Eheim Pro II Not Helping !!!!!!

[joeyjoeq]

Hi, it has been 8 months since I had my fish in my 55 gal. tank. I have 4 Guppys, 3 Gouramis, 3 Black Mollys, 1 Zebra Danio, 1 Pleco, 1 Algae Eater ... and so on. As you can see my tank is a little one the heavy side with so many fish. In total there are about 18 fish. I just purchased an Eheim 2028 filter because I read many good things on it. This is how I set it up ... Efimech w/blue pad(bottom tray), Ehfisubstrat Pro(mid tray), Ehfisubstrat Pro(top tray), on top I put on the white pad. I'm not sure if I did anything wrong. I rinsed the media and pads before using them. For some strange reason I have this white type of particles being released from the filter. I had it running last night, and in the morning I found 3 swordtails dead. I am very upset since they were very nice fish. Anybody have any idea on what to do????? Maybe buy something new???? Add something????? Thanks *thumbsups

 

[Pure]

My best guess would be that you didn't rinse the media well. I doubt very seriously this was the cause of your fish death. With the addiction of the canister filter, did you loose any surface agitation? Many times when you replace a HOB with a canister you loose most if not all of your surface agitation. And with your stocking levels with a tight fitting hood this could be a bad thing. Causing O2 levels in the tank to plummet. Is your plec making dashes to the surface to gulp air?

 

[FroggyFox]

Great thought Pure...If there is no surface agitation the best thing to do is get a spraybar to connect to the filter output or at the very least make sure the stream of water coming out of the filter is breaking the surface of the water. I have only canister filters on three of my tanks and as long as the stream is breaking the surface of the water that has been able to get adequete oxygen to the tank.

I also think that the "white particles" is probably a bacteria bloom from changing filters. Since you probably took the old filter off completely you are causing your tank to re-cycle that new filter so I'd suggest checking your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, I'm thinking none of them are 0. A water change is probably in order.

Also as far as moving forward, let us know what your water parameters are (temp, ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). If the particles are from not rinsing the filter media first...your water changes will take them out, they're not harming your fish. If it is more of a white cloudyness with teeny particles (bacteria bloom), you dont need to do anything because it'll right itself after awhile. Just keep on your regular water changes.

Welcome to MFT

 

[joeyjoeq]

Thank You for trying to help me. I am new to this site and actually from reading about fish, the site got me into them. I will clean the filter once more. The fish act like they always do. The bottom swimmers lay there, and the middle to top lay there as well. My Pleco is always in a wood decoration I put in for him. The Chinese Algae Eater is always moving from plants to rocks. I have two Rena 300's working for air. I don't know if that is good or not? The store told me to keep my old Emperor 400 filter working, and it is. Sorry about not mentioning that. My Ph level is 7.4, Ammonia is 0 ppm, Nitrite is 0 ppm, and Nitrate is 10 ppm. I used the Mardel Master test Kit and the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit. Both gave me the same results. Anything I should check?

 

[FroggyFox]

no...cleaning the filter isn't going to help. What would have rinsed out of the media is now in your tank...so you need an extra water change probably, if thats the case. If you want to try rinsing the filter media take the filter apart and rinse with dechlorinated water to see if any of those particles come out of your filter.

Good on the pet store for reccomending you keep the old filter running!! Thats awesome. It (white stuff) *could* still be a bacteria bloom so I still wouldn't panic about that. Since your water parameters seem fine, there isn't any less surface agitation...I guess the mystery is about the swordtails dying...

The rest of your fish are acting and eating normally?

Hmm I got nothin. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[joeyjoeq]

Ok well I just decided to clean the filter media and pads one more time. I guess you were right FroggyFox. Bacteria Bloom seems to be my problems because the pads and media were clean. Eheim says they are clean when you see clear water go through it. Any ideas on how to get that Bloom out? I know real plants help, but I don't have any in my tank. I did however do a water change. It helped my Nitrate level go from 10ppm to 5ppm. Other than that the water is cloudy in a way, with those white particles. The fish are still in perfect shape. My Dalmation Molly swims a little funny to the side. Could this be because of the Bloom?

 

[Pure]

Nope the bloom is harmless as long as your ammonia and nitrite remains at zero. The only way to get rid of it is to be patient. It has to and will clear up on it's own. It can take over a week but it will go away.

 

[FroggyFox]

Nope the bloom is harmless as long as your ammonia and nitrite remains at zero. The only way to get rid of it is to be patient. It has to and will clear up on it's own. It can take over a week but it will go away.

Agreed! Just do your weekly water changes and keep an eye on the fish. Since you have plenty of filtration I wouldn't turn your emperor off or make any changes in the tank, except normal vacuum and water change.

Maybe your swordtails died of causes completely unrelated to the new filter? If a molly is also not seeming to do so well...