What happened to my perfect fishless cycle?

[chval]

I received a new 41 gallon tank for Christmas but it wasn't until the 1st part of February that I had the time to set it up. I did the perfect fishless cycle. Ammonia was 0, NitrItes were 0 and NitrAtes were 10. I couldn't get my fish right away so I continued to add ammonia daily to my tank. Everyday I tested for ammonia and it was 0 so I added some more. Stupid of me to not check my NitrItes but I didn't think I had to anymore now that the tank was cycled, right? Wrong! My fish Yellow Labs & White Top Afras arrived yesterday. The night before I did a 80 - 90% water change per the cycling instructions that I found on a forum. Fish arrived seemingly healthy - each was individually bagged in a heat sealed bag. Acclimated them in buckets for about an hour & a half before I released them into the tank. A few swam around but most stayed close to the bottom - some even resting on the bottom. Last night I got a little concerned because one was laying flat on its side. Tested the water - ammonia 0, NitrItes 1 (WHAT!), NitrAtes 10. Immediately did a 50% water change. This morning tested for NitrItes again - still 1 - did another 50 - 60% water change. Same thing at noon - another water change. I tested again about a half hour ago and it's still at 1. Am preparing to do another water change. WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CYCLE? How much water do I need to change out to get it back to 0? Should I continue doing multiple changes per day until they disappear or drop back to 1 or 2 a day or what? HELP!!!!!

Please someone give me advice quickly - don't want to lose any more fish. I feel so bad that four out of the 12 have died. So far the remainder seem fine but it seems that it can change at the drop of a hat!

Thanks for any and all advice.

Connie

[Sharon]

Hi Connie! Do another water change...test Nitrites before and after...just to make sure the test is accurate. Which test kit are you using? Also, check the ph of your tank, and compare it to the ph at the store....These fish need a high PH...

[Lady Hobbs]

How much ammonia were you adding each day? A few drops daily would have been sufficient to keep the bacteria alive. Just enough to minic having fish in the tank. We have another member here that just went thru the same thing with his nitrites by adding too much ammonia.

You do need a higher pH for those fish, as Sharon mentioned, and also cichlid salt. I would think the acclimating caused more problems than the nitrites. They went thru too huge of a pH change most likely.

What is your pH? Bring your pH up slowly....if needed.

[Fraoch]

Keep up with the water changes, but if the nitrites stay stubbornly high, try AmQuel+.

It kept my fish alive through a nitrite cycle, the reading went up to 3 :ssuprised: but they did fine. It was the ammonia that killed two of them, not the nitrite.

Do keep up with the water changes because as the AmQuel+ is used up, any new nitrite is toxic, but for emergency purposes it may help. In my situation I just couldn't catch up with the nitrite, no matter how large of a water change I did or how frequently.

[chval]

The fish were bought online out of Utah from livefishdirect.com so I have no idea what their ph level is; however, the last time I checked my ph I had to use the "High Range" test and I'm pretty sure it was between 7.8 to 8.2. Now I suppose that is too high!

This evening I tested for nitrItes before I did a water change and then again after. Results were:

Before .5
After .25

I did add Amquel+ this morning. Should I continue to do so?

I was also advised to add salt. Last night I started with what I had on hand, which was just uniodized table salt. Tonight I stopped at the pet store to pick up "Cichlid" salt all they had was regular aquarium salt - I'm assuming it's close to the same thing. The aquarium salt container does not say anything about dissolving the salt before adding to the aquarium - are you supposed to?

Thanks,
Connie

[Northernguy]

It may also have something to do with the way you acclimated them.
As you are floating them add water from your tank to the bag slowly.Over 45 minutes you should add at least as much that was in the bag when you brought them home.you could also put them in a clean bucket and add water using an air line and gravity feed the bucket.
It could have been a large ph difference.

[terrapin24h]

cichlid salt, table salt, and marine salt ain't the same stuff, according to what i've read. I can't recall off the top of my head the differences, but i know they are not interchangeable. What i think may have happened is that you didn't have enough of a cycle. IOW you have bacteria, just not enough of it for the number of fish you have in the tank. Another possibility is that something happened that killed your bacteria colony, or nearly killed it. Perhaps your 90% water change didn't get enough dechlorinator? Or maybe you filled the tank with a pot/bucket/whatever that had soap residue in it? you don't actually want to water change until your trite reads 0, as you won't grow bacteria. You and your fish are going to have to endure the elevated trite level while your bacteria gets up to speed. You are going to want to make sure that your trite level does not go over 1, you've already seen what happens if that occurs 8(. Make sure you have good surface water agitation to promote gas exchange(good for bacteria and fish) A nice ripple in the top of the water is good enough. Also, an air stone can help too, though my yellow labs don't like the bubbles. While you are going through this, be sure to feed very lightly, as that can make things worse. Let us know how it goes!

--chris

[Fraoch]

The fish were bought online out of Utah from livefishdirect.com so I have no idea what their ph level is; however, the last time I checked my ph I had to use the "High Range" test and I'm pretty sure it was between 7.8 to 8.2. Now I suppose that is too high!

Not sure about fish compatibility with regards to your pH (I have guppies, they like alkaline water and don't seem to mind my 8.4 pH water!) However it makes ammonia more toxic. You seem to be past that stage though.



This evening I tested for nitrItes before I did a water change and then again after. Results were:

Before .5
After .25

This is very good.

I did add Amquel+ this morning. Should I continue to do so?

I believe 0.25 is below stress level. You may want to hold off on the AmQuel+ until/unless it gets back up to 0.5 because it can drop oxygen levels - probably its only drawback. Also note you have to wait 24 hours between doses.

[bushwhacker]

cichlid salts have specific minerals from the rift lakes in africa, reg aquarium salt and table salts dont have them