( having persuaded hubby that axolotl are soooooo cheep and easy to keep!!). This year if the temps had been high I was going to get one of those small glass fronted fridges that are aimed for the beer drinkers..so much cheaper and potentially more functional than the chiller...the temps would drop enough for the axy to go back to their main tank and the bar fridge could have all sorts of nice goodies kept in it!!

Amiracle · Sep 26, 2008

well I had a 2 foot tank and I used a small pond pump, that said, it now also runs for a 4 foot tank. They can advise you at the shop but some come with inbuilt pumps. Just make sure you turn it off in winter cause it will heat the tank to the set temp which is a waste of electricity and gas in my opinion. The tank seems to stay below the required temps in winter without heating.

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