This isn't really a catfish specific question, but hoping some of you may have suggestions on what to do
I recently acquired a 55 gallon tank. When I picked it up, the previous owner said I'd probably need to replace one of the filters sooner than later - it came with 2 HOB filters.
One of them stopped working within a few days, so I ordered an Eheim Canister 2224-37 right away. It came last Wednesday and I hooked it up on Christmas Eve day... so it's been running for about 4 days.
Well, sometime between yesterday morning after I left for work and this morning when I woke up, the second HOB filter stopped working
Since there was no water being pumped, the sponge was pretty much dried up... only slightly moist at the bottom of it, sitting in a small pool of water & fish waste.
Not sure what exactly to do now...
Tested the ammonia this morning, and it was just around 1ppm. I do use AmQuel Plus to dechlorinate tap water, which also binds ammonia up to 1.7ppm, so hopefully the fish will be okay until I get home
I know there are still some "ammonia/nitrite eating bacteria" in the gravel, but guessing that it's not enough to keep ammonia levels from rising further while the bacteria colonies build back up in the Eheim, and the new filter I plan to get today.
When I first got the tank it was stocked with about 90 inches of fish.
I have since rehomed many of the larger fish and added a few smaller ones. It is currently stocked with approx 48 inches of fish. [3 Angelfish, 6 Cories (Loxozonus), 5 Glass Cats, 6 Cardinal Tetras, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Indian Glassfish].
Should I add an ammonia binding product such as API Ammo-Lock or Stress-Zyme? Some other product? I've never used any of these products before and the online reviews seem to be mixed.
I do also have some Brazilian ivy (pennywort) floating in the tank... hoping this will help a bit too with keeping levels in check. I am also thinking I should change 5 gallons of water daily until this "re-cycle" has completed (10% of the water). Too much or not enough... thoughts?
This is a situation I've never encountered before, so THANK YOU for any help you have to offer.
