Need Help - tank & cichlids

smash_57 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 04:16 AM

Hi Ya'll,

Ok, here's the deal. Today I bought a 75 gallon aquarium and stand from a lady. When I got there - Surprise! - there were 2 cichlids to go along with the tank. Of course, she's taken apart and cleaned out the tank, and all the accessories, and the cichlids are in a seperate aquarium type thing that's rather small (I've since put one of the bubble thingies in it to help aerate the water some), until I get the tank up and running at my place.

I've set up the tank, and added all the conditioners and bacteria stuff to the water (pardon my non-tech terms, lol), the filters are going, the temperature is good, there's bubble thingies (air pumps) going. I know I should wait at least a couple days before adding the cichlids to the tank (I also have a water testing kit she gave me - how long until I should test the water for the 1st time?) but I'm worried about them in this other container...What to do?

I had fully intended on setting up the tank and having plenty of time to research and decide what kind of fish I wanted to put in it, but oh well....they're pretty cool looking fish

Let's hope they survive....

Any help or advice will be appreciated!

~Jennifer

tmfleo1 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 05:48 AM

You can test it any time basically I've always tested my tanks after I get them set up the same day to adjust ph and softness etc.

There is a way you can speed up the process depending on the condition of the water there . if you use a clorine remover plus the water conditioner plus a teaspoon of aquarium salt per gallon of water helps speed it up

what type of cichlids are they ?

smash_57 · #3 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:01 AM

I used AquaSafe water conditioner, API Stress Coat, and Dual Action Stress Zyme. What does the aquarium salt do?

I'm not sure what kind of cichlids they are. One is orange, and one is gold and black striped (vertical).

Any idea on when it will be safe to put them in the big aquarium? Or I guess maybe I should be asking what test results I'll be looking for before I can put them in?

tmfleo1 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:18 AM

the salt does several thing it helps with keeping the slime on the fish , if the fish happen to get chilled it will help against ick and several other fish diseases

in testing check the ph levels , ammonia levels , water hardness ,

tmfleo1 · #5 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:25 AM

the test kits should give you a chart on each test and what is the safe zone . depending on the type of test kit you have the most important test are the ammonia , clorine /clormine test be sure to check your water temps to .

I,ve alway kept my temps for my cichlid at 80 degrees

smash_57 · #6 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:29 AM

Ah, ok.

The testing kit I have tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate...

How do you test for water hardness? (I don't think we have issues with hard/soft water around here, if that's what you mean)

So if I test in the morning, and everything checks out ok, can I put the fish in? (I'm very concerned about them in the tank thing they're in now, it has no pump or filter or anything like that)

tmfleo1 · #7 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:39 AM

cool .sorry for got about the nitrite and nitrate anyway check the ammonia and the nitrite and nitrate levels , ph on the safe side slightly acid for most cichlids
water hardness is another test to check for calciums and heavy metals and some other elements that that are in the water only really important if you plan to breed if the 3 main test are at good to safe levels you can put the fish in

smash_57 · #8 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:45 AM

Great! Thanks for your help!

Sooo....is there any other kind of fish that get along with cichlids? Or just other cichlids? What do ya'll feed your cichlids? I bought granules for now, but I'd like to feed them live food as well. Feeder fish? (like rosy reds?) Or the little shrimp (brine shrimp, i think?) Or to make things easy, maybe someone could just direct me to a detailed care sheet or website? LOL

Thanks!

tmfleo1 · #9 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 06:58 AM

I fed my cichlids red worms ,night crawlers , freezed dried krill , beef heart cut up it size , feeder gold fish .
here are a couple links I hope help

http://www.cichlids.com/

http://www.cichlids.com/wiki/index.php/Beginner

tmfleo1 · #10 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 07:24 AM

http://www.tangledupincichlids.com/photo.html

http://www.bestfish.com/tips/111998.html

http://www.cichlid.org/

Lfsabch · #11 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 10:31 AM

should be good to go nothing will happen with the tank until the fish are in there so unless your tap water is toxic you can put them in after 24 hours.

testing in the first month is good to se ehow the water chenistry is doing will it goes through the nitrogen cycle. dont be alarmed to see nitraite or ammonia spikes during the first month, just do small feedings once a every two days for the first couple weeks

Ratsicles · #12 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 01:04 PM

Howdy,

The enzyme stuff you put in there is basically useless. If you read the bottle im sure itll say to add more weekly or monthly. Basically they are a super strain of the good bacteria and die out fairly fast. A better way to go about seeding your tank is to take gravel, decorations, filter media, or even water from an existing tank and put it in the new tank. If you dont have an existing tank go to a non-chain store and ask them for some.

It takes up to 1.5 months for a tank to go through a full cycle. seeding can cut it down to 2-3 weeks. Your ammonia cycle goes like this: First you get a big spike in ammonia, the ammonia eating bacteria come along and change the ammonia into nitrites (BTW ammonia is toxic to fish). Youll see a big spike in nitrites, then the nitrite eating bacteria come along and change the nitrite into nitrates. There is no nitrate eating bacteria, this will need to be dealt with by doing water changes (removing 10-20% of the water every 10 days to 2 weeks). I use a gravel vac to remove the water, and fill up 5 gallon buckets with water to sit for a few days (my water only has chlorine not chloramines). Chloramines and chlorine will also kill off the bacteria you are working for (thats why i let them sit for a few days). You also shouldnt do a water change while the tank is cycling. Once your reading for ammonia and nitrites are at 0 your cycle is done. In order for a cycle to take place there needs to be some ammonia introduced. This can be from feeding an empty tank, using fish, or adding small amounts of ammonia. There will be a few links at the bottom where you should search for "CYCLING".

