new aquarium, cichlids, water changes but still high amonia/nitrate done everything by book, what can we do?

Question

got tank up and running, left it, took water samples down before fish, got fish but everytime we do a test, bright pink and green, done water changes, changed filters etc, done water change yesterday, today back to pink and green, what can we be doing wrong, is there anything else anyone can suggest. Lost one fish, tanks been up and running for about 4 weeks. aquarium man said it just needs maturing but do 50% water change regular. Help!!!!

Answer 1

Have a look at the following link, it will give you some help on getting ure tank set up ready for fish,
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

Since you already have fish in the tank this link will probably be more helpfull
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099'

Hope this helps, it helped me after loosing my first load of fish.

edit

Do a fishless cycle, I can't believe that people are telling you to keep some hardy fish to cycle the tank then get rid of what fish are left, I would harldy call it fair on the fish, cruel yes.

Answer 2

Your tank has been dealing with having no fish to mess up the water and now that you have fish its gone from 0 to x amount and it cant cope, thus making the ammonia go sky high and killing the fish.
In a cycled tank there would be lots of the beneficial bacteria and this would turn the ammonia to nitrate and then this is removed by weekly water changes.
Ammonia in tank should b zero or near as possible and nitrates should be below 40ppm if you wanna keep your fish very healthy and happy then keep this below 20 ppm. If you had another tank you could put filter media from that into new tank to speed things up if not you can buy products from your lfs to help the cycle.

doing a 50% water change will cut the nitrates down alot and then 20% every other day to keep on top and slowly from a mixture of this and as the tank cycles your water quality will drasticly improve.

Do not use products that lower nitrates as this is only masking the problem and giving false readings.

Hope this helps and good luck

Answer 3

Wow, you got a lot of confusing answers. How many fish did you begin with? How many do you have left? Basically fish produce ammonia (which is toxic) as their waste product. In order to cycle a tank ammonia must be present. So you must either add fish, or add an ammonia cleaner (I've never done this- seems a hassle). The key is to add very few fish at first. Basically the first 2 weeks or so you start to grow good bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite (nitrite is also toxic) the next two or so weeks you get a different bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate (non toxic in low levels).

After your tank is fully cycled you have enough bacteria to immediately convert all your ammonia and nitrite into nitrate so the first two should read at 0.

At this point I would cut way back on feeding (your fish will produce less ammonia). Keep the fish that you have left (depending on how many you still have). Add a little aquarium salt (it will help the fish deal with the stress they have been placed under). And I would do several small 20% water changes . Unless your levels are off the chart, then a larger water change may be in order.

There are also products out there that neutralize ammonia but I prefer not to use these as they may throw off future test results.

All in all, if your levels are that bad and your tank has been running for 4 weeks you probably added too many fish to start off, or you have been overfeeding (rotting food creates ammonia as well). Your fish should eat all the food you throw in the tank within a couple minutes. If there is any left over you've probably been feeding to much.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I am surprised that everyone keeps telling you to do water changes, as each time you do this you are reducing the small amount of bacteria that have managed to build themselves up. There are 2 solutions, brave it out and keep the fish in there. Dont fiddle with it for a week then do a small water change, i.e. 10%. Or hand the fish back to the very kind aquarium man and leave you tank alone for a few weeks. Get some non rooted real plants in there so they can 'rot' a little. Dont shove a bunch of chemicals in. You dont mention how many fish you have put in. Have you checked if you have overstocked the tank? Is the filter the right size for the amount of water you have in? If I where you I would sit it out, if a few more fish die dont replace them, the tank will find its own balance.

Answer 5

Hey there Stephen.

There's lot's of things you'll be told, and I wouldn't argue with anyone who mentioned water changes. But there is one thing you can do that I can guarantee will fix your problem, and it's amazing how overlooked this simple solution is:

You need to add bacteria to the tank. People spend so much effort and time and money trying to cycle their tank, but there's such an easy method of getting over it - add bacteria.

