Any help would be appreciated
- Thread starter wilsonriverfish
- Start date
Oh my gosh your avatar is a TRIP LOL So you took out the undergravel filter system? Did you also gravel vac your tank real good too? I hope not because your gravel, plants, ornaments all have good bacteria in them. I would have run the cannister for afew weeks to build it up but if you didnt really clean it you should be ok. It may throw the tank into a mini cycle...you dont mention what kind of fish or what size they are in the tank...you may need to do afew water changes to get rid of waste until the bacteria can build up in your cannister...Good luck! I have a large tank (125gal) and I run a cannister as well as a HOB filter for added filtration/and backup.
I probably would have left them both running for a couple weeks, but if you took them out already there's not too much you can do about that...they're a pain to take out, I can't imagine trying to put them back in!! If you just did it within the past day or so you might take a couple handfuls of gravel and put them in the buckets with your filter media in the fluval to help seed the filter. Otherwise, like TLM said you just want to make sure and do some good cleaning from the gunk that was probably under those plates.
I did not take the plates out i just took off the heads and thats it! I also wanted to add that I have a common pleco,2 swordtails i male and 1 female, 2 gouramis 3 spot and a blue one male and one female, two serpae tetras, two hatchet fish, 1 guppie, one very small fry, 3 red claw crabs, two mystery snails yellow, 1 mystery snail brown, 1 chinsese algae eater
It doesn't matter...you could just sprinkle a little on top of each one...or just make one basket...whatever works best.
I'd put the heads back on the ugf asap. With the plates still in there there is all kinds of nasty stuff underneath them and that will turn into stagnant water underneath because therre's no longer any waterflow and you'll have a HUGE mess when you take them out because anaerobic bacteria will all get together under there and basically be toxic as soon as you move it. Get the UGF operating again and let it run for a 2-3 weeks in addition to your new fluval...and then take the tank apart, get the UGF plates out of there completely and do a big water change. You'll probably need to take the fish out to get that accomplished...
If you get them running again then you dont need to worry about seeding your fluval with gravel from the tank. If you DONT want to get them running again or can't for some reason I'd take the tank apart now before things get any worse under there.
I'd put the heads back on the ugf asap. With the plates still in there there is all kinds of nasty stuff underneath them and that will turn into stagnant water underneath because therre's no longer any waterflow and you'll have a HUGE mess when you take them out because anaerobic bacteria will all get together under there and basically be toxic as soon as you move it. Get the UGF operating again and let it run for a 2-3 weeks in addition to your new fluval...and then take the tank apart, get the UGF plates out of there completely and do a big water change. You'll probably need to take the fish out to get that accomplished...
If you get them running again then you dont need to worry about seeding your fluval with gravel from the tank. If you DONT want to get them running again or can't for some reason I'd take the tank apart now before things get any worse under there.
Better get the plates out ASAP then. You don't want anaerobic bacteria producing toxic gases down there. I forget what they produce but I understand that it is toxic for your fish. I doubt that there's been time for gases to build up, but it may be a case of 'better safe than sorry'. If it were me, I'd put the fish in a bucket of tank water with an airstone while removing the ugf plates.
Sorry you're having a difficult time with the transition, but I think you'll find it worth the trouble in the end.
Sorry you're having a difficult time with the transition, but I think you'll find it worth the trouble in the end.
Yup pull them plates out ASAP. Do like Froggy suggested and put some gravel in the the filter. You may have a mini cycle but should be ok.
Warning this is going to be very messy! You will need to remove the fish. Take the plates out, then let the tank sit for a few minutes to allow the crap in the water to settle. Then do one heck of a gravel vac and about a 75% water change.
Warning this is going to be very messy! You will need to remove the fish. Take the plates out, then let the tank sit for a few minutes to allow the crap in the water to settle. Then do one heck of a gravel vac and about a 75% water change.