Desperate...please help

[goldentiff]

I have a 55 cycled african cichlid tank. Its been cycled for about a month.
PH 8.00
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
Amonia 0

Every week I do a 40-50% wc and everytime I do this the next day one of the fish is dead. I did it yesterday morning all was fine I kept checking. In the evening they all ate fine. Swimming and breathing was normal. Then when I checked this am one was dead.
The only chemical I use is aqua plus to remove clorine and cloramine. I have been using that for the last 2-3 yrs now.

Can anyone help me.

Are the wc to big?

[clyde95]

You should always check your change tap water for hardness, ph, or any type of problems. Based on the little info youve given, are you making sure your change water temp is close to the same as your tanks temp? You should also use "stress coat" and "stress zyme" in your change water. Have you added any fw salt for better gill resporation, if not use the recommened dosage on the package. You should also use a ph balancer with your water each and every time to keep it from spiking or dropping to quickly which will also stress and kill fish. If your using test strips, stop and put out the extra money for a good test kit. This will help to moniter more closely your water parameters. More info would help. Good luck. :huh:

[pops5683]

I agree with Clyde on a couple of points. Need more info on tank parameters and stocking levels and if you are using the test strips try to get a decent test kit. There are some good fairly inexpensive ones available. :clap:

However, if you are already using a conditioner like Amquel than that is really all you need for now. Please don't add any more chemical additives into your tank until you find out what the water parameters are. You need to find this out first. Haphazardly adding stuff without knowing what your goal is could make matters far worse. :sad:

You may have a serious problem or it may be something fairly easy to correct. For now, advise on water and stocking levels. There is a great deal of info and experience on this forum. Ed :troll:

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I agree with the above advice, and defininately sounds like the deaths are due to your water changes.

40-50% every week is quite a bit, I would aim for 20% weekly or twice a week, this will stress the fish less.

Are you cleaning the filters when you do water changes, and if so, how?

-Diana

[wesleydnunder]

I have to disagree with clyde95 on the chemical additions. Stresscoat and stresszyme are not necessary. If you are certain you have chloramines then I think Prime is the best water conditioner. If only chlorine is present, time and aeration are all you need. If you don't have time to do this, about 24 hours, then a simple sodium thiosulfate prep like Zip works fine. clyde95 was right about temp. Try to make sure the new water temp matches the tank temp. With a weekly water change I don't think hardness differences will be significant enough to be a problem. I would shy away from the ph balancers, too. They can cause more problems than they solve. As clyde95 mentioned, more info would help. Also, water changes can trigger behavioral changes in fish, especially spawning/territorial agression. Is it possible you have a dominant fish in there who is killing tankmates? Are the dead fish beat up, missing scales, etc?

Mark

[wesleydnunder]

One more thing. A 50% water change is by no means excessive. I do at least 50% on all my tanks weekly.

Mark

[kay-bee]

Wesley brought up a good point, how many fish in the tank and what particular types. While the water changes are probably the main factor you may have incompatibilities with your tank inhabitants.

I routinely do 45-50% water changes with no ill effects (taking great care not to allow water parameters to flucuate).

[clyde95]

before I get to E-bused LOL, I was taking a stab in the dark. Im against most drugs and meds, but if the user is adding water with a high or low ph the water in the tank will spike or drop accordingly. Then it will correct its self. If you notice I did say to check the water first, both the tank and the tap. Stress coat and stress zyme are good conditioners. Every one has there favorite, but I dont think it really matters. What I like about these are they use aloe for a better protective coat on the fish. Its hard to guess at problems with out the right info. Most all the members here have more experiance than I, but Im still learning. Ive never had a problem with any of the chems Ive mentioned and Im just trying to help. :coffee2:

[goldentiff]

The only chemical I always use is Aqua Plus (Prime is much more expensive) is removes clorine, cloramine and has aloe in it for stress reduction when doing wc.

At this point the only fish still alive is a pleco (aprox 7-8 inches), 3 blue gouramis (I know its not suppose to mix w/cichlids but they do get along, if it stops then I would switch to other tank), a very peaceful convict, one cichlid left and a couple of snails. total fish count 6. I should mention all the fish are currently 2 to 3 inches in size.

I do have a test kit and all showed within the parimeters...nitrite 0, amonia 0, nitrate 0, ph 8.

I am afraid to get any more cichlids (or any fish) until I figure this out.

Also I was thinking of changing the regular gravel I currently have in there to "Carib Sea African Cichlid Mix substrate" to see if that works better for them. Any comments on this? Is it better or just a waste of money?

Thank you again for responding.

[goldentiff]

PS I forgot to answer the question. The first 2 cichlids that died did have minor bites but the other 2 were in perfect condition except of course for being dead.

Its just that it only happens 24 hrs after doing wc.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I will repeat are you cleaning the filters?

Two 20% water changes are much easier on the fish than one 50% one. This will help, incase the water parameters are fluctuating during a water change.

Why would you put in african cichlid subsrate if you dont have any african cichlids? Unless that one unidentifyed one is a african?

So far, all the fish you mentioned that you have like a lower pH, not a higher one. Although I dont think thats your problem, its just something to keep in mind... try and make the conditions in the tank suitable for your fish. I know you said its a "55 gallon african cichlid tank" but so far you have not mentioned any africans :p:

Are you re-arranging the rockwork/tank decor when you do water changes?

-Diana

[goldentiff]

I apologize for not answering your question.

I only know that it is an african psuedo (sp?) cichlid. I asked the LFS but they only knew that as well.

And when I do the wc I clean the sponge in the water I removed from the tank.