asymmetry

Five months ago I bought a 5" Clown Knife along with two 5" blood parrots and put them in a 35 gallon tank. Bad choice, but at the time I knew absolutely nothing about fish keeping and the fish store employee said they'd be fine.

I recently donated the now 14" Clown Knife and the Blood Parrots to a fish store and got 5 small African cichlids and 2 small Blood Parrots within a 30 day time frame and put them in the already cycled water in the 35 gallon tank.
Right after getting the new fish, I changed the foams and carbon in my 303 Fluval filter and rinsed The 5 month old Bio-Max rings with tank water.

Right after changing the carbon and foams, the ammonia level was 1.0 ppm.
I've been doing 25% twice a week water changes and adding the recommended dose of stress zyme everytime I do water changes.
The ammonia is now at .25ppm, but for over a week, it hasn't changed.

The water was very cloudy (for about a week) after I changed the carbon and foams. It's now almost clear, but the ammonia is still there.

I tested my tap water and it has some traces of ammonia. Seems like .25ppm.
Could that be the problem? Was I doing the correct thing by changing 25% of the water twice a week or am I removing too much beneficial bacteria?
I wonder if changing the foams and carbon and rinsing the inside of the filter with tap water killed too much of the good bacteria?

A lady at the fish store told me to take out half of the new carbon and replace it with AMMO-CHIPS Ammonia Remover. I did that a week ago.
Was it a good idea and does that stuff work?

I feed the fish HBH 8 Veggie Flake and Dainichi Reef Veggie FX every twelve hours, at 10am and 10pm. I don't think I'm over feeding as I only sprinkle just enough for all the fish to eat in 20-30 seconds.

I only feed vegetarian food because I have 2 Tropheus Duboisi in there and they can not tolerate anything, but veggies. I had three of them, but one died a week ago. Also, is the food I'm feeding nutritious enough for the rest of the fish? I will also buy spirulina flakes.

How often should I do water changes now that the ammonia is at .25ppm?
Right now all the fishes are eating, they look happy, healthy and they don't seem stressed at all.

sirdarksol

The bacteria live mostly on surfaces, not in the water, and the water changes are necessary to keep the fish alive and happy.
Changing the filter media out might have done it, especially with a 30 day gap between fish being in the tank. Without anything feeding the bacteria colonies, they may have died off.
Keep the water changes going and watch for changes in the chemistry.

Not sure about nutrition. I don't know much about the fish you have.

asymmetry

Actually, what I meant is that I added 7 fishes within a one month period. I added two the same day I took out the clown knife and parrots, and two more a week later, and so on. So there has always been fish in there. How often should I do water changes now that the ammonia level is at .25?

It seems like the cloudiness clears for a little while everyday, but when ever I feed them it gets cloudy all over again. I fed them very little tonight and still, it got cloudy within a matter of a couple of minutes after feeding them. I fed them a small sprinkle of flakes and 5 or 6 1mm pellets. They ate it all within a few seconds.
Thanks for your earlier reply by the way!

sirdarksol

Really sounds like a mini-cycle. Bacterial blooms are what are causing the cloudiness (likely), and are being fed when the fish are being fed.
If you gradually added fish, though, I'm not sure what sent the tank into such a cycle.
Did you medicate the tank recently, or completely change out the filter media, or rinse the filter in untreated tapwater?
If your tap has ammonia, I'd think about getting a filter to remove it, not only for the aquarium, but for cooking and drinking as well. You can also double-check your test and ask for a city breakdown of water quality as well (some cities actually have water test results on the web).

asymmetry

I did replace the foams, carbon and rinsed the filter canister with untreated tap water. I didn't realize that when ever I rinse something, I have to do it with aquarium water. I think that might have been what started a mini-cycle. How often would you recommend water changes at this point? I appreciate your help!

susitna-flower

Hi asymmetry, WELCOME TO FISHLORE. It may have been said before but.......

