I have an overstocked African cichlid tank...
2006-06-12 18:54:57 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Fish
This is an overstocked African Cichlid tank...
I do have some anubias in the tank that are alive, but not as healthy as they should be due to lightling...I have a new light in the mail. The plants are green, but a couple of them have yellow edges. I know that dying plants release nitrate, but I don't think these are really "Rotting" enough to be the root cause of such nitrate...
2006-06-13 17:32:29 · update #1
Yes. Aquarium plants can absorb certain amount of nutrients. the best way is to fit a cheap undergravel filter and connect the air tube to that filter. Plant few waterplants. Amazon sword is the best. If you use Hydrilla like plants the fishes may eat them. Cichlids will not eat Amazon sword. they are very hardy plants and grow well even with less light. If you set up the aquarium like this there wont be any need of water exchange. You can create a pond like ecosystem where the waste materials are recycled.
Try to ensure that you are not overstocking. Aboove all you must be overfeeding the fishes or wasting some feed. The leftover feed is the main cause of excessive nutrient load. Feacal matter generally doesnot contribute much nitrate. Filters also can be used and you can go for water exchange. But it will not be a permanent solution. If your tank is near to window and if there is enough sunlight plants will take care lot of problems. Or if you can use special light it is better. Cichlids are comparatively easy to keep. Do not over feed them. You can feed them little less than their actual requirements. Look this website. Here you will get lot of information in this aspect. http://www.fishprofiles.com/
http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/
2006-06-13 01:46:07 · answer #1 · answered by santhosh12bs 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If your tank is overstocked, the only way to fix that is to get a larger tank, or get rid of some of your fish. Remember cichlids grow to be very large and aggressive, and need more space than you average tropical fish.
Live plants will help with the nitrate problem, but most require special lighting, substrate, and extra fertilizers. Also, many cichlids are not plant friendly and will wind up eating or uprooting your plants.
2006-06-13 04:20:59 · answer #2 · answered by RabbitMage 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nitrates are not that harmful (except in high quantities), but you get rid of them by water changes. If you have high levels, on the upside, it means your filter works really well! Live plants might help, but like Rabbit says, cichlids usually uproot them. And, yes, the best solution is probably to upgrade to a bigger tank or get rid of some fish. In the meantime, be sure to do frequent (but small) water changes. Don't run and change all the water at once, because you will kill your fish. It would be a good change, but a shocking one nonetheless. You can safely change 25% every day or every other day to get your levels down, then maintain it with weekly 25% water changes.
2006-06-13 07:21:14 · answer #3 · answered by Sweetseraph 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nitrate isn't harmful, except when it's high. Nitrite is the one that's harmful, but yes live plants do keep nitrite low. But you would also need the proper lighting, hardness, and oxygen for plants as well. If the nitrite and nitrate levels are a problem, then upgrade to a larger tank and do frequent water changes until the readings get to zero, also don't use the test strips, they can go bad when exposed to air for a while. The liquid ones are much more accurate.
As for the plants, you can get amazon swords, hornwort, and anacharis for a cheap price and they are undemanding plants.
2006-06-13 11:15:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes...if you want something quick, find some water sprite. You can float it, or plant it and it will suck out the Nitrate so fast it will make your head spin!! Test your water for it. With my tank (HEAVILY planted with water sprite) I went from 50ppm one day to 20 the next. Now it is gone...any stem plant will work well. If you don't do plants then you must keep up on water changes nd gravel vacs to keep nitrates low.
2006-06-13 16:09:13 · answer #5 · answered by adamprice271 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes plants can remove nitrate but the best way to remove it is by doing water changes.
2006-06-13 09:23:54 · answer #6 · answered by Nunya Biznis 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I once had a leak in my 55 gallon saltwater tank. I had to move all of my fish, 11 of them, into a 10 gallon tank. I was surprised to find they all thrived with no problems at all. I credit it to the huge pump and filter, which I just moved from the 55 gallon tank to the smaller one.
So maybe a larger pump/filter might help in your case.
2006-06-13 02:00:28 · answer #7 · answered by wordnerd27x 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get a larger tank!! or get rid of some of the cichlids. adding plants takes away more of their space. you are only supposed to have around one inch of fish for every gallon.
2006-06-13 02:25:46 · answer #8 · answered by beckyg_98 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually plants are good for your fish tank and they give your fish nutrients that other objects can't give.
2006-06-19 21:49:14 · answer #9 · answered by MonkeyBrains 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes or you can clear water it is abbout $3 and works great
2006-06-13 18:26:55 · answer #10 · answered by katrina 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