GMOORE91

I had 2 oscars and could not do anything to get the ammonia level to an acceptable range in my tank. So I have given up on having Oscars in my tank, now Im thinking of doing African Cichilids. I have only been doing the fish tank thing for a few months and I have read many different things about how to start up a new tank in order to get the bacteria going. So I am looking for some advice, I have drained my tank and added newfreshly washed gravel. So what do I need to do know?

Llama

Here you go

http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

Shawnie

aww that stinks but probably best for the oscars and your sanity!!

its a 56 gal right?
do you know what type of africans you are looking for? they like a higher pH and love to dig so some crushed coral for subtrate would be good..
angela has great advice on them but heres some links people have shared with me...im new to them also!!

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...us_gallery.php

http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q...p-f=ISO-8859-1

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...icial%26sa%3DN

goodluck!

GMOORE91

I have added prime to the water to stabilize it. I also have some Stress-Zyme+ that supposedly has benificial bacteria, should I add that to the water to help start the cycle?

GMOORE91

Yeah it was a 56, not really sure what kind of Africans I am looking for as of yet. Wanna make sure that I get my water right first. Does the 1" per gallon rule apply for Africans? Im thinking about a max of 6-8 fish in the tank.

Lucy

Stress Zyme and many other bacterial additives contain the wrong kind of bacteria to sustain your tank. They die off quickly.
They can actually hinder the growth of benefical bacteria that your tank needs.

However, quite a few members have had luck using tetra SafeStart.

Here are instuctions for cycling with ammonia with out fish.

agabr123

sorry you had to re-home your oscars, but it's definitely best for them and your peace of mind two would have definitely outgrown the tank.

i dont keep cichlids but you've gotten great advice above and steveangela1 breeds malawi mbuna and is going to breed congos and should be able to give you some advice on what you can keep

FL CommunityFans

I oscar barely gets by in a 55gallon much less two. You could manage with 1 oscar if you provided a lot of filtration and had plenty of space (ie: biomedia, sponges, etc) for live bacteria to grow on.

If you really like the fish, you don't have to give up. Just tone down the amount of fish you want to keep You'll certainly limit yourself with such a potentially large fish in a smallish tank, but nothing is better than keeping the fish that you enjoy most

What filtration do you have running?

GMOORE91

I have 2 HOB 60 gal filters

GMOORE91

Ok, so I restarted my tank as previously stated and this morning my crystal clear water was very cloudy. Anyone have any ideas

capekate

Most likely an algae bloom and it will go away on its own in a few days.

GMOORE91

So is that a good or bad thing?

FL CommunityFans

It's a normal/neutral thing. Nothing to generally be concerned about. Like Kate said, a few days and it should be gone.

erikcoley

if it looks white it could be what some call a mini bacterial bloom but if you google it some experts say that it a different type of bacteria that is free floating which the beneficial bacteria in your tank is not a free floating,who knows ill leave it to the scientists

AlyeskaGirl

yeah, I read that "bacteria bloom" is free floating and will die off. It's normal for a newly setup tank to become cloudy. It will clear up in time. Oh and adding new gravel can make the water cloudy too sometimes..might be some dust left from washing it. Just be patient.

http://www.fishlore.com/CloudyWater.htm