cichlid sick?

[patdevil]

I have a Red Devil Cichlid that is about 8 years old. The last few weeks he has been staying at the bottom of tank he still eats good and try to swim but keeps falling back on his side. His Nitrate was high and PH low so I have done several water changes and now his readings are:
Nitrate 60
Nitrite 0
Total Alkalinity 40
PH 6.2
Ammonia .5

I'm not sure how to get his reading correct seems like the water changes aren't doing much :/

 

[patdevil]

Can someone please help me??

 

[mikem691]

At this point I would be doing 50% water changes ever 2 hours or so until the ammo is 0 and the trates are under 10 or unreadable. Are there any other signs besides not staying upright. at 8 years old he may just be week.
Can you post any pictures?

 

[mikem691]

also how high were the trates and ammo? What size tank?

 

[patdevil]

We have been doing like 10 gallons at a time every two days, the first few times the nitrates dropped from 60 to 40 but now they are back up to 60. The ammonia is reading .5
He is in a 55 gallon tank by himself. He is very active just can not stay upright :/

I have a photo just not sure how to upload it but I'm trying to do that right now.

 

[patdevil]

Photo of him

 

[mikem691]

He's got HLLE but I don't know if that would cause him to lay on his side like that. That size fish in a 55 will need at least 50% weekly water changes maybe even twice a week just to keep the water parameters right. 10% is a waste of time. The HLLE is from poor water quality. Trates need to stay under 20. I would do as I said above and he should recover. But the pits on his head look bad. They may he's but may never go away completely.

 

[patdevil]

Thank you, so the water changes should correct this? Is there any type of medication you would suggest using?

 

[mikem691]

I don't use medication but I have never had a problem where I needed too. Wait and see if someone else can advise on that. I would start with a 50% water change. That should cut the ammo and trates in 1/2. See how he does for the next few hours after the water change.

 

[patdevil]

Thank you for you help.
How long should you wait to test the water after a water change?
The reason I asked is I did the 50% water change and then tested it 30 mins later and I am getting higher levels of ammonia readings now. I just checked my tap water and it has a 3.0 reading for the ammonia.

 

[mikem691]

If your filter is cycled it should clear that in 24 hours but I would be more concerned with your health if you are drinking that.

 

[mikem691]

also that could be your problem. when that ammonia is converted that will become nitrate. not sure how much though.

 

[patdevil]

Is there any type of conditioners that will help bring down the ammonia in the water before adding to tank?
I use a water conditioner but it says it removes chlorine nothing about ammonia.

 

[tedisabum]

There is something called Prime by Seachem. It's highly recommended for detoxifying ammonia. It can be used in an emergency, and can also be used when doing water changes. Read the instructions, and add it in asap. A little bit goes a long way. I think a cap full treats up to 50 gallons. It's safe to use a little more than the recommended dose. One bottle will last you forever.

 

[patdevil]

Thank you just got some Prime and adding to tank now.

 

[patdevil]

I am reading that Prime is only temporary lasts Luke 24 hours. So my question now would be what can take the ammonia completely out of the tap water for a long term effect?

 

[Laeris]

A healthy bacteria colony that converts ammonia to nitrates. They build up over time, keep checking levels. Right about the time you're ready to throw everything out with the removed water, there will suddenly be 0 ammonia or nitrites and you can breathe for five minutes.


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[tedisabum]

What you need is a cycled tank. To make the tank cycle quickly, add Tetra Safestart Plus to the tank 24 hours after you put in prime. They can't be used together or the prime wl render the Safestart Plus ineffective. Prime wears off 24 hours after the first dose. It also makes the ammonia that is in the tank nontoxic temporarily. Follow the directions for Safestart Plus per gallon. This will immediately introduce beneficial bacteria and shave weeks off of your cycle time. Make sure you get Safestart Plus and not regular Safestart. It's concentrated. It worked well for me. Use it when you do your water changes. If you look through dozens of forums, you'll hear nothing but good things about this stuff. Might as well get the big bottle. It's much more economical that way. Use the outside of the cap for measurement. It's marked inside. Let me know how this works. Don't bother testing the water for this first 7 days. While the Safestart is working, readings will be all over the place. Add more with water changes. Test weekly after that.


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[Delapool]

Thank you for you help.

How long should you wait to test the water after a water change?

The reason I asked is I did the 50% water change and then tested it 30 mins later and I am getting higher levels of ammonia readings now. I just checked my tap water and it has a 3.0 reading for the ammonia.

Would you have tap ph to go with that 3ppm ammonia reading in tap? Also if you think the water company has just been treating the water differently for a one-off or if this is always the case?

You could run a large tub with cycled filter and maybe some duckweed or something to soak up the nitrates (from tap ammonia). Then use that for change water.

Resin exchange or zeolite filters to remove ammonia might also be an option.

 

[patdevil]

Sorry I am just now seeing this reply. I am going to get some tomorrow and begin the process. Thank you so much for your help trying to do all I can to help the little guy out