You need to find out if your tap water has chlorine or chloramines in it. If chlorine you can run it in a tank or let it set out in buckets for 2 days to get rid of it. If its chloramines you will have to use a neutralizing agent. You can call your local water company and ask.

Salt ... becareful with the use of it. Some species are extremely intolerant of it (like cories). It does help to kill Ich, and some species require it (like mollies, swordtails, guppies, endlers, platys).

Chances are that the water you have at your house is the same as the pet stores. See which fish they carry and you can normally use the same in your tanks. The only time to really worry about pH is when ordering fish from a different area.

There are tons of cichlids that require alkaline water (opposite of acidic) they mostly come from the lakes in Africa. Like Malawi & Tanganika. However the vst majority of fish have beed in captivity long enough that they can thrive in any pH.

If it were me id bring the cichlids to a pet store and see if they will give you a store credit for them. This will let you properly cycle your tank and let you pick out the fish you want instead of someones leftovers.

Research thoroughly before adding fish. Fish like arrowana, oscars, and pacu create a huge mess while eating. If you get any of these you will need to run at least 2 filters on your tank. Fish stores are notoriously bad at labeling the size of animals. Pacus and Oscars regularly grow to 18". Your fish store will probably say they grow to 10-12".

Things to watch for:
If you see a white "cloud" in your tank that means it is a bacteria cloud a green cloud implies a it is an algae bloom. If you get any critters like snails, shrimp, or loaches do not get the water out of the HOT side of the tap. Doing so will add copper to the water and can kill the above critters.

http://www.fishprofiles.com this site is a good general site.
http://www.aquarank.com this site has a list of fish sites.

Bryan

iLLwiLL · #13 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 03:01 PM

finally, someone mentioned the nitrogen cycke. you really need to let that tank go through a complete cycle before adding any fish. failure to do so will result in super cloudy water and a couple dead fish. you could toss in a handfull of rosy reds to help speed things along, then they could become lunch after all your levels are in check and the cichlids are added.

you really need to id the fish you already have before you can consider adding anything new. mabye you could ask the lady what kind of fish she had?

~Will.

smash_57 · #14 (**permalink**) 12-21-2005, 03:39 PM

Wow, thanks for all the help and contradicting advice, LOL

Seriously though, I don't think this lady had any clue about the fish or the tank. I think it was her son's, who has since moved off.

I don't know any pet stores around here who would take someones fish and give them a credit, but I'll call the one she said she got one of the fish from and see. The fish are growing on me though, even though they're not necessarily what I might've picked out at first myself, but who knows.

Anyhow, I'm almost finished testing my tank....so far so good....

smash_57 · #15 (**permalink**) 12-22-2005, 03:45 AM

Quick update - put the fish in at about 10 this morning and as of now they're doing great.
Thanks again for all ya'lls help!
Oh and I did want to mention that I had been informed of the nitrogen cycle and what not - believe it or not, my local Petco is a good store (I'm there a lot and all of the rodents/reptiles/fish/bird enclosures are always clean and well maintained and I've rarely seen sick animals - the only thing that's not very good is all the rodents are housed males & females together). Anyhow, the guy in charge of aquatics seemed very knowledgable and gave me the nitrogen cycle care sheet and explained it all to me - actually he said basically what was said here, I just thought I'd ask here as well to make sure I wasn't being misled (wouldn't want 'beneficial' mites on my fish or anything, LOL).
I hate that I didn't have the chance to let the tank cycle properly before re-adding the cichlids that came with it, but life goes on. They're showing no signs of 'new tank syndrome' so far

Thanks again!
~Jennifer

Nonconformist · #16 (**permalink**) 01-18-2006, 01:43 PM

An important thing that is being missed here is what kind of cichlids are they? If they are rift lake africans they'll require a much different setup than an angel fish. Or an Oscar. Or a Discus.

Ratsicles · #17 (**permalink**) 01-20-2006, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nonconformist

An important thing that is being missed here is what kind of cichlids are they? If they are rift lake africans they'll require a much different setup than an angel fish. Or an Oscar. Or a Discus.

Smash had mentioned she didnt know what kind of fish they were and didnt have pictures. Therefore the info I provided was basically generalized. Once the fish have been ID'd we can go into more specific info.

However chances are Jennifer would be able to recognize a angelfish. The majority of people with Discus know what they are due to price. Same goes for higher end cichlids ... If you pay $30-40 per fish you are going to remember what they are.

The vast majority of tropical fish nowadays have been bred and raised in every type of water. For example my water is 8.4 pH, extremely hard, and is alkaline (not refering to pH here ... I actually have salt content in my tap water). My SA (south american) tank has been doing great for 4 years. The Severums are breeding, laying eggs, and the eggs are hatching. These are fish that were origionally caught in acidic soft water. Thus if your local fish store carries the fish and they survive for more than a week they are able to go into your water.

The main difference to worry about in cichlids is that some cant handle a high protein content in their food. Lake Tanganikya is one that springs to mind. However electric yellows (yellow labs) do need a bit higher protein content then their other lake mates and do great in Lake Malawi setups.

Bryan

Nonconformist · #18 (**permalink**) 01-21-2006, 03:00 PM

My water is naturally 8.4 where I live, and I've only had problems with neon tetras for some reason. But the water is fantastic for use with marine systems and rift lake cichlids.

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