will they die?Crud

sterlinggirl

OH so stupid.. i read about the carbon stuff in the filter is not really needed in the filter,, and that if not replace that it can leach bad stuff back in the the tank,, so silly me has decide this am before going to work... that i would open the pack, remove all the carbon and rinse this blue cartraige and then put it back in the tank.. well... immediatly the water quality is soooo full of crud!!! what did i do??? i have checked with a strip the ammonia and nitrate and nitrite levels and there is no change on that strip.. do i need to be super concerned?? will i come home to dead fish??? ugh!! I do have on the tank a second filter an aqua clear that is properly seeded but i am hopeing that it will be enouhg till i return home with a new blue filter to put back on the penguin bio wheel filter that i just screwed up...crap crap crap.... why do i read stuff and decide to change up what was working fine:(

Tazman

Most of the bacteria is on the biowheels so you should be fine, providing the filter is running.

I have made a mess in my cichlid tank before changing the pads while the filter was running. Easiest way is to shut the filter off and very slowly lift the cartridge out.

You might have to do a little more vacuuming. There is no harm in cleaning the filter, make sure though to float the biowheels in tank water while you clean it, again with tank water.

I found on mine a lot of the stuff stays in the bottom of the cartridge slots, I use the blue cartridges and rinse them regularly. They get changed once a month.

Apart from looking bad, it will not really cause any problems, a quick vacuum will get most of it out the water.

sterlinggirl

LOOK BAD IT DID! I did not shut it off when i did this,, and so when i put it back in .. holy cow!! it was a mess and i got fruited out,, thank goodness for all you kind folks to help releave my mind.. I was doing so good as a newbie, then made a stupid simple mistake .. thank for the responce as well as the clue about floating the wheel,, that part i dint know, i shut it off for cleaing the tank.. only cuz i can see if i dont, lol.. so thanks Tazman!!

beetlebz

Ive never found a way to remove the pads and replace them without the filter spewing gunk into the tank. I just shut it off, take the pad out, rinse it, put it back in, and hold a fine fish net under the outflow for a few seconds when I turn it back on.

Some gunk still gets in the tank, but i figure its like 1% of what was on the pad, so its still an improvement

Tazman

Take the filter off the tank completely (having a container available nearby), being out of water for such a small amount of time, while you change the filter, will not damage the bacteria in any way.

Pillow fiber from walmart in the weirs is also a good way to stop "gunk" getting into the tank while you change the pads with the filter off.