Disaster struck!!! all fish dead need help in few hours (at laest to start)

[TheNamelessPoet]

well not all 2 made it *fingers crossed*

My DIY CO2 fell over and I didn’t know... it filled the emergency 2nd bottle I had (only 20 OZ) enough to seep into the tank... it must have happened while putting the blanket on my tank for a blackout (hair algae problem after clear water for MONTHS). it sat for 3 days... covered... diligently NOT checking the tank so as to not let 1 ray of sunlight in... and the tank... basically fermented... I smelled something bad when I got home from work last night... and searched EVERYWHERE thinking my cat had an accident somewhere even tho it wasn’t quite that smell...
I peaked in a corner of the tank to see how the algae was going (I generally do 5 days just in case then a massive water change 2 X in the next week). I saw a dead fish and it seamed cloudy and I could smell something I did not like... I threw of the cover and nearly vomited... The smell was of yeast and fish starting to decompose... the filter which is ULTRA quite was plugged with "Mucus" and not running... all my fish were dead but 2... a zebra daino and an otto. All my live plants... plants I have been meticulously growing, pruning, fertilizing for 7-8 months... all gone.
I had to drain the tank COMPLETELY last night and I don’t know how to restart...
I am going to boil all the rock tonight, and buy a new filter. (Cleaned the old one with bleach and water but I don’t want to take a chance) I cleaned the tank last night with bleach and water and now I have to scrub it as soon as I get home from work to get the bleach out before I can clean it.
With putting a bleach water mixture in the filter (no media of course) will that have killed the yeast or do I need to get a new filter? I have my 2 little guys in a container now but the heater gets too hot and makes the water temp SKYROCKET and I have nothing bigger to put them in.

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

Bassed on my horrible story of me making my fish suffer and suffocate to death I have a few questions to try and avoid this again and to at least start the tank again.


1) Do I need to get a new filter, and if not what precaution do I take to make sure there is no outbreak

2)Is boiling the rocks going to be enough to clean them?

3) after bleaching the tank, besises washing 2-3 times with non bleach products and whiping down 2 times with vinegar is they any prep work I need to do to protect my little guys?



I will NOT be attempting live plants until the new year again... when I can get a pressurized kit to avoid anything liek this happening. I want to eventualy upgrade to a 55 Long anyway

 

[Blueiz]

Your filter will be fine, no need to buy a new one. Just clean it as you have described and rinse it well. Clean all the rocks and such as you have described as well.

The alcohol in the yeast mixture is most likely what killed your fish.

For now, I think that you will be fine not running a heater with the little guys since it is a very temporary situation, as long as the temp doesn't go below 72 degrees.

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

Your filter will be fine, no need to buy a new one. Just clean it as you have described and rinse it well. Clean all the rocks and such as you have described as well.

The alcohol in the yeast mixture is most likely what killed your fish.

For now, I think that you will be fine not running a heater with the little guys since it is a very temporary situation, as long as the temp doesn't go below 72 degrees.

unfortunatly living in ct... its cold here this time of year... the temo in the water is between 60-65. they made it thru the night but I didnt wnat to put them in warm water that would get cold again... didnt want it to go up and down too much

 

[Blueiz]

For your second post, boiling the rocks is sufficient to clean them. Rinsing the tank well will suffice, I would triple dose dechlor when filling the tank up to be sure all chlorine is removed before putting the fish back in.

In order to prevent this from happening in the future if you want to go back with diy, you can put the bottles in a bucket so they can't turn over or build a holding container for them.

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

For your second post, boiling the rocks is sufficient to clean them. Rinsing the tank well will suffice, I would triple dose dechlor when filling the tank up to be sure all chlorine is removed before putting the fish back in.

In order to prevent this from happening in the future if you want to go back with diy, you can put the bottles in a bucket so they can't turn over or build a holding container for them.

Good to know on that bucket idea... I may try that... it's pretty much a failsafe. thanks for the tip.

 

[Blueiz]

unfortunatly living in ct... its cold here this time of year... the temo in the water is between 60-65. they made it thru the night but I didnt wnat to put them in warm water that would get cold again... didnt want it to go up and down too much

If you have a desk lamp, you can sit the container they are in under it, and monitor the temp in the bowl until you find the right distance it needs to be from the lamp to not over heat the container and use that as a temp measure. The only downside is the light will be on all the time on them and of couse you would need an incandescent bulb.

 

[Blueiz]

Oh, one more thing. Since plants do not use Co2 with the lights off (in the dark), if you ever do a black out again, you can turn that off .

 

[TheNamelessPoet]

My 2 little guys were happy to go into the bigger tank... I left it as 72 overnight and went up to 74 this morning... I will be upping again tonight... i want to get it back to 77