Healthy bacteria resides in the filter and gravel of a healthy, mature tank right? So, get your hands on filter Media or gravel from a mature tank, and plunk this into your own filter. That's it - you'll be adding live bacteria of both types directly and will skip this whole silly cycling process. This is exactly how I set up any new tanks now. (adding water from a mature tank is not the same - bacteria grows on surfaces, and does not swim freely in the water).

If you don't know anybody with a tank, the fish store may be able to help you out. Don't forget to bring this media home in a bag of fish water to preserve the bacteria, and remember, the more you can get your hands on, the better. Get enough and watch your tank cycle in hours instead of weeks!

Also, never change the filter media during a cycle or you are just starting over! When you maintain your filter, rinse the media in de-chlorinated water to save bacteria and money, since it rarely needs to be replaced every time.

And do yourself a favour - don't ask fish stores for advice unless you are 100% certain they are absolute honest enthusiasts, and even still, keep in mind they do want your money first and for most. Do your own research first and you'll be a much wiser consumer. This goes for everything in life really, not just fish.

Good luck

Answer 6

You need to allow your tank to cycle. Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? In a nut shell, after adding some fish, ammonia builds up in your tank from waste excreted by the fish and decaying food, and a certain species of bacteria colonizes your tank, feeding on the ammonia. Those bacteria produced nitrites. Another bacteria soon begins to colonize your tank, this one eating the nitrites, and they produce nitrate. Nitrate is relatively harmless, in low concentrations. This can take weeks. I started my 5-gallon over a month ago, and it finally finished cycling last week.

First of all, you may want to return the cichlids and just get a couple small, cheap, hardy fish to begin the cycle with. After the first stage, you can begin slowly adding back some cichlids.

Anyway, so you start out with just a couple fish, and keep checking that ammonia. If you're lucky to have water with a lower pH, up to 7.3, and if you can keep your temperature at about 78, you can safely allow your ammonia to get up to around 3 ppm. You need to have some ammonia in your tank in order to allow the bacteria to eat it and colonize. If your pH or temperature is higher, keep the ammonia lower than 1. Check your levels daily. If it's at 1, do about a 25% water change and check it again. If your nitrites are higher than 0.5, do a 25% water change. Do not do a water change if your levels are lower. Once you begin getting nitrites, you'll want to start checking nitrates too. Keep those below 20.

Eventually, once your ammonia and nitrites are consistently reading 0, you may add a couple more fish. At this point, your tank will go through a mini cycle, where the bacteria catch up to the additional load. Check your water levels, and once the ammonia and nitrite are back to 0, you may add more fish, and repeat until your tank is fully stocked.

Answer 7

that is kinda true, cycling isnt fo 1 day or one week, it is a process.

The only thing to do is change the water regularly. and not getting anymore fish. Allow the tank to settle.

Answer 8

When you set up a new tank, you MUST let the water settle for a month, this allows friendly bacteria to build, and lets and antibodies/chemicals escape. When you do introduce fish (slowly at first) you need to change the water every 2 weeks, replacing about 20% of it, and of course treating it before putting it in with dechloranating fluids.

Answer 9

Ive seen alot of these questions with people losing fish and not one of you has mentioned the UNDER-GRAVEL FILTER! Ive kept fish for years and i never used chemicals like Declor or any thing. Get some water from your friends successful tank to start your bacteria growing in your gravel 2 or 3 weeks prior to getting any fish. Then get two gold fish and keep them for a few weeks then take them fishing or flushing. Your tank will be ready for a few fish .gradually add more til your tank is full (1 inch per gal.). All ways draw your water the day before you do a 20% water change, every 2 weeks.So what you are really trying top acheive is a mini waste water treatment plant that supports other life forms (your fish). Take care of that and you will never kill a fish! Ive had fresh and salt water tanks . Remember to all ways keep your water parameters where they should be,temp., ph, o2, ect. Jerald the fish lover!

Answer 10

Take all the fish back and stop doing water changes. You are interrupting the cycling process. If you keep the fish, you are just going to lose more of them. Try adding 5 feeder Guppies to the tank before you put any real fish in. If they live for a week, then you can go get the Cichlids. If you don't want the Guppies (when the Guppies are done testing the water), just leave them in the tank and the Cichlids will eat them.

Nosoop4u