anaerobic filter after long power out ;(

"Flash Wilson" wrote in message
...
Help help! I have searched google groups but can't find a useful
thread.

The power went out at 2am. I got up at 7am and started tending to
my fish. Power came back at 3.30pm, after 13.5 hours out.

My 2ft tank smells a bit odd, sort of cheesy, but all the fish
seem fine (and have done throughout, although the dark confused them).

My 4ft tank is another story. All the fish except catfish started
hanging at the top, so during the outage I did two 10% water changes
at intermittent periods - I didn't like to do more as our heating
needs electricity and the water was stone cold... although I tried
to mix it up well, and put it in a warm place for a while before
use! Best idea I had! I also blew down an air line just under the
water surface for ten minutes a couple of times, to try to get the
water moving. Didn't know what else to try apart from keeping the
room cool and shaded as its 33C outside. What else could I have done?

Anyway, the power returned and the air pump started bubbling away.
I plugged the filter back in and caught the first few litres, because
they are always full of crud after it's been turned off. Then I
left it, but the smell of sulphur dioxide built up to overpowering
within a few minutes. Ten minutes later and there is no smell, but
the water looks cloudy with white bits, and when I take it away
in water changes, it's actually greenish. I did another 10% water
change. All the fish seem ok, but I'm worried that the filter is
compromised and a) it will be poisoning them until it recovers
and b) the tank will need cycling again?

I'd only just changed the filter media in the small tank so I'm not
sure I can use it to seed the big tank. Can't really move fish to the
small tank as it's fully stocked and a far lower pH.

Any ideas apart from keeping an eye on things? Is there an additive
I can get to help the tank along, or some intervention I can take?

How long does it take before it stops chucking out sulphur dioxide?

Will my tank need to cycle again?

I was meant to go out for the day and instead I've spent all day
anxiously watching fishes and phoning the electricity company.

Other than that everything is fine(!) Well, fingers crossed that
the fish are tough enough to withstand it.

All good fun stuff no doubt.......

If I remember correctly you have an Eheim Ecco cannister. For future
reference, if a power outage goes on for more than 2 hours then the thing to
do is to take the lid of the cannister and periodically change the water in
it with water from the tank. All you need to do is to give the bacteria in
the cannister a supply of oxygenated water. Its worth emptying the supply &
return hoses as well. What has happened is that the filter has gone
Anaerobic because of a lack of oxygenated water.

Not sure how the Ecco is designed but this has set me thinking as to what I
might do under similar circumstances with my Eheim Pro cannisters

I think another easy option would be to find some buckets and just fill each
one with tank water and then put the individual filter media baskets in
them - just covered with tank water.....that ought to be enough to keep most
of the bacteria alive. Maybe give them a stir occasionally.

Of course they will die back a bit through a lack of ammonia/Nitrite but not
as quickly as they will through suffocation (You murdering woman (!_ Do you
have ANY idea how many billions of helpless little bacteria you suffocated
last night?????!!!) ;-)

The sulphur dioxide should stop fairly quickly - in fact you probably
flushed most of it out. Odds are the bacteria in the filter have been pretty
badly compromised but bear in mind they double every 15 hours and there are
tons of them in the actual tank itself so it definitly should not be a
complete new cycle. A helping hand from some of the filter media from the
small tank couldn't hurt - just don't compromise that tank in the process!
I'd watch your Ammonia & Nitritres for a few days & change water as
necessary.

On the subject of being able to heat water - this would obviously be much
more of a problem in the winter - maybe consider having a small camping
stove handy as part of your emergency kit - they don't cost huge amounts &
would be enough to boil a few pints of water (which when added to bucket of
cold water would be enough to get it warm enough to go in the tank). Added
bonus would be the continuing ability to make tea!

good luck, keep us posted,

I