# HELP!! my filter isn't working, willmy fish die?



## LilD (Jun 20, 2005)

i took it apart to clean it and no no water comes down the front like it should. I did it the same way I always do. I am scared my fish will die because I have to work all day tomorrow and after that it will take at least 2 hours to get to the pet store and back. It sounds like it's doing what it's supposed to but it's not. I have 5 platys, one cory and 2 skirt tetras in a 10 gallon tank... how much o2 can they survive on for 24 hours? 

does anyone know how I can fix this?


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## TLM4x4 (Oct 3, 2005)

Hi LilD...equiptment failure can be a pain not to mention scarey...if you have just a small pump you could hook an air stone up to in the tank, they would be fine until you can get a new filter after work tomorrow...if not another thing you can do is just stir the water up in the tank with your hand, every so often, and that will put some air into the water. Did you check to make sure you put it back together correctly? Good luck....


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

If you've got lots of plants in your tank, don't worry. They will take care of the fish wastes and adding O2 for you. If not... well, they can live in small bags of water when shipped, so there's a good chance they'll be fine. Just do a big water change when you get home to add some more oxygen and remove any ammonia that may have built up. Also, have a think about what kind of filter you're going to buy, if you're going to buy a new one. If you buy the same kind as you have now, you can just put the old filter pads into the new filter and won't have any cycling problems. But if this one's not working for some reason, you may feel it's unreliableso may want to get a different kind. If you do this, you may have problems with losing all your bacteria.


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## LilD (Jun 20, 2005)

thanks for the help

my fish are okay... the food that I bought had plugged the brand new filter pad... thank god they're good... 3 of them were BORN in there  and if I lost them I would be a sad sad little girl.


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## TLM4x4 (Oct 3, 2005)

Hey LilD...Im so glad you figured it out and it wasnt an expensive situation for you...food plugged up the filter pad? I hope you arent over feeding, how often do you change your filterpads or wash them out inbetween changes? Im glad your fishies are doing just fine :-D


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## Paul (Oct 8, 2005)

Going forward always have a spare filter & heater. The media can be moved over to the new one & your ready to go.


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## fishfrenzy328 (Sep 18, 2005)

They should be fine but it is good to get a new filter asap


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## LilD (Jun 20, 2005)

TLM4x4 said:


> Hey LilD...Im so glad you figured it out and it wasnt an expensive situation for you...food plugged up the filter pad? I hope you arent over feeding, how often do you change your filterpads or wash them out inbetween changes? Im glad your fishies are doing just fine :-D


i change them about once a month and i think i may haev been overfeeding my fish  i wanted my platies to grow bigger but i think they're just never going to be as big as ol mom and dad :-D 


i haven't been doing changes because the water has been just fine... just top ups as necessary. the snails seem to be keeping everything in check... but they're going as soon as i get a chance to pick up a couple loaches


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