Sorry it's been awhile since I could get back online. I didn't rinse out the filter. I did pull out one fake plant and wash it off. The reason I only have one live plant is because a friend gave it to me when I was cycling to speed things up. On Monday, I did a gravel vacume, cleaned the fake plant, changed 25% of water with the added chemicals for the new water. Nothing really else. Lost 2 Rosy Barbs and can't find one of the Cherry Barbs. I looked last night. It may have jumped out when my daughter retrieved the Rosey's. They were all sure jumping on Monday night. When I got home last night, the tank was cloudy and the NitrItes were up just a tad. The NitrAtes were up just a tad too. The NitrAtes are at a safe level. So...maybe it was the water company. I have not had any problems changing the water and cleaning the tank in the past. The other fish seem just fine except my cherry barbs look lost without their partner
