Disaster!

[MrB15hop]

So, I left for work on Monday morning, on an overnighter to Glasgow and back.

While i was on the phone, chatting to the wife, she casually drops...

"I did a water change on the downstairs tank earlier" (While sounding sort of proud)
First thought was..Great! How nice of her, she knew it was overdue... she's final interested. 😀

However....my wife isn't a fan of the tanks, or at least, the amount of time I play with them...so I asked why....

Turns out, my 3 y.o and his friend had dumped 2 tubs of food in...

Further questioning revealed that she'd used a jug and pan to do the water change, managed to leave 90% food in, and topped up with dechlorinator after spending half hour or so filling up with fresh tap water...

She came home today, and did another such change, again 50%, but using the same procedure...

By the time I got in I was faced with this...


The clouds in there look remarkably like a bacterial bloom, which input in part to the amount of food left in.. .and the 60 litres of chlorinated water it received..

I've done about 75% change since I got back, removed the bodies and siphoned out as much food as I can.
I've moved some of the survivors into the other tank. (1 Amano and 2 Chilli Rasboras). I couldn't catch the Otos without destroying everything that was left...and I've got a Male Betta in the tank upstairs, so My female will have to stay downstairs for now...

Planning a minimum 50% change again when I get back 2moro, but I think it's gonna have to be a rescape...just how deep is the only question .
The carpet is gonna have to come up as most of it has already.. 🙁

I've got to be grateful I guess. She could have ignored it, and everything would be dead by now...instead I've only lost 6 Glowlight Tetras and 3 Amanos.

Fun times.

:-/

 

[alto]

Commiserations

Keep with the water changes - you can do them every 12 hours to help remove all the remaining food etc, or just stay with 75% daily

The Monte Carlo can recover quite quickly - pull it up (as it's lifted already I think you mentioned), remove any dead leaves etc (swish briskly in bin with water to shake them loose), then replant in "plugs" much as when starting with the
1-2-Grow, it will usually fill back in rather faster than initial tank startup (assuming CO2 etc)

You can also try siphoning the carpet aggressively, use a hand in place to push it down at the same time (if needed) as this will remove food & dead leaves, then you might sprinlkle additional soil overtop to help anchor it, continue pushing down with your hands over the next weeks & it may recover very nicely without replanting

(I'll try to find the video)

Remember to thank your wife 🙂 (effort & thought count for a lot) & show her how to do a proper water change (or arrange for someone that she could call in case of future incidents)
Lock away fish foods & fertilizers - fish would be just fine with a few days of no food (& thrilled to see you upon your return 😉)


You may need to sift through the rock bed to remove food

 

[Keith GH]

MrB15hop,

Don't forget the filter it could be full of gunk extra aeration will also help.

Keith

 

[Aqua360]

that's dreadful luck, but yeah good show by the other half 🙂

 

[MrB15hop]

Thanks guys.

Yes, I did thank her immensely. She wasn't convinced that I meant it, But I did. Lol.

I managed to get quite a bit out of the carpet with some aggressive siphon action and a bit of a poke. The amount that came up through the rock bed was verging on impressive.

I've continued with the water changes, and it's all settling down again..

I haven't got round to sorting the plants yet though. It could quite easily be saved, and It wouldn't be the first time I've had to replant my Monte Carlo..but I am half inclined to rescape anyway...just for the sake of it..., I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain that feeling on here though. 😀

 

[Majsa]

I'm sorry for your losses....good to hear that things are settling down.

I had nearly the same experience a couple of weeks ago. My 5-year old had just got a new bed and things weren't on their normal places, fish food left on top of the tank. My son and his friend "fed" the fish and shrimp in the 40L, both fish and shrimp got half a jar 😱 CPD's had huge bellies...Luckily I was at home and could start water changes immediately. A lot of syphoning and using a big syringe to suck up the fish food. The smell was awful, it took a while to get rid of it. I was lucky though, no losses.

It's good that your wife took action. I am the single point of failure here when it comes to our tanks, I may be wrong but when my partner looks at the tanks I have the feeling he's doing it only to please me 🙄

 

[MrB15hop]

It's good that your wife took action. I am the single point of failure here when it comes to our tanks, I may be wrong but when my partner looks at the tanks I have the feeling he's doing it only to please me 🙄

I get that exact same feeling most of the time... in fact, as a general rule, if I'm anywhere near either tank, she seems to roll her eyes and mutter about how the fish tanks get more attention than she does... :-/