Questions, Beginner, Chiclids, Eclipse Filter System, Traceable Ammonia
Taylor Barratt
my tank, the chiclids in it and behavior and it's relation to water quality
and ammonia levels. If you think you can help, please read on. If you reply
via email, please remove the "nospam" from my address.
I've just recently purchased a 37 gallon Eclipse tank kit and decided to try
to "raise" chiclids. So I set up the tank, added about 15 pounds too much
gravel (due to being a beginner and the person at the pet store neglected to
take into account my tank has the footprint of a 27 gallon tank). Dumped in
the recommended amount of "Stress Coat/Chlorine Remover". After a day or
two.. the blue filter in the Eclipse system was looking "rusted". After 5 or
6 days I picked up a pair of Red Zebra Juveniles. Ammonia tests were
undetectable with my eye. Water temp of 77-78. I fed them every other day
for a week or so and then started twice a day feedings using flake. They
were getting along great. I ended up picking up some Brine Shrimp to try to
vary their diet a little. They also began to be rabid gravel movers 10+ days
into it. They weren't moving much, but they appeared to be on a mission. I
wondered if they were breeding.
After 2 weeks had past, I wanted to add another pair of fish. During the
first two weeks the heat went out in the house and the heater seemed to
coincidentally become less efficient, so I now have the heater at 79 to try
to maintain 76. Based on what I've been reading 76 might be too cool for
these fish. Am I right? Should I be around 78 again?
Anyhow, 2 weeks into the tank I picked up a pair of blue Zebra Chiclids
(Cobalt Blue?), about the same size as the red ones when we first bought
them. The person I delt with at the pet store said they would both be
females since they were blue. I hadn't read anything that indicated that but
so what.
Brought them home, moved the tank "ornaments" around and proceeded to
finally do a gravel cleaning and 25% water change. Did an Ammonia test, no
discoloration. But much to my surprise, piles of crap (no pun intended)
expanded into the water telling me I should have gravel cleaned a little
earlier than that. So I did.. what I assumed was clean the gravel. Water was
leaving the tank, some of the floating excrement was going along with it and
the gravel was getting evened out again. I also rinsed out the filter (as
per my pet stores recommendation) and it returned back to blue again.
Now it's a week later, and the fish are behaving a little different. The
larger of the two Red Zebras (he seems to eat more than the other) is
constantly harassing the smaller Red Zebra, he/it doesn't seem to bother
with the blue ones. And I caught him and one of the blue ones tonight
vibrating madly for 2-3 seconds then swimming as usual. Is this what is
commonly referred to as stress? The vibrations were shallow but fast and I
only saw 2 of the 4 do it and I observed them for over an hour. Concerned, I
did an ammonia test and I can notice some color to the water in the test
tube, I however have an opaque color chart I'm comparing against so It's
hard to pin point, but it seems around .5-1ppm. I put some Stress Coat in to
hopefully calm them down. So I just did some reading up based on FAQ's and
articles I could find on the net. But I still have several questions I was
hoping someone here might be able to help with.
1) Were the vibrations stress?
2) I've read a sign of Ich/Ick is fish rubbing against the gravel or
ornaments. Is this a frequent thing? One of my blue zebra's sometimes likes
to position her/itself on one of them and just kind of rest there. But
darting is also supposed to be an early sign too, and I've noticed it dart
around sometimes when there is no other fish near it.
3) What do I do to lower my Ammonia level again? Water change and no feeding
for a day? Chemicals?
4) What temperature should the tank really be at? Is 76 too cool? These are
hardy fish, but if I can raise it to a comfortable level, why not do so.
5) Is the Ammonia increase due to twice the number of fish in the tank, or
my latency in doing gravel cleanings? I'd gravel clean every other day, but
the Eclipse gets noisy if the water level goes below the water exhaust, so
then I'd have to treat water every day too. Not a severe hassle, but is it
worth it?
6) Anyone know why Chiclids like to get to the bottom of their tank? Mine
don't hide much, almost never, but they have tried to dig to the bottom.
7) Is this thing about the Blue Zebra's being female true?
8) Quite often, even after feedings, the fish will peruse the bottom of the
tank and pick up excrement and then spit it back out again (wouldn't you?),
like they're looking for more food. I'm feeding them twice a day, of course,
until I get the Ammonia down I'm doing to wait a day. Is twice enough, or
should it really be 3-4 times a day?
9) I haven't been rinsing off my hands before I put my hands in to do
ammonia tests or the gravel cleaning, should I be?
10) Anything else I should be doing or not doing?
