Four of my bigger Central Americans
- Thread starter fishdat
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That's a lot of bio load for a 210. How much are you having to change water to keep nitrates down? I find I'm having to do 80% twice per week on my 180 now, and my fish are smaller than yours.
I do 75ish% every 5 days. I also have a 100 gallon sump on the system, so I'm working with 310 gallons approximately. I am going to begin dosing septic tank bacteria soon to eat the nitrates. As of now I also dose Seachem Safe if the nitrates climb above 80ppm before water change day (unfortunately don't have time to do a second weekly water change due to work+commute).
You have some beautiful specimens, well done!
This is already a pretty hefty bio-load, before adding to it down the road as you stated your future plans are, and clearly none of these fish have maxed out in size and/or bio-load output, yet. Even with 300 gallons total, I think that if you don't up your water change frequency, you will run into issues down the road. Please don't take this the wrong way, but this is coming from someone that has devoted 125 gallons to a single adult Amphilophus citrinellus. And I have done the same in the past as well, with other large cichlids. (100+ gallons to a single large cichlid)
Now consider what you are attempting to do long term.
I wrote the sticky on septic bacteria (IMO in Canada SeptoBac is the best for what you are attempting to achieve) but it will not resolve your water change issues - not at all. I just wanted you to understand that up front. The added bacteria will assist in breaking down some of the sludge that builds up in your filters/tank, and add a layer of bacteria that can assist keeping pathogenic bacteria numbers down via competitive exclusion, but the overall nitrate reduction, as well as all the other nasties that build up between water changes, will still have to be replaced via massive, frequent, water changes. My single large Amph, in my 125, gets 85% water changes weekly, even with septic bacteria utilized. No other way around it.
At best all adding septic bacteria does is allow my filter cleanings to go longer in between.
I tried my best to make this clear in the sticky that I wrote years ago, bacteria in a bottle does not, and will never, replace good old fashioned water changes. I have posted the following a few times over the years, and this might be a good time to repeat it again.
I have always obsessed over clean water, a healthy obsession I think in this hobby. Early on I used nitrates as a measuring stick for overall nastiness, higher nitrates in a fish tank generally means higher levels of dissolved organic compounds, higher levels of bacteria, and over time a reduction in minerals, often accompanied with the overall acidic build up, a potential lowering of pH.
Adding bacteria will not resolve any of that.
If you are already hitting 80 ppm prior to a water change, you're going to need to figure out a plan B. Larger tank, reduction in stock, or more frequent water changes.
Your cichlids look stunning. However despite water quality issues, most of these max out around 16 inches and are deep bodied chunky fish. I also notice you have a bicher.
Don't want to be negative for the sake of it but things will be mighty crowded if the fish don't kill each other first.
I would seriously consider less stock.
Don't want to be negative for the sake of it but things will be mighty crowded if the fish don't kill each other first.
I would seriously consider less stock.
I understand that, and I dose powdered calcium carbonate to offset any acidic creep should it occur if I'm unable to do a water change (sick, emergency, etc). I test near daily to ensure stable parameters and have a purigen reactor with enough purigen for 20,000 gallons that removes the dissolved organics. And the aforementioned Safe prevents any issues with toxicity. This isn't their final tank and I will be upgrading again, potentially multiple times.
As the fish grow of course there's a larger tank in their future, this isn't their final tank. Appreciate the concern.
