New Fish Person Learning Curve

[ColoFishGuy]

Chemistry as of now...

Nitrites 0ppm
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrates 40ppm

This is saying that my Nitrates have doubled since 10/9 ... is this a normal rate of increase? What contributes to this increase?

Per what OS suggested earlier in this thread I will do a 50% water change now that Nitrates have hit 40ppm.

 

[Old Scales]

Sounds normal Colo. Your nitrate build up, say 10 to 40ppm, depends on how many fish you have in the tank. More fish equals faster buildup. This biuld up means your bacteria have cycled and are doing their job well. Now your task is to do WC's at your chosen nitrate ppm amount. OS.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Cichlids in next tank?

wow....i feel like i graduated....contemplating a second aquarium dedicated to cichlids...what do i need to research on those? I will definitly do that one right from the start...

 

[Old Scales]

Do you know if you want to do soft water or African cichlids?

 

[ColoFishGuy]

OS....was thinking about African....are they easier?

 

[Mebbid]

If you have a good grasp of controlling water parameters then cichlids aren't very difficult. I personally really like African cichlids, particularly mbunas. They are aggressive though and fight quite a lot which I guess is part of their charm. You do need at least a 55g to do most african cichlids though.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

I am looking at a 72gallon bowfront for my cichlid tank. Do they require live plants or can artificial ones be used?

 

[Mebbid]

A lot of cichlids will destroy live plants it just depends on the type. Your best bet will be to go with fake ones. If you are looking at africans there are two main types out of lake malawi the peacocks and the mbuna. The mbuna are more aggressive and will shred plants. They are also rock dwellers so you need a lot of caves for them. The peacocks on the other hand are more docile and don't require the extensive rock work that mbunas need.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Thanks Mebbid...now i just have to convince "the boss" to go along with this new venture. I will start doing my research. Any suggestions on a good source for fish? I have a lead on one place here in the Springs that is supposed to be a "Cichlid haven" ... will see what i find.

 

[tiger terror]

This is a lot of rock work(lace rock)...

 

[ColoFishGuy]

pink kissing gouramis acting strange

the past few days my pink kissing gouramis have started just staying at the bottom of the tank...one of them actually almost lays over on its side. When i feed the fish they pop up and eat...but settle back down to the bottom...last night i thought one was dead but when i went to net it he took off like a shot. All of the other fish are acting normal....water test shows everything normal.

any ideas??

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Newl essons learned the hard way

Well it seems that I developed ICK/FinRot on a few fish and found it too late...wound up losing a few. At PETSMART recommendation have treated the tank with API Fungus Cure and the remaining fish appear to be doing better and responding well. Their activity has increased and they are eating better....other than the tank looking a nice shade of mellow yellow green from the meds all is doing well. Will be doing water change and putting filter pads back in place tomorrow.

 

[Fishfur]

If you have ich, you haven't cured it with Fungus cure ! Only high temperatures, salt or ich specific meds will kill the parasite if you actually had ich. I would make sure of this, as untreated ich will kill every fish given time to do so.

If a fish with ich died, it's parasites will simply have moved on with their life cycle and if they haven't shown up yet on other fish, be sure that they will.

Read up on ich. Understanding the enemy makes fighting it easier. Even Petsmart should know Ich is not cured using a fungal remedy, assuming you did have Ich. It does not look like fin rot, it looks like tiny grains of salt sticking to the fish, fins or body, anywhere at all.

Best article I have seen on ich is here. Let me go find the link for you.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

 

[ColoFishGuy]

Thank you for this information...guess I need to do some research. I do know that since using the fungus cure the fish are more active and eating well. Maybe I wasn't dealing with ich....i will check around and see if there is someone that can come look at my fish....

thanks again
Gary

 

[Mebbid]

The API fungus cure contains Acriflavine which is very effective against ich. It's entirely possible that it worked to cure your ich.

 

[Fishfur]

That's interesting. I don't think I have ever seen acriflavine recommended for ich treatment, but then, I'm sure I've not read every article there is on the subject either. Good to know it's an option. Hope that means the ich is indeed gone, if it was there to begin with.

 

[ColoFishGuy]

chalk this one up to another learning

Getting the tank back to normal today...doing the water change and putting the filters back in. Will keep ya'll posted on how things go. In a couple weeks going to start up a second aquarium...got my 72gallon bowfront....will do this one the right way