# Another fish tank disaster, co2 got into tank and filter stop working?



## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

Well i left my house at 7pm yesterday night, tank looked fine, i arrived home at 11pm last night to find out my tank is cloudy.... i see very little water movement, and then i look at the diy co2 bottles x2 1.5 litres and they are sucked up into the filter intake... So i do 2x 50% water changes, which took a while cause i had to premix my super soft water to hard.. since my tap water is 0kh 0gh i have to up them both up to 3kh and 4 gh with some buffers.... they look fine after a water change but still cloudy, when i woke up today i see the fish gasping at the top of the water again sigh.... this is pissing me off..... now i need to do another stupid water change and premix the damn water.... any suggestions? i did not do a water change yet but i will soon.... i am thinking of doing a BIG water change without adding the buffers, so i add an instand 0kh 0gh water straight into the tank that currently has 3kh 4gh... well i will never use stupid diy co2 again and no pre filter on the xp3...


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

anyone think that the bacteria got destroyed and i am going threw another fish tank cycle?? i mean the water is STILL cloudy... Fish gasping at top of water which means non cycled tank? my diy co2 sugar yeast got sucked up into my rena xp3 which has all the bacteria in it.. did the yeast and sugar kill the bacteria in my filter which is causing cloudy water??


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

it cant possibly take much to buffer to 3, cant you just figure out how much you need to add for a certain volume and do that every time u do water changes?
i just add a half a teaspoon of my buffer and a half a teaspoon of the lake salts for each 3.5 gallon jug of water i put in the tank, shake it once its 1/4 full then keep filling and its mixed well by the time i pour it in, tank is always around 15/15 kh/gh, sometimes a few degrees higher


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

well i usualy fill up a rubbermaid bin and add like 1/4th tsp off the powder stuff to raise kh, usualy after that i would take measurments and it would be about 2kh then i would add a bit more.... yesterday i did not really do a kh gh check since the fish needed fresh water fast, i just added what i would think would make it 3kh 4 gh, i geuss it would be better to do the same again, but then it would take longer to refill as my pump is weak and takes long to refill it unless i refilled straight from the tap...


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't think you really need to get the tap water up to the exact KH before adding it, usually best to raise it slowly in the tank. I have a 5 gallon jug I use for adding water. I add 1 tsp of the seachem alkaline buffer to it and maybe a tsp of salt , shake real good, let sit for 15 min or so, shake again and add, haven't had any probs doing it that way. if the KH is still low in the tank after the water change I slowly raise it in there, too much at on time is never a good thing for the fish...I could be wrong , but it works for me lol


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

i dont even wait that long before putting it in the tank, put the stuff in the empty watering jug (what i use) mix it up good then fill it from the bathtub, walk over to the other room and dump it in... ive tested the tank right after the change and the kh/gh is the same as before so it seems to be working, just gotta figure out the amnt u need then add that every time and youl have consistency


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

i think i am just gona put all livestocks into another cycled 10 gal tank for now, i am still not sure why the water is still so cloudy though, maybe the dead shrimp in the bottom of the tank is causing this? i noticed a few more layin around dead today, one was still alive suprisingly and was put into another tank.. ill just leave the messed up tank as is and see if it clears up soon..


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

If they are gasping, then there is not enough O2. Do you have a lot of surface movement? Personally, I run my tanks with high amount of surface agitation to help with the gas exchange even when I inject CO2. I have rarely, if ever encounter gasping of air due to a change in gH and kH.

Here is a link to one of Oliver Knott's planted tank. Look at the amount of agitation on the surface.

http://www.pbase.com/plantella/image/94446905


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## Mferko (Jun 8, 2010)

it is likely O2 thats the only time ive encountered gasping too, try adding an airstone
also test your ammonia and pull out the dead shrimp


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

i found about another 8 more dead shrimps after moving the peice of wood hiding most of them and took them out... i just did a 60% water change and the SAEs arnt gasping anymore but the tank is still coudy, i geuss i just gota wait till tomorrow too see if there is more gasping or swimming at top of water again.... i will point my spray bar so i get more water movemeny, i had a little but maybe that was not enough and when mixed with dead shrimp it caused no co2 or something, i dont know but i will just hope its clear tomorrow, thx for the replys..


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

depending on how long the filter was off for you could very well be mini cycleing.


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

today the tank looks perfectly clear now, finaly, it must of been those dead shrimps clouding it up + with lots of bacteria destroyed from the diy co2 recipe getting into the cannister filter, i also have the spray bar pushing up lots of movement, if a fish gets caught inbetween it would probably hurt.... lesson learned, do not inject diy co2 into stong cannister filter intake especialy if it has a pre filter..


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

fisherman said:


> lesson learned, do not inject *DIY* co2 into stong cannister filter intake especialy if it has a pre filter..


Just a correction for anyone else who doesn't know the history.


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## fisherman (Apr 22, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Just a correction for anyone else who doesn't know the history.


oops edited the post, thx..


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

fisherman said:


> oops edited the post, thx..


Have you tried using a gas separater, bubble counter in between? The might solve this anxiety. If you don't know what I mean, it's a water bottle with 2 holes in it, and the tube coming out of the CO2 mix goes into the water and the second tube sits a bit inside the lid and the gas that bubbles out goes into the tank? That way if there is a problem, it doesn't get into your tank. A bit of gas gets wasted (not much if you put the water up high, but at least there is a margin of safety unless the overflow is massive.


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