Beginner Mistake While cleaning filter

[chicagophish]

I'm new to discus fish, and fish in general, and a week or so ago, I cleaned my fluval 204 under tap water, and cleaned all 3 levels of media and the sponge. How should I go about recapturing the bacteria colony? Should I replace all the levels?

[RyanH]

You don't need to replace them but if you did kill off your biofilter, you will want to now clean them thoroughly and sterilize them prior to using them in your tank again.

You should be able to get the biofilter up and running in 4 weeks or so if you do a fishless cycle. It's best to cycle a filter without fish present as ammonia is harmful to fish but is required for establishing a bacterial colony.

If you can, I'd establish a new biofilter in a different tank by using biospira and ammonia. Meanwhile, your going to make sure you change your water frequently and in large quantities in your Discus tank too keep the ammonia levels as close to zero as possible.

JMHO
-Ryan

[chicagophish]

I actually just checked my ammonia levels and they are fine, however, my pH is high. So am I to assume that my filter media's are fine?

[Timbo]

do you, or did you previously, have anything (fish) in the tank?

if you did, and do now, and you are getting zero on ammonia and nitrites, you are good to go

[pcsb23]

I'd keep checking the ammonia, with high ph it will be very toxic to your fish.

Paul.

[billeagan]

Keep an eye on your levels, definitely. It won't take long for it to build up in your tank...

If I were in your situation and unable to hot swap filters between tanks I would run out and buy some Bio Spira.. Reviews are different on the product, but I have used it with success when bringing in large shipments and my bio loads were having trouble.

Keep your PH below 7 and the ammonia is not harmful its the nitrite spike that follows that you need to worry about.