HELP! What can I do?

[FichFry]

I have a 55 gal. I had nine fish and finally got nI and nA down to 0 but my but
my ammonia has gone high 0.5, my fish won't go down to the bottom of the tank
(I'm not sure if its because of the 2 cichlids that patrol the bottom or the ammonia)
I stopped feeding 2x daily to 1x daily, I did a 50% w/c and it is still high.
So I didn't feed them at all on saturday woke up this morning and the fish where
eating one of gourami. My pleco is doing a pulsating kind of motion, I was going
to take some out but I dont have another tank. Do I continue to do 50% w/c?
I keep the water at 78. What do I do.

Right now I have:
1 kissing gouramis
1 blue gouramis 2in
2 Red fin barbs 2in
2 tigermouth cichlids 2in (that fight all the times)
1 Tiger oscar 9in
1 Plecostamas 6in

thanks

 

[Shizat]

How long has the tank been running with fish in it for and have you done anything recently to disturb your bacteria like vacuuming the gravel or cleaning out the tank?

 

[abyatt]

I would definitely do a water change, Is your filter running properly?

 

[lizard]

How long has your tank been set up? Was the ammonia reading still at 0.5 right after the water change? Have you tested your tap water to see what the chem levels in it are?

I would suggest continuing with water changes at least once daily, more if you're able to.

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[digital_run]

Using fish to cycle a tank puts them under stress due to unstable water conditions...This can cause unwanted disease and sometimes fatal damage. Also looking at the fish you have in there i'd assume you have Territory issues which can also lead to death/sickness. Also...Oscars and Common plecs produce a massive amount of waste and require frequent water changes and plenty of filtration to keep up. I'm not to sure about tiger mouth cichlids, but i do know that oscars can get 12" or more and Plecs can reach 18" in some cases. Kissing gouramis aren't tiny either and can reach 12" in some cases. Sorry about your loss.