Peacock Cichlid

[Schulfer]

So I just recently got some peacock cichlids but they won't eat anything! I've had them for more than a week and they aren't eating. Can I get suggestions ASAP?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

How do they act? Are they swimming around or hiding?

 

[Schulfer]

Well I checked the water and the nitrates are a little high so I'm treating it and hopefully that will help them feel better to eat

 

[Crawdaddy]

Well I checked the water and the nitrates are a little high so I'm treating it and hopefully that will help them feel better to eat

What do you mean by treating it? If you mean water changes, then great. But if your trying to use chemicals, save your money, the only way to reduce nitrates is by water changes. Figure a 50% WC will cut them in half.

 

[Schulfer]

I'm doing about 50% WC/day sometimes twice a day. But my biggest worry is getting them to eat. I've even tried fry and they just look at them and swim away, they don't try to eat anything. Another thing I noticed is that they are starting to swim sideways and I know that has to be a bad sign so I'm trying to figure out what's wrong

 

[Dreamingdragon]

If you do to much water change. You lose bacteria. Be care full. I would go down to 0.25 ppm nitrate. Wait a day and then do another water change. Bit by bit. I have made that mistake to do to much water change. And my tank went threw a cycle. And got a bacteria explosion. After.

 

[Rlavassor86]

What are your other parameters and you say high trates? How high? How long has tank been running?

 

[Schulfer]

Tank had been up for a couple of weeks but my fish have been in there for about a week but I think I figured out a problem. The filter was old and I believe it must have had some ich on it and my fish kind of have it so I'm treating that

 

[Rlavassor86]

Tank had been up for a couple of weeks but my fish have been in there for about a week but I think I figured out a problem. The filter was old and I believe it must have had some ich on it and my fish kind of have it so I'm treating that

Do the fish look like they've been dropped in a pile if salt?

 

[phin]

If you do to much water change. You lose bacteria. Be care full. I would go down to 0.25 ppm nitrate. Wait a day and then do another water change. Bit by bit. I have made that mistake to do to much water change. And my tank went threw a cycle. And got a bacteria explosion. After.

you won't lose any bacteria by doing large water changes. the nitrifying bacteria you want live on hard surfaces, not in the water column. Just be sure to treat your water before you put it in your tank or through your filter.

Also, .25ppm nitrate is effectively no nittrates. If you can get your nitrates down below 40ppm nitrates then thats a good sign. 20ppm is considered "clean" for freshwater.

 

[Rlavassor86]

you won't lose any bacteria by doing large water changes. the nitrifying bacteria you want live on hard surfaces, not in the water column. Just be sure to treat your water before you put it in your tank or through your filter.

Also, .25ppm nitrate is effectively no nittrates. If you can get your nitrates down below 40ppm nitrates then thats a good sign. 20ppm is considered "clean" for freshwater.

Yea .25 nitrates isn't even measurable. Now .25 nitrites is but not trates. Big difference between the 2. Nitrites are highly toxic to fish. Your nitrogen cycle the process of toxic ammonia and nitrites being converted to a less harmful form which would be nitrates. Do you have a master test kit? You need to check your ammo and nitrite levels as well. They will kill fish much faster than elevated nitrate. If your ammo or trites go over .25 it will begin affecting the health of your fish. You need to keep the levels at .25 or less

 

[Schulfer]

I have the master kit and it says the nitrites are really high, what kind of stuff should I get to treat this? I just don't know what happened. The tank was fine for the week then I got the fish and a week later the nitrites are really high.

 

[Rlavassor86]

I have the master kit and it says the nitrites are really high, what kind of stuff should I get to treat this? I just don't know what happened. The tank was fine for the week then I got the fish and a week later the nitrites are really high.

Your tank isn't finished cycling. You need to get your nitrites @ or below .25 ppm. To do this you need to perform water changes. I would start with 50% and test again. You will need to test daily and change water as necessary to keep your ammonia and nitrites under .25 ppm. If a 50% pwc doesn't bring it under .25 ppm then do another. Nitrites and ammonia are very toxic and deadly at higher levels. Cycling a tank can take anywhere from a month to 2 to 3 months so be prepared to keep an eye on and do frequent pwc's to keep your levels safe while the cycle finishes.

