Recently Converted to an all Cichlid tank

[Tech Geek]

I was wondering if someone could give me some advice? A friend of mind gave me a 55 gal tank. The tank had been sitting in his garage and hadn't been used in over two yrs. The tank already had gravel in it. When I got the tank home I rinsed the gravel and scrubbed the inside. I've had it for over two months now and went through all the stages from bacteria blume, extremely high nitrite levels to the tank admitting a fowl odor. I was finally able to get it all under control. To establish the beneficial bacteria I cycled the take with about 15 molly's and 5 gromies and used media from my 30gal tank. Of course most of them died. I kept cycling my tank with more mollys until they stopped dying. I checked my pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates levels and everything was with in a reasonable level and the water was crystal clear so I figured it was ok for me to upgrade and convert my tank to all Cichlids. I took all the remaining surviving mollys out and put them in my 30gal tank. 3 Days later after adding 17 ciclids I noticed that the water start to get cloudy so I checked my levels again and my nitrates were through the roof!! I thought it was because my filtration wasn't handling the demand so a purchased a 2nd Aqueon 75 filtration unit. My water us STILL cloudy and my nitrates are still high. I did a 75% water change and nothing changed. I then went out and bought a pack of Nitra-Zorb to control the nitrates but still no change. None of my Cichlids have died but I have noticed that some of them are scratching themselves against rocks and other decorations. I've added tons of chemicals to clear up the water and to bring my nitrates down but nothing seems to help. I dont want to keep adding chemicals and doing water changes because I sure I'm stressing out my fish. I'm completely at a lost, nothing seems to bring my nitrate levels down or clear up the cloudy water. . I also have driftwood in my tank but have already boiled the wood to remove any tannis. The only thing that I can think of is it has to be the gravel since it was the original gravel that was in the tank when my friend gave it to me. I did rinse the gravel several times before adding fish.
Before I go through the hassle of breaking the tank down completely and replacing the gravel with new gravel, I wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions on how I can get my nitrates down and get cleat water again? Everything was fine before I has to raise the pH and added my Cichlids . My Ciclhids were expensive and I dont want to lose them or keep stressing them out. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[dan518]

What are the ammonia and nitrite readings, are you treating the water on changes,, what size and type of cichlids did you add, for a guess the cichlids are bigger than the molly's and have a much bigger bio load on the tank, do 75% water changes every 2 days and get some bottled bacteria or more media from your 30 gal

 

[Woefulrelic]

Do water changes. Any time you have too many nitrates it means your feeding too much or you aren't changing enough water weekly. I would look into removing 50% of your water twice a week. No chemicals will really help, changing water is by far the easiest option.

 

[Tech Geek]

Thanks for the reply. My ammonia levels are zero ppm and my nitrite levels are also zero,my pH is 7.6. I don't know the correct names of all my cichlids but they are 4 to 5 inches larger than any of the mollies that I had started the tank with.
I do treat my water with slime coat and decor before adding new water. I am worried that if I do 70% water changes every two days it will hurt my fish and continue to add additional stress on them causing them to die. I've had my 30 gallon tank for over eight years and the water in that tank is crystal clear. I did Think about changing the water out of my 30 gallon tank and adding it to my 55 gallon tank. I did think that maybe I'm just being impatient. My 55 gallon tank has only been set up for a couple of months maybe if I just continue to do 20% water changes once a week it will eventually clear the water and lower my nitrates.

 

[Frank Castle]

What are the ammonia and nitrite readings, are you treating the water on changes,, what size and type of cichlids did you add, for a guess the cichlids are bigger than the molly's and have a much bigger bio load on the tank, do 75% water changes every 2 days and get some bottled bacteria or more media from your 30 gal

Do water changes. Any time you have too many nitrates it means your feeding too much or you aren't changing enough water weekly. I would look into removing 50% of your water twice a week. No chemicals will really help, changing water is by far the easiest option.

+ 1 to all of this.


All 20 of my Cichlid tanks get 50-80% water changes weekly. Yours should too. Bi-weekly if you're having nitrate/ammonia issues. Feed less also

What filter do you have on it?

 

[Tech Geek]

Thanks l'll keep that in mind! BTW are you replacing the fresh with treated tap water or are you allowing you fresh water to sit for a couple of days before adding it to your tank?

 

[Tech Geek]

Ohh BTW. I'm using 2 Aqueon 75 filters. Both pumping 400 gpm in a 55 gal tank.

 

[butchie]

17 cichlids in a 55 sounds like a really heavy bio load. You are probably just overstocked, especially for a new tank.

 

[Woefulrelic]

Thanks l'll keep that in mind! BTW are you replacing the fresh with treated tap water or are you allowing you fresh water to sit for a couple of days before adding it to your tank?

You add water directly to the tank and dose it with prime for the whole tank. I have well water so no chlorine in my tap. Most likely you'll only be able to keep one or two small species of cichlid. 55 isn't very big, at least for fish that grow reasonably large like most cichlids. I'd consider keeping a pair of jack Dempsey or angels. I'm going to assume that most of your cichlids will kill eachother if water conditions don't get em first. If you can return them to get the cash back, I would.

 

[Freshwater4Life]

Along with what everyone else has already said. Adding 17 I think you said cichlids to the tank at the same time probaly shocked the system too.