just started my first 20g

[dropped]

hey everyone. i just started my first 20g freshwater setup. unfortunately, i found this site after i stocked the tank. i'm only now learning about cycling and so on.
anyway, i set the tank up with all the equipment and decorations, and filled the tank halfway with tap water. then i filled the other half with water from an established tank. had all the accessories running for about two days and then headed to the store. i was recommended cichlids by the employee. so i bought 3 of one kind and 3 of another (i forgot the name, but i will find out tomorrow). i went home and put the cichlids in. they have been in for about 5 hours now. both types of cichlids are either hiding behind rocks or continually swimming up and down pressed against the glass. it's almost if they are trying to get out. i thought they would do that for the first hour to get accustomed with the tank but they are still doing this. is this a sign? also is there anything i can do now to ensure the fish survive? i heard about an additive that has bacteria. thanks so much

ps sorry this is soo long
pps i'm going to the store tomorrow to get a testing kit, but is it to late to do anything?

 

[lyquidphyre]

I know nothing about the fish you bought, however you can buy testing kits at Wal-mart if you can't wait until tomorrow =o)

 

[Smonkey15]

i used to have some cichlids and they could live through anything. also, one of my roomates knows nothing about cycling tanks and just through a bunch of cichlids into his 55 gal. tank right away and the way they looked you would wonder why anyone ever cycled a tank at all. from my experiences i would say the cichlids will definitly live through this one. i think the best you can do now is to buy some test kits and moniter the leves so you will know when your cycled. i dont know the names of any bacteria that can be added to the tank to quicken the cycle, but i have not heard many great things about them.
steve

 

[An t-iasg]

The only bacteria that you can add to your tank that will truly cycle it in about 24 hours in called Bio-Spira, from Marineland. I have used it to cycle a tank, and also to re-establish the good bacteria after I have treated the tank with medicine. Bernie, one of the sponsors here, may be able to send you some. His sponsor forum is http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewforum.php?f=63 Ask if he can ship to Canada. Since it's a live product, I'm not sure, but I've read that he shipped to a lot of AA members.

 

[dropped]

thanks for the replies. i was kinda in a rush when i typed my first post. i will purchase a kit tomorrow. i was thinking about getting bio-spira. is that a good idea since i didn't cycle? should i add bio-spira even if the fish are already in the tank? and is that behavior normal for the fish?(swimming up and down the glass) thanks for the help....

 

[Smonkey15]

are the doing it right by where there is some waterflow? i used to have a powerfilter in my freshwater tank that would send a flow of water straight down and my mollies would swim up and down the glass right by it. i think they liked to swim in water current so they would just swim up against the flow of the water, then go back down and do it again.
steve

 

[dropped]

thanks an t-aisg, you posted while i was typing my second post smonkey15, they are doing it all over the tank. but they seemed to have calmed down abit. thank you all for the advice. 8)

 

[tkos]

Without biospira, I say just do water changes at teh beginning. If you don't have a etst kit then do a water change of about 10% a day at the beginning. If you have a test kit then do a water change whenever ammonia and nitrite are present.

Be aware that most cichlids will not be able to live their full life in a 20 gallon tank. They tend to get too big or too aggressive for such a small tank. You might end up having to remove some of them or else deal with a lot of grief.

And cichlids are good at hiding in rocks.

 

[ferret]

Here's my warnings for ye:

1) Walmart stocks 3-4 specific species of African cichlids. Unfortunately, for some reason I've yet to discovered, all but 1 of these are species known to be very aggressive and territorial. If you got South American ones... same deal...

2) Tank is overstocked, african or SA. You're gonna have to upgrade in the very near future.

Other than that, cichlids are great fish. I currently have 3 tanks dedicated to various species.

 

[dropped]

hey guys...just got back from the pet store. they recommended i pick up some "cycle" and some freeze-dried tubifex worms because they weren't eating the floating pellets. it seems they were afraid to go to the surface. i tried to stick the cube of worms on the glass, but it didn't hold. anyway, the fish were still not interested in the food. why aren't they eating? also, i found out their names. I have 3 small zebra reds and 3 small auratus cichlids.

thanks you all for the advice.

ps i will ugrade the tank in the future.

 

[ferret]

I was afraid of that.. you're in for trouble. Lots of it. The zebras are fairly aggressive, but they don't hold a candle to auratus. They're known as one of if not THE most aggressive cichlids from Lake Malawi. I had ONE male auratus take over 45 gallons of tank as his territory. He successfully defended that half of a 90 gallon tank and attacked anyone that came close.. there were 15 other fish at the time, and half of them were much larger than him

I really hate to say this, but I seriously suggest you consider taking them all back if possible, and going to another store with a wider range of fish to choose from.

The 'cycle' stuff is also fairly useless. Don't worry about them not eating. They'll do it when you're not looking, mine all eat floating pellets, though at first they didn't want to switch from sinking foods. You can also try frozen (Note, not freeze-dried) bloodworm cubes.

 

[Fruitbat]

One additional thing you might consider is that African Rift Lake cichlids like the ones you have prefer fairly hard, alkaline water. Many people who keep them have special substrates (gravel) that helps to keep the pH level high and add specially formulated salt solutions (for African cichlids) to get the water to the place where those fish are happiest.

Also....African Rift Lake cichlids like lots of hiding places. I don't recall if you mentioned anything about the way your tank is set up but you might think about putting in enough rock to create some caves for the little beasties to inhabit. You can get rocks that are safe for aquariums in most lfs.

All of this is, of course, dependent on whether or not you decide to keep your Africans.