# hi new here to cichlids



## uganationaltitle (Aug 20, 2009)

alright i just set up a tank that i have had running for about 6 days with no fish. I just put an electric yellow a red zebra and some other blue fish with yellow tail and yellow dorsail fin they all seem to be doing well but the red zebra dont move around as much as the other two but looks two be the dominant one i dont know. do i need to check the PH and nitrates or anything like that i dont really know to much about those things. It is a 30 gal tank and they are about an inch long there real small right know and when they get bigger i will move them to a bigger tank accordingly. I have a river gravel substrate and a 30 - 50 gal filter and a 30 gal bio filter on it is that to much filtration? my tank stays at 79 degrees and has rocks and lots of plants.

Any info will help Thanks Very much.

Josh


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

Running the tank for 6 days without fish doesn't help to establish the bio-filter unless you added ammonia or culture from an established tank. Without bacteria that will convert the fish waste, the fish are in danger of death. A test kit will help you check for dangerous levels of ammonia and nitrite so you can perform water changes as needed while the good bacteria get established. This is very important and is a main reason why beginners loose fish.

There are many articles on this site to read that will help you. Good luck and welcome to the forum. We were all beginners once.


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## buffro (Aug 17, 2005)

if you have a friend with a running tank or a tank you have had up put some gravel in it from that or an ornament by the easiest way to cycle your tank


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

lotsofish said:


> Running the tank for 6 days without fish doesn't help to establish the bio-filter unless you added ammonia or culture from an established tank. Without bacteria that will convert the fish waste, the fish are in danger of death. A test kit will help you check for dangerous levels of ammonia and nitrite so you can perform water changes as needed while the good bacteria get established. This is very important and is a main reason why beginners loose fish.
> 
> There are many articles on this site to read that will help you. Good luck and welcome to the forum. We were all beginners once.


Agreed not to mention the tank size is not big enough to house most if many malawi cichlids.


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## ilcichlids (Aug 20, 2009)

6 days isnt enough i left my water for 2 weeks b4 i put any fish in and even then i only put in 2 fish just to make sure the water was fine.
after a couple of days the fish were fine so then i went out and bought 6 more malawi cichlids.
now i have 10 malawi cichlids 1 rubyshark 1 common pleco and 1 albino pleco and a synodontis catfish. and my tanks been up and running for 6 months and touch wood *** had no problems.
just 1 thing to make sure for your cichlids and thats to make sure they have caves and hiding spots to hide becase they will end up fighting.
welcome to the forum im new aswell lol.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

ilcichlids said:


> 6 days isnt enough i left my water for 2 weeks b4 i put any fish in and even then i only put in 2 fish just to make sure the water was fine.
> after a couple of days the fish were fine so then i went out and bought 6 more malawi cichlids.
> now i have 10 malawi cichlids 1 rubyshark 1 common pleco and 1 albino pleco and a synodontis catfish. and my tanks been up and running for 6 months and touch wood I've had no problems.
> just 1 thing to make sure for your cichlids and thats to make sure they have caves and hiding spots to hide becase they will end up fighting.
> welcome to the forum im new aswell lol.


Actually, there is no difference between letting a tank sit for 24 hours, or two weeks if there is no cycling going on. (In the absence of chlorine remover) If you added chlorine remover, technically there is no difference between adding fish minutes after a fill and two weeks later.

The key being cycling the tank, which can be done many ways, including a fishless cycle, or obtaining filter materials from an existing setup. In my opinion, the best way to setup a new tank, is to run your filter on an existing tank somewhere, that is disease free. Then you can set the tank up, and throw your fish in the same day.


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## ilcichlids (Aug 20, 2009)

i did have the filter running to make sure it was working fine and i put some "filter start" in the water
but i was told from the shop called "pets at home" it has to be 3 weeks but i just left for 2 weeks and it worked perfectly fine and my fish are all doing very well but thanks for the heads up next time i wont wate so long. loooooool. :thumb:


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## uganationaltitle (Aug 20, 2009)

well i did put both filters from my old tank in it, sry didnt tell yall that but the bio filter was from the old 55 gal and the other filter was in my 20 gal they both have a good amount of bacteria in them. and when the cichlids get bigger they will go in a bigger tank as needed. my main question was how do i check all the levels like ph and amonia and stuff and what does it need to be and how do i fix it if its wrong?

thanks for your replys


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## uganationaltitle (Aug 20, 2009)

also if i do add stuff will it kill my fish or what do i do with them in there? and how long would they last if it is wrong, any ways going tomorrow to get some kind of kit to check everything and will post the results as soon as possible.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

i think you should have a stock list in mind before moving on....the cichlids u have listed are not suited for a tank this small


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## uganationaltitle (Aug 20, 2009)

i understand that and when they get a little bigger i will put them in a bigger tank thats not my concern right now, there are only three of them and they are all really small.

my concern right now is if the amonia levels are high what do i do?


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## Cichlidaevid (Jul 27, 2009)

If your ammonia levels are high, then do a 50% water change and add some additional water conditioner that removes ammonia. Make sure the tank is completely cycled.....


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## uganationaltitle (Aug 20, 2009)

alright guys i just got the results back from my water test 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 7.8 ph and .5 ammonia so i went and got some inzyme treatment for ammonia and i did about a 25% water change how long should i wait before i test the water again.


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## Cichlidaevid (Jul 27, 2009)

If you have no nitrAtes, then your tank is not cycled yet. You need to read up on the cycling process.

Ammonia spike happens first, then a spike in NitrIte as the ammonia is converted, and then finally, NitrIte is converted to NitrAte. You should never have a zero reading of NitrAte if the cycle has been completed.


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I would test it again in the morning and probably do another water change. Then I'd test it again tomorrow afternoon and see if that helped. If it doesn't, change water again. You might have to do more than 25% water changes too but I would test 3 times a day while cycling.
Were your filters running on the other tanks with fish in them right up until you moved the filters over to this tank? Because the bacteria will die in a filter if there isn't a source of ammonia and I would have thought the used filters would have instantly cycled the tank.

ilcichlids, I'm not sure you're understanding the cycling process either  .


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## uganationaltitle (Aug 20, 2009)

they havent been ran in a while i thought that it would still have bacteria on it. ok so i will do what you said, are my fish in any danger right now.


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

If you have any ammonia yes...high nitrites are hard on them too but a little better than ammonia I think..when nitrates start appearing the nitrites should start coming down and that's a good thing. Once the cycle is complete there should be no ammonia or nitrites but you should have some nitrates. Keep ammonia and nitrites down by doing water changes (daily or twice daily probably). Once the cycle is complete keep an eye on the nitrates. You should always have them but shouldn't let them get to high. If they get over 20 or some say 40 do a 50% water change or whaterever it takes to get them below that. Most people have to do 50% water changes weekly.


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