New member, new fish.

[Tigz]

The tank had been cleaned out that day, found a blockage in the external filter and replaced the charcoal filters in my internals.
They have been a lot better since but thanks for the heads up, I'll ask my fish shop to test the water for me.

 

[Tigz]

The water was tested again today, Ammonia 0 but Nitrate and Nitrite were both at 0.8.
I feed the fish enough food that they eat in a minute 5 times a day, the guy in the LFS said it may be due to me over feeding them and suggested I fed them once a day.

Can anyone give me an advice on if this sounds correct, and what else could cause the high levels?

 

[Morledzep]

well, your filter problem probably caused the beneficial bacteria in your filter to die off. so you're having to start your BB cycle all over again. unfortunately you've got fish in the tank so you're going to have to go to your LFS and buy a bottle of some kind of bacteria booster like Seachem Stability or the Tetra stuff with Bio-Spira in it. AND you're going to have to do BIG water changes to keep your fish from dying.

nitrite is VERY poisonous to fish.. when your tank is fully cycled your readings should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and something less than 20 PPM nitrate.

and your fish guy is right.. there is no need to feed fish 5 times a day. once is plenty... just feed them what they finish in 5ish minutes. and remove all of the food that they don't eat right away. more fish die from over feeding than from starving..

you really need a liquid test kit at home.. API makes a very good kit that usually sells for right around $30 USD. i don't know what that translates to in the UK.

 

[Tigz]

Thanks for the advice, it turns out my wife washed the media in tap water when she cleaned the sponge filters out.

The fish are all back to good health, one of my parrot fish developed black markings around its body, fins and eyes which have now cleared up.

Been doing a 50% water change every three days this past week, the fish seem to be pretty happy for this!

Replaced the impeller in the faulty external filter and I'm bidding on a pair of FX5's so hopefully the massive water changes can reduce a little soon.

Getting the plans drawn up for the house extension, and the wife is 'almost' convinced on the indoor pond but there is still work to do there lol

 

[Aqualoon]

Seems you also have a Sal (looks female) and a yoyo loach in there. Full House!

 

[Tigz]

Seems you also have a Sal (looks female) and a yoyo loach in there. Full House!

Oh yeah, forgot about the Salvini and the roach (there are two roach).
All the Cichlids with the exception of the big Jack D and the blood parrots all grew up together.
I'm a little worried about the Jag once he's grown but what can you do lol

They all get on pretty well, although the smaller of the two Oscar started on the Bala shark today for some reason.

No more fish for me, new tank next!

 

[love The Jack Dempseys]

Like all of the stock except those hideous blood parrots. They are soooooo ugly lol

 

[Tigz]

I love them!
They are little bullies, with the exception of the Oscars and smaller Jack D they think they rule the roast lol

 

[MyGiants]

Nice fish! I notice the heavy breathing too. Unless you just fed them in that video. Fish will breath more rapidly after feeding. If you hadn't just fed I would increase in water surface movement will stir more oxygen around. If you got a canister aim the nozzle toward the surface.

 

[Tigz]

Thanks for the advice, I'll raise the outlet pipe up and see how it goes.