Be careful of using ammo-chips, from what I have read, once they get "full", they release the toxic levels back into your tank!

PRIME is a better product, which you can add with water changes. Just follow directions on bottle.

Also, I don't use any carbon in filtration except just after a coarse of medication, then remove after 24 hours...

The cloudiness is a good thing, a bacterial bloom is just the bacteria multiplying, and an adjustment to the load in the tank.

I suggest continued water changes 25-50% a day until the ammonia and nitrites are for sure down to 0. Good Luck!

0morrokh

Changing the media and rinsing the filter caused you to lose a lot of your bacteria. You only need to replace media when it is too clogged and swishing it in tank water doesn't un-clog it, which can take a long time, months or years. When you do replace it eventually, only replace a bit at a time, rather than all of it at once.

If your tap water has .25 ppm ammonia then you should try to get the dechlor Prime which will neutralize it. However the ammonia should get down to 0 in the tank. I'd do a water change any time you see the ammonia levels get above .25. At .25 it's still stressful bit it probably won't harm them if it's short term.

sirdarksol

What the last two people said.

Excellent advice. In particular, I'd avoid ammo chips. They're a temporary solution that doesn't fix things in the long run.

asymmetry

Why don't you use any carbon? Isn't it important in the filtration of the water?
My fluval filter has three large canisters, for foams, bio rings and carbon. Also, do you think I should take out the ammo-chips from the filter?

asymmetry

What about replacing the carbon? In the bottle instructions, it says to replace the carbon at least every month and I read somewhere in the forum that I should replace it every two months.

susitna-flower

The problem with carbon is that it is nondiscriminating in what it absorbs. It takes out things that your tank needs, as well as a very few things it doesn't need. If you have plants in particular you shouldn't use carbon for an extended period of time.

A better plan is to fill that portion in your canister filter with more bio material, even from a different manufacturer. The bio rings, and foam both are material that will house bacteria, this is great, and a different media, choose something that is made of a different material, or channels the water in a different way than what you already have. This will increase the area to house bacteria that help cycle your tank.

Eheim makes several excellent media, you can also add a layer of fiber that has a different consistency than your foam to "scrub" the water....filter the very fine particles (though this needs to be checked regularly to keep it from slowing down filtration if clogged). If you put media in this level that is small, and would be hard to swish when you want to rinse it, you can place it inside a bag used for the purpose.
All these items are available from www.drsfostersmith.com or other on line outlets.....

THEN if you use medication in the tank, you can just remove the bag with this third media in it, and put your carbon in, after the full cycle of medication. Leave it in the filter for 24 hours, then take it out and discard, and replace with the media in the bag again. (be sure to keep this in the tank, or wet and at the appropriate temp.) or the bacteria in it will die!

Remember, everyone has a different logic in why they suggest these things. You have to choose what is right for you after reading everything you can. My philosophy on carbon has been gained from reading here and on other sites like www.plantgeek.net , I only keep freshwater fish, and other disciplines may feel differently.

COBettaCouple

Depending on the carbon, it could need replaced every week. You want it out of there before it wears out and releases everything it captured.

I'd agree on putting more bio-material in there, but leave enough room to add carbon when you need to for removing meds.

jsalemi

And if you do need the filtering carbon provides, but have plants, you can use Seachem's Renew -- works like carbon for cleaning out meds and tannins, but doesn't take out the trace minerals or other stuff plants need.

asymmetry

Thanks! I think I'll just buy a book on fresh water fish and learn as much as I can.

jsalemi

MBS -- a close relative of MTS, it's the urge to buy every freshwater fish book you can get your hands on.

I actually recommend "Freshwater Aquariums for Dummies" as a good first book. Not much info on the fish themselves (there are encyclopedias for that ), but tons of good info on setting up and running a FW aquarium.

sirdarksol

I have not read the "for Dummies" book, but I have "The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums" and it's excellent.