newbie here

[jae5005]

wats up everyone. i am new to this site and actually new to forum posting lol . I am also very new at this aquarium thing but am extremely intersted in growing in this hobby. Right now i have a 55g tank with sand substrate, some slate rocks and some other rocks im not sure what they are lol and a 400 marineland filter. This will be a african cichlid tanks since i love these fishes..right now i have had the tank set up for about 12days. after 5 days i did add 4 cichlids to get the tank to start cycling since i could not find ammonia to buy ANYWHERE where i live and my LFS told me to add some fish to kick start the cycling. Now 7 days with fish , mu Ammonia is at .25ppm, my Nitrite is at 5ppm and Nitrate is at 10ppm. Ph is at about 8.2... well thats about it.. but i am wondering when the Nitrites will go down :/

 

[Pandicorn]

Water change! ASAP! 5ppm Nitrite is INSANE, and cycling with fish is pretty hard for a newbie :/
If you can return the fish (Not always possible)
use thishttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006MP4QG6/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687442&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00DCYL4V0&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=00760JSSEVW3G5YX06RS

if not, water changes, probably 50% a day. I know it sounds harsh, but 4 cichlids is a lot, and to keep them alive you need to keep parameters good :l

 

[darkhymn]

I just got done a fish-in cycle myself in my first tank, and the only advice I can give is big water changes every day (I did about 40%, sometimes twice daily) until the parameters are more tolerable for the fish. Check your parameters a couple of times a day, and keep treated water up to temp for emergency changes if you can. Fish in cycles can be hard, but if you keep on top of it you can come out the other side without losing any of your little aquatic friends

 

[jae5005]

Thanks!

Thanks a lot guys !!! I checked my water this afternoon and ammonia was at .25ppm, nitrite was at 5ppm and nitrate was at 40 or 80ppm couldn't tell since color chart seems alike.....after reading yout responses , I did do a 50% water change today, then I tested my tank and my ammonia was at .25 but now at .50ppm... Looks like nitrites still at 5ppm and nitrate dropped to 10ppm... Should I just keep doing water changes daily and adding like prime as well or only water changes?????

And unfortunately I cannot return the fishes... I wish I would have found that dr.trimms stuff before the fish ��

Thanks in advance!!

 

[darkhymn]

If your ammonia levels rose with a water change, you may want to check your source water. If there is ammonia coming in that way you may need to find an alternative. Your nitrite level is still quite high. I'd recommend another change of similar size. Always add prime (or some other water conditioner) to your water before adding it to your tank. Moving forward, try to keep on top of your levels. Test your water 1-2 times daily and change some water anytime your levels get too high. During my fish in cycle, I shot for <1ppm ammonia/nitrite, and 20ppm or less nitrate. Nitrate levels can get a fair bit higher (~40ppm for most fish), but in general, the lower the nitrite and ammonia levels the better, as they are both quite toxic to your fish, and the only truly safe level of either is 0.