 

[Rlavassor86]

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now/

 

[Schulfer]

Okay, thanks. I just freaked because I didn't understand what was going on. My other tank is a 20g and its beyond healthy. All the fish are healthy. I took one of the plants out of the tank the other day to move it and the roots were about 2 feet long. I'm hoping I can get my cichlids tank to be like that.

 

[Rlavassor86]

Okay, thanks. I just freaked because I didn't understand what was going on. My other tank is a 20g and its beyond healthy. All the fish are healthy. I took one of the plants out of the tank the other day to move it and the roots were about 2 feet long. I'm hoping I can get my cichlids tank to be like that.

Just takes patience. A fish in cycle can be a lot of work, even more so with cichlids due to the bio load. Once your cycle finishes things will be better and easier. What do you use for water conditioner? Prime is one of if not the best as it detoxifies ammonia nitrite nitrate and dechlorinates. If I remember right though it only detoxifies the ammo nitrite and nitrate for 24 hours, I could be wrong though. Either way in a pinch it works great for emergency detoxifying.

 

[lilpenquin]

I'm Schulfer's fiancée and I have more experience with fish than he does. I know the cycle but we didn't have time to completely cycle before the fish arrived. We had guppies in there for cycling purposes until the cichlids came in. The master test kit is showing that nitrites and ammonia are getting under control but nitrates are very high. However...the test strip is saying otherwise. The strip says high trites low trates. My chemistry background tells me that the master kit would be correct. Also they don't sell prime where we live. We have no LFS other than Petco :/ almost everything we get needs to be ordered. We did get a nitrate reducer and added that in the recommended dosage today along with ich attack+ and some salt to help combat the disease they have. I'm pretty sure the ich came from the filter we were using because we made the mistake of not getting a new cartridge when we got it off Craigslist because it looked clean. We have a tetra whisper ex now but the carbon bag is out so the medication can work. The bio scrubber is in though. Also we have a sponge in his healthy 20gal to collect beneficial bacteria so we can release it in the cichlid tank. I'm trying pretty much everything I know to save these fish because I know they mean a lot to him.

 

[Rlavassor86]

I'm Schulfer's fiancée and I have more experience with fish than he does. I know the cycle but we didn't have time to completely cycle before the fish arrived. We had guppies in there for cycling purposes until the cichlids came in. The master test kit is showing that nitrites and ammonia are getting under control but nitrates are very high. However...the test strip is saying otherwise. The strip says high trites low trates. My chemistry background tells me that the master kit would be correct. Also they don't sell prime where we live. We have no LFS other than Petco :/ almost everything we get needs to be ordered. We did get a nitrate reducer and added that in the recommended dosage today along with ich attack+ and some salt to help combat the disease they have. I'm pretty sure the ich came from the filter we were using because we made the mistake of not getting a new cartridge when we got it off Craigslist because it looked clean. We have a tetra whisper ex now but the carbon bag is out so the medication can work. The bio scrubber is in though. Also we have a sponge in his healthy 20gal to collect beneficial bacteria so we can release it in the cichlid tank. I'm trying pretty much everything I know to save these fish because I know they mean a lot to him.

Yea I wouldn't trust the strips. They are notoriously inaccurate. Right now all you can really do is keep up on the water changes to keep the trites under control. It can be an arduous task but with the right steps and care the fish can stay healthy throughout the cycle. I don't recall ever seeing an answer to my question earlier but do the fish look like they've been dropped in salt?

 

[lilpenquin]

I think what you mean by look like they've been dropped in salt is the ich spots, correct? Because yes I'm sure they have ich. One has it worse than the others. I'm staying with my mother for the next couple days so you'd have to ask Schulfer what the conditioner is. I do have a bottle of start right somewhere

 

[Rlavassor86]

I think what you mean by look like they've been dropped in salt is the ich spots, correct? Because yes I'm sure they have ich. One has it worse than the others. I'm staying with my mother for the next couple days so you'd have to ask Schulfer what the conditioner is. I do have a bottle of start right somewhere

Yea I was referring to the ich. Your petco doesn't carry prime? Thats odd cus That's the only thing I ever buy from petco cus they sell it half the price as my fav LFS.