[kaylle04]

I am writing to someone who can help with my fish tank. I have 4 African Ciclids about one inch in length each and all in 10 gallon tank. (Love them to death!:D) I've had the tank about 8 weeks now, lost 3 along the way and added two new one's thus resulting in the 4 I now have. I did a large water change due to high nitrite levels and a dirty poopy tank. (Giving I'm a 24 year old single mother and new to this whole fish keeping job. But I do love it thus far.) I pretty much started fresh for the fish's sake. A week later after putting in new (stress zime) bacteria for the fish in and the readings are still very high for the nitrite reading a 10.0 NOT GOOD and the nitrate at about 40! I'm doing a 25-30% water change tomorrow. Tonight after reading and searching forever on here I put 2 tbs of aquarium salt in and my fish seemed to love it. Hope it helped the little biggers breath better! I haven't used any salt till now. Also when and how ofter should I change my water filter and will changing it when changing water hurt the levels of the nitrate. I'm pretty lost and have learned everything I know thus far from web searching. SOME ONE PLEASE HELP ME!! :eek:

[jenniepepsi]

First, let me direct you to a wonderful fish doctor named Dr Erik Johnson. Koivet Welcomes You

You can learn all you ever could want from this man and his associates. :)


Also, I would like to confirm with you that you have elevated nitrIte, not nitrAte.

Also I want to check and make sure that you possibly meant your nitrIte levels were .10?

10.0 doesn't seem right to me :P (though it could be, on rare occasions, this high)


Now, assuming I am correct in your meaning, and that your nitrIte levels are high (reguardless of the number, it is still HIGH)
Nitrite levels should ALWAYS be at 0. even if you get a .001 level, it is too high.

Is this a new development?

If not, chronically high nitrite levels can be a sign of over feeding.

The salt made them feel better because it blocks the effect of the high nitrite. Basically it acts as a coat, or shield for them.

If this is NOT a new thing and you have been dealing with hit for a while, I would suggest a larger tank for your babies. As over crowding is a huge issue in nitrite too.

Please answer my questions :) and ask me any more questions :)

[kaylle04]

first, let me direct you to a wonderfull fish doctor named Dr Erik Johnson. Koivet Welcomes You

you can learn all you ever could want from this man and his associates. :)


also, i would like to confirm with you that you have elevated nitrIte, not nitrAte.

also i want to check and make sure that you possibly meant your nitrIte levels were .10?

10.0 doesnt seem right to me :P (though it could be, on rare occasions, this high)


now, assuming i am correct in your meaning, and that your nitrIte levels are high (reguardless of the number, it is still HIGH)
nitrite levels should ALWAYS be at 0. even if you get a .001 level, it is too high.

is this a new developement?

if not, chronically high nitrite levels can be a sign of over feeding.

the salt made them feel better because it blocks the effect of teh high nitrite. basically it acts as a coat, or shield for them.

if this is NOT a new thing and you ahve been dealing with hit for a while, i woudl suggest a larger tank for your babies. as over crowding is a huge issue in nitrite too.

please answer my questions :) and ask me any more questions :)

-----------------------------------

Yes my nitrite is what you said .10
Thank you!
It hasn't been a on going problem just within the past week or so... as to why I did the large water change...
I think I may be feeding them too much ( 3 times a day), I don't know I don't want to starve them... Im a mother so I guess that comes natural...
What size tank should I have for 4 baby ciclids??

[jenniepepsi]

Oooh wow. 3 times a day is way too much! At the most once a day. But they can go a few days without eating as well :P definitely over feeding them.


I'm not entirely sure on the size of tank for cichlids, (I almost spelled out chinchillas :P totally different animal lol)

But I did find you this site to help with your research and care for your babies :P Cichlid Fish

[jenniepepsi]

I also wanted to provide you with a link to this. It will help you with your water levels in your 'new' tank. Not really new. But not quite 'established' yet :)

Nitrites - Brown Blood Disease


Hopefully this will help you understand a little bit.


Search ALL OVER koivet .com it doesn't just handle koi or other carp. Dr johnson (who owns and runs this site and wrote most of the articles) handles ALL types of fish :)

[kaylle04]

Thank you sooo much for your help!!
Really... thank you!!

[kaylle04]

And I'll def stop feeding them so much...

[shazamataz]

Great info Jennie!

Wow, my fish get a feed once every 2 days and they are still fat.

[AuntSwee]

One thing you might need is an waste eater there are many different kinds and you should be able to find one that goes well with your tank. We have a wonderful tropical fish store and they are very willing to help me with any questions I have. So try to find a fish store near you that is willing to answer questions and are friendly.

[jenniepepsi]

Exceelent idea auntswee.

But be sure to get a waste eater that eats waste/algae ALL their lives. Its common that people assume plecos (Plecostomus) will do a good job at this, but really they only eat waste and algae off the side of the tank in their 'childhood'

It also depends on what kind of 'waste' your talking about. Excess food at the bottom of the tank can be taken care of by a cat fish (which gets along great with cichlids)

Excess poop is most easily taken care of by getting a gravel vacume. Its basically a large tube, with a small hose *like the hose on a bubble maker* and by using suction and gravity (look up siphon to understand the concept better) it will clean up all the poop and extra food, but leave the gravel.

However be careful in doing this, because you don't want to slosh around the rocks too much and release the nitrous gas under the gravel (smells like rotten eggs if you release it) and it can kill your fish.

[AuntSwee]

Wow no one told me not to mix up the gravel. Great advise I'll remember that the next time I siphon my tank, not wonder I killed so many of my guppies.So just asking how do you get rid of the stuff under the gravel?

[kaylle04]

I had a waste eater and he died, I think I get another. How often should I feed those little buggers?

[jenniepepsi]

You cant.

Well.. that's not true. You can spend a lot of money and get an undergravel filter. But I never liked those very much, they don't clean well and they are a pain in the arse.


When you vacuume the gravel, just make sure to do it slowly, and move in an up and down motion. And don't go in too deep or you will disturbe the GOOD bacteria under the gravel.

I love YouTube. Here is a good example! (please note, this persons tank is VERY dirty. Please don't let it get this bad :P )

YouTube - Planted Aquarium Vacuum Demonstration-New

[AuntSwee]

Cool I liked that site. Thank you! I just love my tank don't have any pic's though. I have found that my house plants love the water that I siphon off the tank. Works better than miracle grow:).

[jenniepepsi]

Oooh yes, fish fertilizer is excellent if you can get a hold of any.