Question

[Robris]

I have recently set up a 55gal lake malawi tank. It contains natural f\gravel mixed with crushed coral. Since I cannot find ammonia to do a fishless cycle I am now doing a cycle with fish. For the last 10 days I have had 6 fish (read my sig to see which ones) in there.

My question is how come after 10 days cycling I have not had any ammonia or nitrite. I also have a Ammonia Alert inside the tank which doesnt change colour. I have been testing everyday and its always 0. My Filtration is a Eheim 2217 cannister and a Eheim 2212 Aquaball filter, both have plenty of Subrate pro in them.


Could it be that the 6 little juvenilles are not producing enough waste for a spike to happen, is my filtration keeping up with the little 6 juvs so that there is nothing above 0?

thanks for any help

 

[dthoffsett]

What test kit are you using? I'm not sure why you aren't showing any ammonia, did you add any media from a mature tank? Also, are you aware that you'll need to return or rehome the convicts? They don't stand a chance of surviving the mbunas aggression.

 

[Robris]

What test kit are you using? I'm not sure why you aren't showing any ammonia, did you add any media from a mature tank? Also, are you aware that you'll need to return or rehome the convicts? They don't stand a chance of surviving the mbunas aggression.

Im using the API master test kit. I didnt use any mature media. I guess i'll just be patient and wait will further adding more/bigger to fish to the cycle.

OMG Im so dissapointed the convicts looks awsome, unfortunatley one of them has already died. I fed them at night, he was looking really healthy and then when I woke up in the morning he was still breathing and flapping his wings but was sideways/upsidedown and lost almost all of his black stripes, so I took him out and froze him. I have no idea what killed him but I dont want to believe that it was the Cobalt Blues because they have not shown any/very little aggression since being in a big tank with only 4 other fish.


Also at my lfs they have a 4ft mbuna display setup with about 22 fish in there, which contain the following non-mbuna's in there as well:

* A Red-finned shark
* A plec
* 1 or 2 sucking catfish

 

[Ferris]

Also at my lfs they have a 4ft mbuna display setup with about 22 fish in there, which contain the following non-mbuna's in there as well:

* A Red-finned shark
* A plec
* 1 or 2 sucking catfish

Any of the above fish can work with Mbuna although i personally wouldn't go for the shark as they are only aggressive by community fish standards - nowhere near the aggression levels of Mbuna and whilst it may survive, it is likely to live a permanently stressed life.

Convicts however are a different matter altogether, you are planning to mix one of the most aggressive NW cichlid species with some of the most aggressive African cichlid species - that is risky at best, the convicts are capable of giving as good as they get but i would expect persistent problems with that combination.

 

[dthoffsett]

I fed them at night, he was looking really healthy and then when I woke up in the morning he was still breathing and flapping his wings but was sideways/upsidedown and lost almost all of his black stripes, so I took him out and froze him.

That's strange, because it sounds like he died from ammonia or nitrite poisoning. How old is your test kit? Is there any way you can take some water to your LFS and ask for exact reading. I realize it's normally not recommended to have your LFS test your water for you, but it would be a free way to find out if your test kit has gone bad.
I had one go bad on me, fortunately I was fishless cycling, and by the time I figured out my test kit was wrong (it showed some ammonia, but never got higher than 2.0), and tested with a new kit, my ammonia was off the chart.

 

[Robris]

I fed them at night, he was looking really healthy and then when I woke up in the morning he was still breathing and flapping his wings but was sideways/upsidedown and lost almost all of his black stripes, so I took him out and froze him.

That's strange, because it sounds like he died from ammonia or nitrite poisoning. How old is your test kit? Is there any way you can take some water to your LFS and ask for exact reading. I realize it's normally not recommended to have your LFS test your water for you, but it would be a free way to find out if your test kit has gone bad.
I had one go bad on me, fortunately I was fishless cycling, and by the time I figured out my test kit was wrong (it showed some ammonia, but never got higher than 2.0), and tested with a new kit, my ammonia was off the chart.

I bought it in May. Although I have mixed different chemicals in the same tube, like I have tested ammonia in a tube, washed it out and then tested nitrite in the same tube, this is due to breaking one of the tubes by accident when I first bought the test kit. Also I have sometimes done the tests and then left the tube filled for several days before washing it out. Could these things have damaged the tube and therefore not giving correct readings?

 

[dthoffsett]

No, as long as you rinse out the test tubes really well, that shouldn't effect a new test. Maybe the convict died of stress, but just to be on the safe side I'd take some water into your LFS if they test for free (most do). Just be sure to ask for exact readings, rather than "good".