Any help or assistance you could provide would be a great help. I'd like to
add another couple this weekend, but not until I sort out my ammonia and
verify the health of my fish.
David J Brooks - KC5WNK
Taylor Barratt wrote:
> I've just recently purchased a 37 gallon Eclipse tank kit and decided to try
> to "raise" chiclids. So I set up the tank, added about 15 pounds too much
> gravel (due to being a beginner and the person at the pet store neglected to
> take into account my tank has the footprint of a 27 gallon tank). Dumped in
Its hard to have too much gravel for cciclids. They like to dig, as you
discovered. :)
> undetectable with my eye. Water temp of 77-78. I fed them every other day
> for a week or so and then started twice a day feedings using flake. They
> were getting along great. I ended up picking up some Brine Shrimp to try to
> vary their diet a little. They also began to be rabid gravel movers 10+ days
> into it. They weren't moving much, but they appeared to be on a mission. I
> wondered if they were breeding.
Most of their diet should be vegetable based. Too much animal protien is not
good for most africans.
> 1) Were the vibrations stress?
No. The vibrations are agressive behavior. Fish will often 'fight' by
positioning themselves alongside each other and waving their tails. They
detect the relative strength of the other fish through their lateral lines.
Depending on the outcome of the tail shaking they may go on to the lip-biting
stage.
> 2) I've read a sign of Ich/Ick is fish rubbing against the gravel or
> ornaments. Is this a frequent thing? One of my blue zebra's sometimes likes
> to position her/itself on one of them and just kind of rest there. But
> darting is also supposed to be an early sign too, and I've noticed it dart
> around sometimes when there is no other fish near it.
Darting aganst rocks and ornaments can be a sign on gill flukes or other
external parasites. Usually not ich, though. Ich is symptomized by white
flecks on the fish that make it appear as if it has been lightly salted. The
behavior you describe above sounds normal for cichlids.
> 3) What do I do to lower my Ammonia level again? Water change and no feeding
> for a day? Chemicals?
Patience. It takes a while for your biological filter to devlope the bacteria
needed to function correctly. In most cases it takes about 4 weeks. Partial
water changes can be used to keep the ammonia (and later the nitrites) within
tolerable levels while the filter establishes itself.
> 4) What temperature should the tank really be at? Is 76 too cool? These are
> hardy fish, but if I can raise it to a comfortable level, why not do so.
80F is about right for most tropicals. Plus or minus 5 degrees is not a cause
for concern. Fish will grow faster at higher temperatures due to a higher
metabolic rate.
> 5) Is the Ammonia increase due to twice the number of fish in the tank, or
> my latency in doing gravel cleanings? I'd gravel clean every other day, but
> the Eclipse gets noisy if the water level goes below the water exhaust, so
> then I'd have to treat water every day too. Not a severe hassle, but is it
> worth it?
The ammonia increase is due to the increased bioload on an unestablished
filter.
> 6) Anyone know why Chiclids like to get to the bottom of their tank? Mine
> don't hide much, almost never, but they have tried to dig to the bottom.
They just like to dig.
> 7) Is this thing about the Blue Zebra's being female true?
> 8) Quite often, even after feedings, the fish will peruse the bottom of the
> tank and pick up excrement and then spit it back out again (wouldn't you?),
> like they're looking for more food. I'm feeding them twice a day, of course,
> until I get the Ammonia down I'm doing to wait a day. Is twice enough, or
> should it really be 3-4 times a day?
Feed 2-3 times a day as much as they can eat in 2-3 minutes.
> 9) I haven't been rinsing off my hands before I put my hands in to do
> ammonia tests or the gravel cleaning, should I be?
Yes. You never know where those hands have been. (Well maybe you do, but why
not rinse them anyway? :)
> 10) Anything else I should be doing or not doing?
Don't add anymore fish until your filter has cycled in. You will know when
your test show zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and slowly rising nitrate levels.
At that point you can gradually build up to the tank's capacity
> Any help or assistance you could provide would be a great help. I'd like to
> add another couple this weekend, but not until I sort out my ammonia and
> verify the health of my fish.
--
David J Brooks - KC5WNK
Seabrook, Texas - EL29ln
-.- -.-. ..... .-- -. -.-
Taylor Barratt
anyhow) :)
I'll wait out more fish for a couple of weeks then I guess.
Claire McDonald
>> 9) I haven't been rinsing off my hands before I put my hands in to do
>> ammonia tests or the gravel cleaning, should I be?
>
And when you've finished plunging into your tank, wash your hands with
soap.
Just my 2 Euros
Claire
--
Claire McDonald
Poissy - France