MY H.O.B. Filter DIED!
I was eating lunch (Some pretty delicious Pho), and realized all of my Polar Blue Parrot fish were at the top of tank. I try feeding them, seeing if they were hungry. I walked up to the tank and they all scatter towards the bottom, so I thought “Oh, I bet they are just hungry.” I dropped some pellets in and walked away for a few minutes, looking over my shoulder every so often to see what’s happening. When I return, they are still at the top of the water. I do what every fish keeper would and FREAK OUT!! I was convinced that they would pass away soon, so I tried to prevent this from happening. A few minutes later, I realize the HOB (Hang on Back) filter wasn’t pushing any water out. By this moment, the Polar Blue Parrots were probably going crazy for hours. I turned off the filter, took off the pre-filter, and turned the hang on back filter back on again. I was literally FREAKING OUT for at least 5 minutes, stopping eating lunch. The filter worked just fine in the end, but it was pretty stressful in the process! Lesson Learned! “If your pre-filter looks even a bit clogged, TAKE IT OFF and clean it!”