I learned quick that you can't go on vacation when you have cichlids without a fish sitter... I lost an oscar on mine, then got too busy with my aquaponic growing and my other kept getting sick, hate to admit it, but I had to choose between my puffer and my oscar so I rehomed my oscar. Cichlids require almost as much money and time as my salt water puffer. My suggestion to you- seechem prime, stability and melafix, 10-20% water changes a day/ every other day for the first couple weeks, do a 60/40 pwc after 2 weeks, retreat the tank as if it were new. Remember if you have plants and you don't give them enough light you will need to ph balance with kh stabilizer and use ph up or down and test to get your ph to 7.0- 7.5. Cichlids are known for softwater tolerance, ph buffering with dolomite or base rock/ dead coral can help out. Hope that helps a little.