EBR Help!

[MrMcKenna]

I have 2 EBR`s in my 20 gallon tank, I added an air stone yesterday and came home to 5 or 6 fish laying on their bellies on the ground of the aquarium, one African butterfly cichlid actually lost his colour so I removed the air immediately and did 2 separate 25% water changes.

BUT, what I believe is my female blue ram (smaller one) is acting very strange.
She is breathing rapidly and sometimes clamped fins and also seems to hang out by the filter more than before. The male does kinda chase her a bit but more so to shoo her away. Also I noticed a very strange swimming pattern, she sometimes will start to turn onto her side the swim very fast for a short distance, Any ideas what this could be?

GH: 180
KH: 180
PH: 7.0
Nitrite: 0-0.5
Nitrate: 20 ish

Test taken from the bottom of the tank, and No, my test strips do not test for ammonia :(

[KingFisher]

Same problem from your other thread. Your tank is going through a mini cycle. You really need to go get an ammonia test kit asap and do frequent partial waterchanges to keep the ammonia and nitrites at safe levels until the beneficial bacteria catch back up.

African cichlids do not belong with South American cichlids. They require different water parameters and are too aggressive to keep with rams, especially in a 20g.

[MrMcKenna]

Alright, unfortunately I have to be at work shortly but I will test for ammonia asap. I'm going to do another water change right away and hope for the best.
Thanks for the quick response

[MLBfan]

African cichlids do not belong with South American cichlids. They require different water parameters and are too aggressive to keep with rams, especially in a 20g.

While I don't think a 20 gallon is an appropriate size for both rams and African butterfly cichlids, aren't ABCs West African, so can't they go with rams as they have similar water conditions and aren't nearly as aggressive as the ones from the East African Fish?

[KingFisher]

While I don't think a 20 gallon is an appropriate size for both rams and African butterfly cichlids, aren't ABCs West African, so can't they go with rams as they have similar water conditions and aren't nearly as aggressive as the ones from the East African Fish?

Although the African Butterfly cichlid is West African and the ranges do overlap somewhat, It is still not a good idea to mix them in smaller tanks. If the op had a much larger tank, it might be possible but still not recommended.

[Cermet]

OK, your filter is cycling - now for the critical part: your water changes are too small and doing a 25% and following by another 25% is a lot of work for only a modest improvement.

For example: One 50% removes 50% of the wastes. One 25% removes 25% but the second 25% only removes 25% of 75%(remaining) so the reduction is 19% more. Net: two 25% removes 44%.

When doing water changes to address a toxic substance, always consider a 50% WC and if it is a deadly toxin like nitrite, consider 75%. For example - a really bad 1 ppm nitrite reading followed by a 50% WC reduces it to a still bad 0.5 ppm. While a 75% WC reduces it to a better 0.25 ppm.

At some point someone (hint, hint) needs to put a post (I have in the past) discussing this topic and having a sticky so members can review - a lot (far too many) do not understand the math of water changes and now multiple small changes just do not add up to a single change of equal volume!

[MrMcKenna]

OK, your filter is cycling - now for the critical part: your water changes are too small and doing a 25% and following by another 25% is a lot of work for only a modest improvement.

For example: One 50% removes 50% of the wastes. One 25% removes 25% but the second 25% only removes 25% of 75%(remaining) so the reduction is 19% more. Net: two 25% removes 44%.

When doing water changes to address a toxic substance, always consider a 50% WC and if it is a deadly toxin like nitrite, consider 75%. For example - a really bad 1 ppm nitrite reading followed by a 50% WC reduces it to a still bad 0.5 ppm. While a 75% WC reduces it to a better 0.25 ppm.

At some point someone (hint, hint) needs to put a post (I have in the past) discussing this topic and having a sticky so members can review - a lot (far too many) do not understand the math of water changes and now multiple small changes just do not add up to a single change of equal volume!

I do agree with this 100% and it does make perfect sense. Someone once told me (or I read somewhere) never to do a WC over 33%, but I think a large water change is in order. I'm hoping that this is all that's wrong and that I can fix it ASAP