Emergency in dwarf seahorse tank!!!

I added a plastic plant to the tank a couple weeks ago and i didnt relize that it had a wire in it and it was exsposed. It is really rusty and now my tank has rust in it. The only dwarf i had it there isnt acting good at all now (panting and thrashing around) so i moved her to a gallon bucket for now with fresh salt water and a plant to hitch to. (This all happened tonight btw). And in the morning i have more dwarfs coming and going to put them in a spare tank for now and then maybe add her with them if shes still alive later in the day? Or should i keep her seperate for awhile?
So how do i go about cleaning that tank up? Would i have to start all over again and recycle?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Keep her separated to observe her for a day or two.....it might be an iron issue, but it might be something else that just happened to coincide.
Do a 50% WC in the display tank. Add some fresh rinsed carbon to the filter, and use a poly pad (good for heavy metals) in the filter for 24 hours. Obviously, remove the fake plant.
When you do your WC, make sure to siphon out anything that looks suspicious from the sand bed. Rust can settle out and continue to cause problems, but if you catch it quickly you probably won't have to re-cycle.
 
Thanks. Sadly i lost her this morning. :sad:
I removed the plant yesturday to clean it and thats how i discovered the rust. Today i did almost a 50% wc and syponed off the bottom of the tank. I also added a new carbon filter. I dont have a poly filter though. Where could i get one?
Its a bare bottom tank with all fake plants and one piece of rock that became live when i added it to the tank. The two i got today are in a spare tank and will stay there for a few days until im positive all the rust or iron or whatever else is gone. I hope they do much better and have some babies for me lol
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
You can find polyfilter at most local fish stores. I don't know about "big box" stores, I'm talking small dedicated mom-and-pop's. It's supposed to work well for removing heavy metal contaminants. Just ask for it.
Alternately, you can order it through most of the common online aquarium suppliers. I'm really sorry to hear you lost the one. :-(
 
Yea i am to. I ordered some poly filters from drs foster and smith but i am seriously considering just taking the tank down and restarting it. I dont want to loose the other two i have. I have them in an uncycled two gallon tank.
I put a piece of live rock from a diff tank in with them to help get good bacteria started. Any ideas on what else i could do?
 
Yea i am to. I ordered some poly filters from drs foster and smith but i am seriously considering just taking the tank down and restarting it. I dont want to loose the other two i have. I have them in an uncycled two gallon tank.
I put a piece of live rock from a diff tank in with them to help get good bacteria started. Any ideas on what else i could do?
 
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