# Major accident



## Jb203495 (Mar 29, 2011)

I have a 30 gallon freshwater tank. The tank has been established for three years. This weekend my toddler emptied three full food containers into the water. I have vacuumed the gravel three times and completed 10 percent water changes three times in the last three days. The water is still cloudy and has a decomposing smell. Should I attempt to do a 100 percent water change and change part of the gravel?


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## Alasse (Mar 12, 2009)

Personally i fit were me i would remove the fish into a container, give the filter a light rinse just to remove bulk of food, put filter in the container with the fish (running it would be good)

Then i would pull down the tank and clean it. Then set it back up, letting it come up to temp if heater then put filter back in and then add fish, you will more than likely get a mini cycle but easier to deal with thean ammonia and other issues the mass food would have caused


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## Shotgun (Mar 1, 2009)

yeah, i would move the fish and do a mini-tear down... sorry. :/


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about switching the filter. Put your fish in a temporary vessel and drain your tank, hose down the gravel, and put everything back together. I've found that emptying the tank and carrying the whole thing into the yard, then burying the hose in the substrate and blasting it around skims off most of the detritus in the tank. I just completed a full overhaul in about three hours, and your fish should be fine on their own for that long. If you're worried about them, you could always add the filter and heater to their vessel I suppose.


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## Alasse (Mar 12, 2009)

Putting the filter into the container was not for the fish's benefit, but to keep as much beneficial bacteria in the filter alive, running it would keep maximum number alive, this will help stop the tank going into a full cycle.


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## phys (Feb 4, 2011)

do at 50 percent water change while vaccuming then do another 50%. do you have fish in it? It will take a bit to get clear but keep up the vacs and wcs


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## redearedbomber (Mar 15, 2011)

Daughter dumped a entire bttle of water conditioner in my tank one morning


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