PLEASE HELP!!! entire tank gone!!

[86vwgti8v]

Today my wife and I decided that we would move the fish tanks. 1, 55 gallon angel fish tank and 1, 28 gallon tank with about 20 barbs and 3 catfish and a silver dollar.
After I moved the 28 gallon I began to fill it back up and I thought I plugged in the filter but after about 15 minutes we relized it wasn't the filter I plugged in but the heater. It overheated and cracked. I didnt know it cracked till about 20 minutes after it was filled when my wife seen what looked like a oily substance rising from the heater.
Very soon the fish began floating and sticking to the filter.
We noticed about little bubbles stuck to the fish before they passed.
I did 2, 75 % water changes after I noticed the problem but it didn't do anything.
I removed like 10 barbs form the tank to a bucket of fresh water but they began dieing. all I have left is 2 rapheal talking catfish, 1 algea eater, kissing guarami, and a molly. Their in buckets.
I looked over at my angel tank and noticed the bubbles on the 1 angel, I actually brushed them off with my finger. Did a 50 % water change, I added a 2nd filter with 2 brand new filters in them, and when I added stress coat I noticed the bubbles go away and all seems well.(oh yea I lost a dalmation molly in the angel tank) scared the crap out of me.
Can someone please give me some advice on what i might want to do here. these are my only 2 tanks (other that a 10 gallon) I need to clean the 1 tank entirely, but with what. and what should I do to ensure my angels are fine, and what should I do to clean the survivng fish,
Please help me, I'm kinda new to the hobby been doing this for about 9 months now and this was my first real succsesful tank, now it's gone. I really dont want to lose my angels (even though the 10 gallonis full of about 30 babys, 3 that are about 3 months old the rest wigglers and barley free swimming:ezpi_wink1: ).

[Glasstapper]

I'm not sure I understand. Are you talking about the heater on just one tank or both? Also, what kind of filter do you have that you don't know if it's on or not?

As for fish loss and bubbles, I'm not yet sure which tank has which problem.


(To clean a tank with no fish in it, you normally wouldn't use any soap or bleach, but if you need to, be sure you rinse it over and over and over and over again to get rid of all the residue. Then rinse it more.)

[Lady Hobbs]

I don't understand how a heater would crack an aquarium unless you plugged it in before there was water in the tank. If that's the case, you wouldn't have tried plugging the pump in either. Are you sure you didn't crack it when you moved it? Tanks can get stress cracks and that's why everything in them must be removed during a move. Gravel alone weighs a great deal, as you know.

I have no idea what you can do but run to Walmarts today and get another tank. Do you have a friend who has a tank that can house your other fish for a few hours? If you must buy another tank, you won't have a cycled tank either so grab some bio spira if you can find it today or at the least, Stress Zyme which will add some bacteria. And a water testing kit. But either way, you will have to get it started with more fish than you'd like.

You'll have to add an air pump to whatever you have those fish in to get thru the day with them. I imagine the oil in the water is what killed the fish. It wouldn't take long.

About those bubbles. Those I wouldn't worry about myself. I've had bubbles like that after adding new gravel, new plastic plants, etc. They go away. Since you just moved it, that's not uncommon. I just added more gravel to one of my tanks yesterday and had those bubbles for about 2 hours.

[kimmers318]

I am understanding that the heater cracked...not the tank. The bubbles you are seeing are probably nothing more than air bubbles in the water from pouring it into the tank in the 55 gal or the gas pockets that are in "new" water. You need to clean the 28 gallon ASAP, I am not sure what the heater emits when it breaks like that, but since you say it is oily I would recommend the hottest water you can use. If you need to use soap for the oil make sure you rinse it as much as you can, and then some!
If at all possible run your filter in the bucket of water you are holding the fish in, otherwise your bacteria will start to die off and you will experience a cycle. It is sad that you lost all of your fish, I have heard more than one horror story about cracked heaters. It sounds like all worked out well for the 55 gal move, just the 28 had an issue. It is pretty safe to say that the heater cracking and putting whatever it was into the water is what killed your fish, so if you can get the tank clean, refilled and running again you should be okay. I would also recommend using the stresscoat for the entire tank at the rate suggested for damaged fins etc, which is double what is needed just for dechlorination. I feel that stresscoat is a wonderful product, and it will help the fish feel more comfortable and hopefully help with some of the stress they have just gone thru.

[Lady Hobbs]

I am understanding that the heater cracked...not the tank.

Oh gez......I was reading this all wrong! Leave it to Kimmers to set me straight again. I have heard of cleaning a tank with rubbing alcohol and then rinsing very well. It may break up oil in the tank.

