new 6 gallons tank?

Question

hei guys... please help me...

at least 1 week ago i set up 6 gallon aquarium tank... and of course i let the new tank cycled for about 2 days... the fish seems ok in the first week... they seems more happy and more active than usual... but, i notice the difference yesterday... they seems not healthy... they don't barely eat and they just laying on the gravel...

so, the next day, i change 20 % of their water since my amonia indicator was pretty high... i put some drops of Amquel and water conditioner this time.... but this morning, the indicator still pretty high... what should i do to balance the water.... and also right now, the water seems pretty cloudy... is that ok ?... or i need to do another water change ?...

Please help me... :) thank you for all the answers...

have a great day...

i have 3 african chichhilds... i have them for more than 6 months right now... they used to be pretty happy in their 2 gallons tanks... i just moved them to a bigger one right now...

and i have put that "blue drops" 1 day after i move the fish in... i repeat the drops for 3 days... they seems fine... but i'm worried that they are not ok right now...

my fish is not that big... the one that have a bigger size is only 2 inch more or less... and the other fish size is smaller than 2 inch... i have 3 fish living inside my new 6 gallon tank... i don't think i'm overcrowded the tank though since i also read some articels before i start keeping my fish...

Answer 1

Your tank isn't finished cycling - it takes at least a few weeks to a few months - that's one of the reasons you're still getting ammonia. Once you're built up a sufficient bacteria population, you shouldn't have any ammonia or nitrite - only nitrate. The cloudy you're seeing is your bacterial bloom - so that's not anything bad in itself.

Another reason you're getting high ammonia is the fish you're keeping. Cichlids are messy eaters. They might be small for now, but your Africans aren't going to stay that way. You will most likely need a 30 gallon or larger tank to keep them, depending on the species.

Ammonia is the reason your fish aren't behaving "normally". Ammonia and nitrite affect the amount of oxygen they absorb into their bloodstream. Too much ammonia will make them seem lethargic, or they'll be gasping at the top of the tank, and they may get red streaks through their fins or turn an "off" color.

For now, frequent partial water changes is the way to keep the ammonia level down. If it seem you're having to do them too often with a 20% change, go to a 25%. Use a gravel vacuum to clean the gravel at the front of the tank very well, and pick up anything on the surface. Only do a good cleaning on about 1/3 of the rest and rotate which areas you clean each time - this lets most of the bacteria remain undisturbed so they can reproduce and repopulate the area just cleaned. Just be sure you aren't overfeeding - only give what they'll eat in 2-3 minutes, twice a day.

See the websites below for more details on the cycling process and cloudy water and ammonia effects on fish: http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php
http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/ammonia_poisoning/

Answer 2

If your ammonia is really high you can do as much as a 50% water change each day until it comes down.Do you have a test kit for ammonia,if not it would be a good idea to get one.Also your tank will not cycle in two days and it wont even begin to cycle until you add either fish or bottled ammonia if doing a fishless cycle.

Your tank is not big enough for African cichlids because they are so aggressive and they will probably bother if not kill each other.I have 3(auratus,red zebra,kenyi) in a 20 Gallon and will need to upgrade eventually to a 50 gallon as they get bigger.

Answer 3

What type and how many fish do you have in the tank. I would continue to do 25% water changes until the ammonia is down and I would only feed once every other day for the first month of a new tank to help it establish without problems. Good luck!

Answer 4

Tank is too small for the type of fish you have no wonder you have a problem. You will continue to have high ammonia levels and it will kill your fish. Why would you do this? Don' t you ever read up on fish before you buy? I just don't understand why people torture fish the way they do. Why?

Answer 5

I would keep changing some of the water and make sure that the fish are fed. I would also advise to get some of those pellets that you put in the water to fight off any diseases that the fish might have. Dont worry, the water is supposed to turn blue, it eventually wears off. If you dont know what im talking about, ask someone at your local pet store. The pellet will also help if spots form on their tails (that means they are sick).

Answer 6

i would change as much as the water as you can