# Cichlid Swimming Erratically



## zauda

Hi there,

I've only had a fish tank for 7 days so I don't really know what i'm doing and i'm hoping someone can help me.

I have a 40 Litre tank with only one cichlid in it (a lombardi) which I picked up at a pet store today. The lombardi has been in the tank for about 4 hours now and is swimming from the top to bottom of one corner of the tank very erratically.

I'm guessing this isn't normal?

My first fish (an electric yellow cichlid) died on Wednesday after I had it for only 3 days. I had the pet store test the water for me on the same day the electric yellow died and they said the water tested fine but the ph may have been a bit low for a cichlid (it was 6.9).

I've fixed up the ph (this is now 8.0) but the new cichlid is swimming erratically and i'm worried it's not going to make it.

I tested the water myself this evening with a home test kit i picked up today with the below results:

Ph: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

I've taken out 25% of the water and replaced it to try and reduce the ammonia levels. This doesn't seem to have helped.

The lombardi has a good appetite and looks healthy other than the erratic behaviour, the fins are upright on the top of the body.

I'm not sure what's wrong and if there's anything I can do to fix it? Any help you can provide will be much appreciated, I don't want another casualty.

Thanks


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## Robin

Hi

Actually the habit of swimming up and down with nose/lips towards the glass is NOT that abnormal for a fish in a new tank. As to why they do this, I don't know and I've never heard anyone else say definitively, either. My guess is that its thier way of getting aquainted with their new home--like a dog marking it's territory--but I hasten to add that this is just a guess and not based on anything other than my own non-scientific observations. At any rate most fish will stop doing this within a few weeks.

Did you do anything to cycle your tank? The ammonia is your most immediate concern and if you haven't cycled the tank then you can expect the ammonia level to rise and be followed by a rise in nitrite--*both are extremely harmful to your fish and may kill him. *

First thing: get some Bio-Spira or Dr. Tim's One and Only to get the tank cycled fast. 
Then make sure you've got a good quality dechlorinator--you need one that removes ammonia and detoxifys nitrite--use the dechlorinator at the maximum dosage recommended on the label. ADD 1-3 teaspoons of aquarium salt per ten gallons to help detoxify nitrite. Feed the fish sparingly for the next 3 weeks. 
If the Bio-Spira/Dr. Tim's products are not available to you then you'll need to do DAILY partial water changes of 30% using the dechlorinator.

The test results for you water are misleading. It takes a week or two for ammonia/nitrite levels to rise in an un-cycled tank. Newly started tanks will always test 'good' because the cycling process has not yet begun.

Also: watch out about using any products to bump up the ph. There are more reliable means of raising your ph such as using crushed coral for the substrate or adding a specific amount of baking soda when you do weekly water changes. Most fish can and will adjust to just about any PH but what they can't handle nearly as well is sudden changes in ph. Also: ammonia becomes much more toxic at higher ph levels so now is NOT the time to raise the ph. We can talk later about how to keep your water parameters at safe consitant levels. 

Robin


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## zauda

Hi Robin,

Thanks so much for your advice.

I have a bottle of nutrafin cycle which i've been adding to the water based on the instructions on the bottle. I'll have a look for the products you mentioned as well.

Should I still do a daily water change of 30% when using these products to be on the safe side or will this be harmful by removing the good bacteria?

I've been using a dechlorinator for the water (nutrafin aqua plus).

I do have crushed coral in the tank now, we originally had some gravel but changed this out after the electric yellow died. I changed the ph before putting the lombardi in so hopefully that won't have a negative effect, i'll refrain from using the ph up solutions moving forwards.

I'll keep you posted.


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## zauda

Just a quick update on this, the Lombardi seems to doing well


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