jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Congrats James!!!!!!! 
fish in cycle advise
- Thread starter tinxy
- Start date
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librarygirl
Look It Up
cheers mate
I wouldn't remove it at all if you don't have to. At the very least I'd leave it in there for a good month before trying to remove anything. Why do you need to remove it?
librarygirl
Look It Up
just because the gravel is a different colour and size and its in a ugly stocking lol i have now got myself a 1.5" green terror and 2 tiny jack dempsy already looking for a bigger tank to upgrade to next
Oh it's gravel in a stocking? I thought you meant seeded filter media. You should be able to remove it then, just test the water for a few days to be sure nothing spikes but you should be fine. Sorry about that, I misread.
just tested my water and ive got .5 ppm of ammonia im really confused and gutted whats the best course to take all other parameters are ok i had the stocking of gravel out for less than 3 hours so have put it back in ??? i have very small fish in the tank so wouldnt have thought theyd have produced that much in such a quick time the pre fish water change was done and all using tapsafe mixed before it went in the tank i hope everything will be ok cheers james
cheers james
librarygirl
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Hm, what kind of fish and how many did you put in?
Unless you grossly overstocked too many or the wrong kind of fish the bacteria should have been able to handle the ammonia. Do you have ammonia in your tap water by any chance? How long since the last water change and adding fish did you test the water?
Unless you grossly overstocked too many or the wrong kind of fish the bacteria should have been able to handle the ammonia. Do you have ammonia in your tap water by any chance? How long since the last water change and adding fish did you test the water?
i have 6 really small chichlids would this be considered overstocked at there small size i have 2 tiny under 1" jack dempseys a 1.5 " greenterror a bumblebee hybrid chichlid thats about 1.5" a small 1" blue acara and a texas chiclid thats under1" im planning a larger tank already but they all seem very happy togeather atm but was told they will need a much larger tank as they grow ,was also told to break the tank up to reduce line of sight but they all just swim around togeather following each other and share there meals but am really concerend about the ammonia seems to have dropped to .25 in a couple of hours since replaceing the stocking full of seeded media but would ike to remove this in the future, the water change was done on saturday nite before i bough the fish and was tested sunday morning . any advise would be greatly apreciated cheers james
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi James! I am not going to be of much help here because i know nothing about chiclids so i dont know if 6 of them is considered overstocked or not. It apparently was a bit more than your bacteria could handle, however, so i would leave the stocking in place for a few weeks until your bacteria catch up to the bioload of your fish. Keep an eye on your water parameters for now and do pwcs as needed to bring any amm/nitrite levels down. Hopefully, someone who knows something about stocking chiclids/their requirements can help out here!
librarygirl
Look It Up
Wow you are SEVERELY overstocked for your tank size I'm afraid (125 liters = 33 gals). The two JD's alone would be overstocking. Just because they are small now doesn't really mean anything; bioload should be considered as well and apparently they're overwhelming your biofilter.
Also as you've been told they all will get very large (5-11"). Also the Bumblebees are Mbuna's and shouldn't be mixed with other species; also the bumblebees ideally should be in a group of 5 which you can't do.
I'm afraid your fish are going to have to be rehomed or returned. At 33 gals none of these fish are ideal for your tank size, even if you planned to upgrade it isn't going to work. Unfortunately the LFS dont' advise people correctly on stocking; it's always best to ask here first. You MAY be able to keep ONE of the fish you have currently, and that would just about fully stock your tank. I'm sorry you received poor advice. You should also post this question with your tank size and stocking in the Cichlid forum; I'm only going by what I'm finding online but people with actual experience will be able to help you more.
Also daily 50-70% water changes (at least 1-2) to keep ammonia down and the water safe for fish is advisable until you decide what you need to do to stock the tank properly.
Sorry, I hope my reply isn't harsh. I could be totally wrong (I hope I am) but I do think you are overstocked for your tank size; whether you can ride out the ammonia spikes with water changes and hope the bacteria adjust to the higher load until you can upgrade tanks I really don't know. Again I'd recommend asking on the Cichlid forum as well. Good luck.
Also as you've been told they all will get very large (5-11"). Also the Bumblebees are Mbuna's and shouldn't be mixed with other species; also the bumblebees ideally should be in a group of 5 which you can't do.
I'm afraid your fish are going to have to be rehomed or returned. At 33 gals none of these fish are ideal for your tank size, even if you planned to upgrade it isn't going to work. Unfortunately the LFS dont' advise people correctly on stocking; it's always best to ask here first. You MAY be able to keep ONE of the fish you have currently, and that would just about fully stock your tank. I'm sorry you received poor advice.
You should also post this question with your tank size and stocking in the Cichlid forum; I'm only going by what I'm finding online but people with actual experience will be able to help you more.Also daily 50-70% water changes (at least 1-2) to keep ammonia down and the water safe for fish is advisable until you decide what you need to do to stock the tank properly.
Sorry, I hope my reply isn't harsh. I could be totally wrong (I hope I am) but I do think you are overstocked for your tank size; whether you can ride out the ammonia spikes with water changes and hope the bacteria adjust to the higher load until you can upgrade tanks I really don't know. Again I'd recommend asking on the Cichlid forum as well. Good luck.
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that tank stayed nicely in good parameters with a weekly water chance to drop nitrate for 7 months ive now got a 5 foot 2 foot 2 foot tank up and running . 2 3 foot tanks + the original tank . had to split them up not due to water but due to territorial fighting , used the fishless cyclye again and it worked beautifully thanks again . i gave the bumble bee to a freinds malawi tank and its since spawned twice with 15 surviving the first time and 20 odd the second . many thanks again for the advise cheers james
with 15 surviving the first time and 20 odd the second . many thanks again for the advise cheers jamesSimilar threads
