extreme overfeeding help.

[JumperGirl117]

My overly zealous two year old decided to help me feed the fish... Yes it is as bad as you think









Since I was busy and he is a sneaky little kid I didn't notice till hours later. And by then I decided to vacuum it out and here is my end result.




Yes that pink blur is a fake plant. Nothing has settled yet but here is my question. What do I do now? Obviously keep an eye and havent checked anything. Haven't had the time and have about an hour of housework left and I will have to go to bed. I am planning on vacuuming it out and with that will include my water changes. I am under the understanding that to clean my sponge in my filter I just squeeze it out in the tank? I will do my parameters in the morning but right now there is just to much to do.

 

[Maxw47]

My little brother did the same thing to one of my tanks once...except he thought the fish needed something to drink as well and added some high range ph testing fluid. I did 2 80% water changes and did 50% every day for the rest of the week. All my fish were fine. So my recommendation is to do as many water changes as you can

 

[Dizzydea]

Squeeze the filter sponge out in a bowl of tank water, rather than in the tank.

 

[JumperGirl117]

My little brother did the same thing to one of my tanks once...except he thought the fish needed something to drink as well and added some high range ph testing fluid. I did 2 80% water changes and did 50% every day for the rest of the week. All my fish were fine. So my recommendation is to do as many water changes as you can

Yea. I stopped at 3 gallons tonight and am going to let everything settle again then vacuum it out again tomorrow morning and keep vacuuming until it's reasonably clear. And since the pleco is in there I am hoping he will help alittle.

 

[JumperGirl117]

Squeeze the filter sponge out in a bowl of tank water, rather than in the tank.

Thanks. I was a bit confused on that point.

I will most likely get an algae bloom since those were algae wafers for the pleco and my bacteria should help handle that with the pleco and the water changes correct?

 

[Dizzydea]

Ya keep up with water changes until things clear up.

 

[JumperGirl117]

Day 1 morning after roughly 30% water change



Oh. Boy. This is going to take forever

 

[Mudfrog]

I would have immediately done a 75% water change. I don't think 30% is much with that kind of an ammonia spike.

 

[JumperGirl117]

I would have immediately done a 75% water change. I don't think 30% is much with that kind of an ammonia spike.

I couldnt immediately do anything but he put the bag of algae wafers in the tank which my cat attacked so it has holes in the bag so I am just going to completely change the water out. And just let the filter run for a couple of minutes then put them back in. If I can find the pleco...








And we can't forget the cat food that he lovingly put in.

 

[JumperGirl117]

If I clean the sponge out will that be counter-productive since I am taking all the bacteria that's in the sponge and rinsing it out?

 

[Oohitsae]

no, as long as you clean it in old tank water rather than tap, you wont kill off enough bacteria to make any difference in your cycle

If I were you, I'd make some time to do atleast a 75% w/c ASAP. Also, keep a VERY close eye on your water parameters, your ammonia is sure to spike.
My best friends son dumped a brand new container of flakes into one of my 20 gallons once and I didn't notice till it was time for bed. Thought I'd be okay to put it off until the morning before work, but that ended up being one of the biggest mistakes ever. Everyone in that tank was dead the next morning besides a single bristlenose juvenile.

 

[Autumnsky]

I would do this the other way around.


All this will be using treated water, so if I say water I mean treated water.

Take out fish and place into your container with clean treated water. Add your air bubbler.

Rinse the rocks through a sieve with treated water then rinse in a 5G bucket, it will take a bunch of water. Then slosh in bucket of clean water slosh off all plants and decos.

Rinse and add a new clean bucket of water put in all plants and decos into the cleaned water in bucket.

Remove anything else off of the tank so it is only the tank.

Rinse it out with water in the sink or bath tub, (you can use faucet water)

Put every thing back like you are setting up a new tank. Make sure water is at the right temp. add filter and just gently rinse off the filter pads.

Your tank will likely need to recycle or have a mini cycle.

The ammonia from the food will kill your fish. If you don't get that all out of there. It can burn the gills and cause severe health issues if it does make it.

The Pleco will not be able to help enough with a mess like that.

Make sure you test the water every day to see that you don't have water quality issues from the new cycle. Read up on "fish in" cycling. Water changes will likely need to be made.

Don't add more fish for a number of weeks to make sure your new or mini cycle is under control.

Mishaps can and do happen all the time. Fish chemicals aren't good for curious kids, maybe you can add a lock like for desk drawer or file cabinet. Big box hardware stores have them and you would need a drill to add a hole. They basically screw in!

 

[JumperGirl117]

I did a 75% water change and it's almost like overnight everything cleared up. I check the water 2 times a day and so far everything is good. Of course its only been a day and a half but I will take all the good lol

 

[meegosh]

Glad you're back on track. Keep up the water changes. I'd suggest locking the food up and getting a lid for the tank so it doesn't happen again.

 

[JumperGirl117]

Yea. I don't quite understand why the sudden interest in the fish tank but it's time to get creative!