Bala Shark Died, Why...?? Please Help

Hi Guys

please help
i Have a Species Tank
so Saturday i decided to service my cannister Filter with new media
changed all four levels
did a 50 percent water change
added my anti ammonia salts etc
so come sunday my water is crystal all my inmates look happy
until last night when i noticed my bala shark acting strangley
i moniterd him, he seemd sluggish, than around 9pm i see him swimming upside down
and half and hour later he didnt make it

what could be the reason?
he was quite big , around 15cm and rather healthy

 

When you changed all your filter media you lost a good deal of beneficial bacteria - the things that live in your filter that actually break down fish waste into less harmful products. Without them, your tank can foul up quite quickly, worst of all it's invisible to the naked eye.

Even if you added anti-ammonia salts there would still be no bacteria to deal with the nitrites and nitrates in the water.

The fish may have been weakened already by some other cause, and this may have given him the final knock.

 

thanx for that but then how does one go about changing his filter media correctly..?

 

Well this is how I go about it:

1) I rarely change my filter media. I remove it from the filter and wash it in water that I've removed from the tank. In this way, the bacteria will be kept well alive and I can still remove the muck within it.

2) If I do have to change the media (ie: crumbling, fraying, etc). I do it in stages. I never remove ALL the filter media at once. I'd say give month-long intervals between removing/replacing any filter media. The exception to this rule are temporary products such as charcoal (carbon filters), zeolite etc., which isn't intended for bacterial colonization and never lasts long anyway.

 

Change one tray at a time. Usually you can use most of the media for a long time, and just need to give it a gentle rinse in a bucket full of tank water to clear all the mulm out, then palce back in. Only the sponges need replacing more often, and even the less dense foam (usually blue coloured), can be used for a good while as long as its gently cleaned to remove the blockages.

Never clean a fitler directly under the tap... This will kill off all the beneficial bacteria in the filter media. Tank water is great as this contains this bacteria. If you actually do need to replace the media, do it in stages. This then allows the other trays containing the bacteria to allow this bacteria to recolonise the 'new' media.

HTH?

Regards
G

 

i See the error of my ways..
i changed all at once and did it under a tap!
cleaned it so well it looked brand new
thanx a lot , il be sure to use this advice next round

 

moe, the question now is, how are you going to protect the rest of your 'inmates'? This one was the weakest and died first. The others is sure to follow if you do not act! I suggest a big water change and then 20% water change everyday for a month or till the filter is cycled again. Use Microbe-Lift GFCI and Special Blend to get your filter going quickly. Takes like a week if you do the combination.

PS. GFCI stands for Gel Filter Cartridge Inoculant.

 

thanx for the advice guys, @

yes did a water change sunday and twice yesterday
the other fish seem fine
would it be advisable as a safety measure to use water from a buddys tank

 

I would say that is going a bit overboard and risky in that you could transfer disease. Get your filter seeded with bacteria and keep up with the water changes. Measuring NH3/4 NO2 and NO3 will tell you how you are doing.

Here is a good article to read.
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?7286-Nitrogen-Cycle-for-Aquariums

 

Thanx alot Tom will be sure to give it a read