I’m hating myself so much right now. I have a sponge filter in my 40gal tank and I read that you’re supposed to squeeze them out in the water and not rinse them (I swear it specifically said that) and I so I tried it and a lot of stuff came out… I mean a lot. So much so that all my fish have started to die one by one 😭 I moved some to a new tank in the hopes they would live but I don’t think any of them will make it through the night. I moved my mystery snails
I really hope they don’t die.
Please don’t come after me. I’m so devistated and I won’t be doing this again 😭
Posted by Flat_Giraffe1869
10 Comments
Well…you squeeze it out in a bucket of tank water that you are taking out when doing water changes. It’s lessons we all have to figure out. It’ll be ok just do a water change on the tank and going forward squeeze the sponge out in the bucket that is destined to be dumped in the toilet.
lol squeeze it in the bucket with your old tank water when doing water changes. Rip
Did you squeeze it inside the tank, it believe your supposed to squeeze it inside the waste tank water during a water change, the water your going to throw away. This will most likely be a huge ammonia spike from waste, check your water parameters and dose with seachems prime ASAP.
Do 50% water change immediately to neutralise the toxins as much as you can.
I hope all of your remaining fish survive ! Best luck to you
You’re meant to squeeze it out into a bucket of tank water that has been removed from the tank for a water change. Try not to freak out, give it time to settle and the filter will re-filter the gunk out eventually, your fish are probably safer left in the tank than moved to an uncycled tank. A water change might help clear some of the gunk, but don’t change more than ~50% of the water as it might shock the fish further and stability is important.
You’re suppose to do a water change first, taking some of the “old” fish tank water into a bucket… AND THEN USE THAT OLD TANK WATER to squeeze the sponge filter out into it… not squeeze the sponge filter out directly inside your tank. What it probably means by saying not to rinse the sponge, is to not rinse it under straight tap water fresh out of the tap (the chlorine will kill off the beneficial bacteria living in your sponge filter and you’ll crash the nitrogen cycle of your tank).
your tank is not cycled. your fish are dying from ammonia poisoning. The end.
Don’t wring or aggressively squeeze sponge filters. They should only be gently rinsed or lightly compressed in old tank water and never in tap water and never inside the tank.
you need to do agressive water changes from now on over the next 2 weeks , get a testing kit and keep ammonia low
You need to do a water change.
Remove some fish tank water into a bucket and take the sponge filter / sponges out. Wash the sponge filter / sponges in the bucket of fish tank water. Once you have cleaned the sponges place the sponges back into the aquarium and discard the bucket of water.
Remove 25% of the water and discard it.
Refill the aquarium with dechlorinated
water.
Once filled back up and running for 30 mins test the aquarium water.
The tank is not cycled, so they are swimming in their own urine. when the tank is cycled, the water will be crystal clear. by squeezing the filter, you just freed up more poop and dirt into the water but the water is already deadly due to ammonia, it wont matter what you put in it, it isn’t cycled and the fish will die unless properly cycled with the fish already in the tank. go to a pet store and ask to buy one of their sponge filters that is dirty, gunky and currently in-use. you need a seasoned sponge filter….that will istantly cycle your tank. (one of the same size sponges). alsol don’t do a bunch of water changes…a tank cant cycle when youre constantly doing water changes. the key thing is dont do water changes at first or very minimal ones. you want the water to age the filter to get brown and gunky It has to get skuzzy and “gunky” before it can get clear and cycled. after the tank is set up a couple months THEN start regular water changes. too many fish in an uncycled tank means there is more fish pee (ammonia) than there is beneficial bacteria to feed on it. until the beneficial bacteria levels are below the ammonia coming itno the tank, the fish will die of ammonia poisoning. id’ suggest a test kit and an ammonia eliminator because you are starting your cycling at ground zero again WITH the fish already in. Google “cycle aquarium “in fish “. good luck