Thanks Kimmers for jogging the brain this morning.

[Ivana]

I've cleaned my tank with white vinegar before. Just a little in about a half gallon of water at the bottom. It was a used tank that was covered in lime scale. I took it out in the yard and went to town on it. I still had to use a scrub brush on parts of it, but it got clean. The vinegar is pretty easy to rinse, and should help clear off any oily gunk.

[kimmers318]

No problem Hobbs....Lord knows you had to straighten me out a few times when I was so medicated from the bronchitis!

Alcohol and vinegar.....thanks for the suggestions....hadn't heard or tried either, but sure sound safer than soap!

[86vwgti8v]

when I typed all that I was in deep panic, let me try again. step by step what happenend.
1)I drained most the water out of the 28.
2)Moved it and began filling it up. plugged in what i thought was the filter. (it was the heater) in the middle of the refill the power went out so stopped what i was doing. power came back on and I continued to fill. smelled something burning. relized it was the heater. pulled it out the water and continued filling. tank was full, heater was cool so i put it back in. and began cleaning and draining the 55. and didn't know what had actually happened yet. half through draining the 55 my wife noticed the problem in the 28 so I ran over their to do some water changing and get the heater out.
I think you guys know the rest.
the good news is all my angles are ok.
today I will be cleaning the tank and getting it ready for some different angels I guess. But I still have the cat fish and kissing guarami. I need to clean them off somehow.

[crackatinny]

Not real experienced, but I have to agree with the white vingar to clean, as my wife done this with a second hand tank we bought that had been let run very low on water, of cause with any unnatural cleaning, well rinse.

As far as the heater goes, this has to say something for stainless steel heaters, I recently purcheased one onlione here in Aus for $20 for a 200 watt job, it has external temp adjustment and a seperate probe for the temp, in the heatwave we have had in the last week here, the external temp adjustment was invaluable in itself, after tank gaining 5degrees in 1 day, turning the temp down untill it reached the normal we run it at, then adjusting dial till light came on, made it so easy to get a steady heat again, and all from outside tank.

[86vwgti8v]

Hope that made sense and thank you guys for the advice. I can get to a more formal introduction of myself a little later when i get some new pics and stuff. But for now my name is sam, I'm 30 years old and been fishing about 9 months succsefully, untill this. We had bred mollies and anglefish now, was looking on breeding my rosey barbs but they are gone. I guess I will be looking forward to more angel fish babies.
here are a few pics for now.
My small angel laying eggs on the heater. we know how that goes.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y253/86vwgti8v/layeggs1.jpg
The 2 yellow guys here are a pair. The marble is said to be 6+ years old.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y253/86vwgti8v/DSCN0556.jpg
all these pics are older I will get some more later on. I will be browsing here looking at pictures getting ideas for my new 28 gallon angel tank. I beleive I am going to put the silver female and her boyfriend (not pictured) in that let them have it to mate and lay eggs in peace.

[Lady Hobbs]

Your angels are beautiful and look so healthy. I bought a new heater two weeks ago and somehow it broke so had to replace it already. I also got the stainless this time.

Good luck and sorry you had all this panic on Thanksgiving.

[cubanitoloko23]

A couple of things, when the heater blew up it most probably released mercury into the water along with coolants that react to room temp thus telling the heater to turn back on, what happened to your fish is not poisoning, but electric shock, it brakes their little spines in places and kills the fish. Now what you want to do to clean the tank is use white vinegar, that will be abrasive enough to clean anything in the ank but it comes from fruits and will not harm the fish at all, after u clean the tank and decorations with it just inse with clean tepid water and refill, you should be ok after that although you will experience a new cycle.

[86vwgti8v]

I just chalked up the ornaments as a loss. I had 1/2 bag of left over rocks. so I chalked up some of the rocks as a loss. the rest of them I bleached, then I rinsed them many many times, the filter was turned off so as soon as I noticed the proble I removed that. rinsed it very well with HOT water changed the filter and begin running it on my 55 gal. I beleive that helped cycle the water and filter. the tank is up and running now with nothing but the 2 leftover rapheal talking catfish 1 algea eater and 1 kissing guarami in it.
that is what survived. did a water change before I put the fish in. they were in a bucket they needed to go back quick, I figured what the heck and put them back in. the talking catfish were floating at one point. but when you went to move them they would jump and swim,
I'm happy to report that the 4 leftover fish are doing good now.
the water tested fine, so I guess the filter on the 55 did it good.
oh yea I even kept the plants. they went into a gatorade bottle. leaves out of water and their doing fine now too.
due to the holiday, the tank was down for 3.5 days. I'm surprised anything lived