Where am I?

Hello,

Long story short...new tank owners...learning the hard way.

Bought a tank, bought some fish, threw it all together.

Made it through an initial ammonia spike with water changes, Prime and Stability. Lost a couple fish.

A week or two later now we had Nitrites through the roof, lost another fish.

25-30% water changes with lots of Prime over 2 or 3 days.

Added two grams of table salt to the aquarium last night as some fish were gasping at the surface etc. all signs of nitrites making it hard to get oxygen.

Check this morning and levels of Nitrite have disappeared? From the Fluval test kit we were anywhere between 0.8 mg/l and 3.3 mg/l last night before adding the salt. Now we can see no color at all in the vial.

Ph: 7.0
Ammonia: 0.00 - 0.002 mg/l
Nitrite: 0 mg/l
Nitrate: 0 mg/l

Where am I at in the cycle?

Thoughts?

Advice?

Thanks

 

If you don't have nitrates you're not cycled is the general rule of thumb. My theory is the aquarium salt is messing with your test kit, but I don't have any experience with that. Keep up your water changes, I'd be doing 50%+ water changes at least every other day if not daily. You want ammonia and nitrite below .5ppm to keep it safe for your fish. Fish in cycles can take a while to fully cycle. Out of curiosity how many and what fish do you have and what tank size is it?

 

55 gallon tank

2 Blood Parrots
1 Jack Dempsey
1 Plecostomus
2 Mbunas (PetSmart had them labelled as South American...didn't know any better)
2 Convicts (Taking them to local fish store today as they are complete ****)
1 Corydora (Only one left of the 3 originals)
5 Lemon tetras

The convicts had fry, all of them were eaten it seems.

Everyone seems to get along EXCEPT for the Convicts...they are aggressive to everyone...but they are going to be re-homed.

We are on a well for our water supply and that water tests 0 for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

 

That tank is too small for a JD.

 

You’re overstocked. The parrots and JD will get pretty large. If your Pleco is a common he could grow to 12+ inches as well

 

That tank is too small for a JD.

Yea I read he is gonna get big. He is about 3.5 inches right now.

You’re overstocked. The parrots and JD will get pretty large. If your Pleco is a common he could grow to 12+ inches as well

Bristlenose

 

Bristlenose

Either way, there are too many territorial fish for 55. Maybe think about rehoming the JD as well

 

Either way, there are too many territorial fish for 55. Maybe think about rehoming the JD as well

The parrots would be ok. the Mbunas should probably be rehomed. They don't mix well with American cichlids.

 

The parrots would be ok. the Mbunas should probably be rehomed. They don't mix well with American cichlids.

AqAdvisor tells me my 55 gallon would just barely accommodate the JD and my Blood Parrots...Which would be the ones I like the most...It seems strange from everything I have read so far saying the same thing, that the Mbunas and American cichlids would not get along...but the Mbunas, Parrots and JD all swim around each other back n forth hanging out in the same vicinity no issues with each other...seems everyone has a issue with the Convicts though

Never mind it says I am 5% over...soon to be 30% over...

 

but the Mbunas, Parrots and JD all swim around each other back n forth hanging out in the same vicinity no issues with each other..

That's very surprising!

seems everyone has a issue with the Convicts though

Not suprising. lol

 

Never mind it says I am 5% over...soon to be 30% over...

Are the fish in question all juveniles or adults?

 

Are the fish in question all juveniles or adults?

Guessing all juvI except for Convicts if they are breeding?

None are over 5 inches long...barely 4 inches if that.

 

Yea, the parrots and JD still have some growing to do. That’s going to be a crowded tank

 

I'm sure the cichlids will take care of the tetra's portion of overstocking the tank. nom nom nom. Then Dempsey will take care of the mbuna... and possibly the other fish depending on temperament.

After that with just the Dempsey and the pleco you may not be overstocked. Unless common pleco. 15" Dempsey may feel a bit cramped in a tank 12" thick.

 

Dropped the Convicts off at the local fish store...they took them thankfully.

Water change today and tested a couple hours after.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5-10 mg/l

Found the shell of my last Corydora inside the big cave that the parrots always live in. Think they ate him? Or maybe just crawled in and died then got eaten? Seems they always chased anything out that ever tried to go in there. They build up the gravel infront so that they have to swim in sideways.

 

Ph: 7.0 - 7.5
Ammonia: 0 mg/l
Nitrite: 0 mg/l
Nitrate: 10 mg/l

That's very surprising!

Not suprising. lol

Now it seems the mbunas are the jerks offs of the tank.

Looking to rehome them as well to make it at least all central/south American fish in the tank.

 

Oh no! Goid idea.

 

Now it seems the mbunas are the jerks offs of the tank.

Looking to rehome them as well to make it at least all central/south American fish in the tank.

That’s probably a good idea. You still may run into some issues down the road with your JD and parrots. Maybe, maybe not. The more room in the tank the better