Help.. ive made a mess of my tank!

[XxRachxX]

oook.. so today i was looking at my tank, i was missing a clown loach... he got stuck in a shell and died :unsure: took the shells out, messed up the gravel, water got dirty.. did a 25% "dead fish water change" to be safe...
turned my filters back on,.....nothing... not even a click!! my powerd head AND my internal filter were dead... tinkered around, messed the water up even more... with a big nasty explosion of ....gross fish stuff... into my water.. ick... after much wiggling the ugf pipe around.. i got gravel in it!!! i had one tiiiny piece of gravel in there before, now theres tons! it rattles like hell.
everytime i try to get some out... more magically appears!!
any help??

im now of thinking of getting rid of the UGF and getting a better internal, maybe an external?


ive stressed out my fish, ive stressed out myself, ive killed a fish, ive mucked up my water, my UGF, the gravel is all crap AND im covered in water....

ps, sorry for the wierd grammar and the odd way of writing this post.... im STRESSED!!

[corr]

That sucks! Some gravel must have gotten under the plates. You'd have to completely tear the tank down to get it out, in which case you'd need a stand in filter anyway. So yeah, I'd ditch it too. Aquaclears are a decent, inexpensive HOB filter (at least here they are).

[XxRachxX]

um.. whats an HOB filter? hang on back? lol...... if im right... then i am GREAT! if im wrong.... well.... yeah i suck!

you can get the ones which fit onto the powerhead you already have dont you?? or am i just dreaming that up? cuz i have an aquaclear powerhead.... so it would be perfect

"come on daddy! bring your credit cards.... were goin shopping!"

[corr]

LoL, you're right, it's hang on back!!

Yup, you can get round filters to go onto the AC powerheads. I've found that they clog up very quickly though and they're kind of a hassle to service. As soon as you unplug it, junk falls of into the water.

[Shane Tesser]

Corr is right, those filtered power heads can be a real pain...especially when removing to service!....nothing more frustrating then a piece of loose gravel..or watching all the junk float back into the tank. Hanging style filters like Penguine, or aqua clear are a good route to go. Some tanks can bennefit from ugf but ive never seen much of an improvement personally, although they will sure push them at you when you purchase a tank for some reason! Rach, things like this are what make you a better keeper. Its pure frustration, i know...but we have all been through it. Now you'll know for next time, dont fret...it gets easier as time goes on!

[XxRachxX]

my internal kinda died... but ive got it GRINDING yes.. i did say grinding! along in my quarentine tank, a) because i have sick fish (whitespot) and B)i dont want all my nice friendly bacteria to die ^_^

my internal fluval has a nasty habit of spewing stuff back into my tank.... and it seems to get clogged easily..... but i think that may be partly due to the remains of a long lost tank mate..... eew...

ive only been running my ugf for the past week and the water is still fine! , levels seems to be good.
im going to get an external! it would be far less hassle.. and i have more tank space! and no ugly black boxes!
i also found out they are much more cheaper in the shops than on the internet O.o ive seen them on ebay for about £50-£60... and thats second hand! ive found one for about £40 and its pretty decent!
cheers