Cichlid Advice - Missing His Tail! My Filter Died A Month Ago Whic

[wormy72]

I seem to be having a similar problem.
Looks like my yellow has a bite out of its tail.
I think it is an injury but I guess it could be a disease.
Did a water change yesterday after seeing your problem.
I have another yellow with a similar problem.
They both keep hastling other fish and the other fish attack them but they don't swim away or defend themselves.
They seem happy being bitten.
What is this about???
Any ideas???

 

[electric yellow]

Carry on with the water changes and if fins show no signs of healing I would add a med.
Any red streaking or red edges to the fins.,

None that i can see. I added my aqua one dual pump and put my bubblers in. They are happyer now and swim through the loads of bubbles. I didnt know they would find it hard to breathe in this water condition.

Any ideas how long my cycle will last?
I havent had any more casualties since my electric yellow...so crossing fingers thats it. My ammonia is still 0 but the nitrite and nitrate has come down to nearlly half way down the chart which is slightly better.

I seem to be having a similar problem.
Looks like my yellow has a bite out of its tail.
I think it is an injury but I guess it could be a disease.
Did a water change yesterday after seeing your problem.
I have another yellow with a similar problem.
They both keep hastling other fish and the other fish attack them but they don't swim away or defend themselves.
They seem happy being bitten.
What is this about???
Any ideas???

I sometimes see bites on a tail...but they generally heal within a day or two. Its just agression. If it is bad then maybe look at some contributing factors. eg: ratio, water, tank size etc. Its pretty commun in cichlids to chase and bite....but i they arent defneding them maybe provide more hiding spots? I never really have to much of an issue agression wise.

 

[WILDER]

Its hard to say how long it will take as every tank different.
Do you have your latest water stats.

 

[electric yellow]

Its hard to say how long it will take as every tank different.
Do you have your latest water stats.

Yeah i know.

The levels seem higher today than they were yday...

ammonia 0.25ppm
ph 7.8 to 8
nitrIte 2.0 to 5.0ppm (pretty friggen high!)
nirAte 80 to 100ppm (still high)

I am going to do a water change tmw morning as instructed by my fish guys. They seem to be swimming around like the would normally do today so the extra powerfull bubblers have really helped them breathe a lot better while it cycles. Does my ammonia still have to spike?

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank.
Your nitrate reading very high.
What your tap nitrate reading.
How long has tank been set up.
How often do you do a water change and gravel vac.
when did you last rinse your filter sponges in tank water.

Going to read through the thread again.

 

[electric yellow]

Gallons i dont know...lots.

Its dimensions are:

1.8mtres front
78cm depth
40cms width/front to back

All filter sponges and media were washed Saturday due to blockage.
Tanks been running for nearlly 12mths.
Water change and sand vac is every week or every 2wks.

My tap readings are:

nitrIte 0ppm
nitrAte 0ppm and thats straight out of the tap. SO if thats 0 then what is making it through the roof? Shouldnt the 50% change saturday and the 25% change yesterday help bring it down? The Prime doesnt even seem to be working or the Zitrazorb pouch we have in the filter...thats pose to take OUT the nitrate and nitrite...

 

[WILDER]

If you over washed the sponges in tank water could of got ridden of most the the beneifical bacteria.
But your nitrate reading high.
There a aquarium calculator at the top of the board near where you click for live chat.
Put your tank dimensions in to work it out in gallons.

 

[electric yellow]

It just takes me back to the main forum page...


Im guessing because i thoroughly washed my media and filter it is going to take a while till the readings come down..

Would you suggest regular water changes...like every two days? Or just sit it out and let it cycle itself...

 

[WILDER]

You really need to be doing a few water changes daily.
How are the fish coping.

 

[electric yellow]

Strangely enough the fish seem to be coping ok..now they have the extra air stone in there. They ate all the food i gave them today aswell which is good because they only picked at it yday. They seem to be pretty resilient fish.

If its cycling again from the start does that mean its going to take a month before the levels drop back down? I cycled it properly when we started but if the levels straight out of the tap are 0ppm shouldnt it still be 0? WHat ould be causing it to escalte?

 

[WILDER]

Contact miss wiggle by pm as that high nitrate reading not making sense to me.
Need to know your tank size in gallons to see if its overstocked.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

good tip for working out gallonage, google calculates it for you.

type into google '180cm x 78cm x 40cm in litres' and it'll work it out for you.

the tank is 561 litres, approx 150 gallons

the problem here is you are massively underfiltered.

the filter you have is suitable for tanks up to 250 litres, with african cichlids they are messy so you need to over filter. the filter is flat out nowhere near up to filtering that tank, that's why it clogged up and stopped working and you may find that it never totally cycles the tank now, it will only be able to process a certain amount of fish waste and if you have more than that (which i suspect you do) then you'll be left with some ammonia and nitrite readings all the time which will obviously kill the fish off.

you would need 3/4 of these filters to run that tank effectively. go out and buy yourself the biggest filter you can lay your hands on asap.

 

[WILDER]

Thanks miss wiggle for finding the problem.
I would go out and buy another filter to cope with tank size and stocking.

 

[electric yellow]

Thanks Wiggles (thanks for always coming to my help to Wilder)

Really?

Thats the filter it came with...

This is what it says about it...

Aqua One CF1000
Water turnover: 1000Lph
* Filter media capacity: 6.5 litres in 2 baskets
* Media included: ceramic noodles, coarse bio-sponge, fine poly pad
* Max distance below water level: 1.8m
* Power consumption: 20.5W
* Filter dimensions: 22.5cmx22.5cmx43cm including taps
* Impellor Shaft: ceramic
* Suitable for freshwater aquariums of 150 to 300 litres, marine of up to 200 litres

* Ceramic impellor shaft for smooth, silent running & long impellor life
* Shut-off taps & quick-release clips to make cleaning quick and easy
* Complete with all hoses and fittings, including spray bar
* Designed for optimum filtration volume in a compact size
* Removable cap in canister head for priming or bleeding air

Im happy to go and shell out for a new filter but i a bit disappointed this one is not doing the job when it is meant to be right, if not better than needed.

Im going to do another water change now before i go to work and take readings before i do it..then when i get home to.

 

[WILDER]

Its always best to over filter a tank anyway.
The investment will be worth it.