I have 8 african cichlids all of which are no bigger than 1.5". I have been feeding them twice a day. I usually use either bloodworms, brine shrimp, flake and pellets. To make a long story short, my Nitrite reading today was 2.0 ppm, which I believe is high. I have a 55 gallon tank which has only been cycling for two weeks now. Is this from overfeeding? I have a penguin 330 bio wheel filter and also an UGF, so I don't think my filtration is a problem. I will do a 60 percent water change and test again, but I welcome any comments that I can get.
How Much To Feed??
- Thread starter onebad04
- Start date
Africans
Hi.
The nitrite is high. It is coming from the fact that your tank is still cycling.
The overfeeding isn't helping, but you need the nitrite to spike before you get to the nitrate. The only real way to keep it down is to keep up the water changes. This will allow the cycling to continue but make it easier on the fish.
What you can do is:
1) give the tank a 50% waterchange to get the nitrites down to 1.0ppm now.
2) you have roughly 8 to 14 days left for the cycling to complete itself depending on where you are in the nitrite stage and assuming everything goes as planned. I would do a couple of 25% water changes over that time until the nitrites are at 0ppm and the nitrates are holding at a steady 40ppm or less. Under 20ppm nitrate is excellent.
3) although not a real necessity. You may want to cut down on the feeding over the next two weeks. Say once a day or even once every two days. Then when your tank is cycled go back to regular feedings. You don't want to added to the bioload with rotting food while the system is still not fully stable.
One more thing. not knowing what africans you have of course but depending on which fish you have you may want to cut down on the protein. Every third day should suffice. A veggie based diet is usually the primary food sourse for most africans. Spirulina flakes are great. Granted if they are predators forget what I suggested.
Hi.
The nitrite is high. It is coming from the fact that your tank is still cycling.
The overfeeding isn't helping, but you need the nitrite to spike before you get to the nitrate. The only real way to keep it down is to keep up the water changes. This will allow the cycling to continue but make it easier on the fish.
What you can do is:
1) give the tank a 50% waterchange to get the nitrites down to 1.0ppm now.
2) you have roughly 8 to 14 days left for the cycling to complete itself depending on where you are in the nitrite stage and assuming everything goes as planned. I would do a couple of 25% water changes over that time until the nitrites are at 0ppm and the nitrates are holding at a steady 40ppm or less. Under 20ppm nitrate is excellent.
3) although not a real necessity. You may want to cut down on the feeding over the next two weeks. Say once a day or even once every two days. Then when your tank is cycled go back to regular feedings. You don't want to added to the bioload with rotting food while the system is still not fully stable.
One more thing. not knowing what africans you have of course but depending on which fish you have you may want to cut down on the protein. Every third day should suffice. A veggie based diet is usually the primary food sourse for most africans. Spirulina flakes are great. Granted if they are predators forget what I suggested.
I agree with what ScottoMacD said. Do daily water changes to keep the nitrites down and feed a bit less. Once a day should be good or once every 2 days.
BUt your diet isn't the best when it comes to africans(assuming you have mbuna). They need a more veggie based diet with less protein. A veggie/spirulina flake or pellet should make up the most of their diet with a feeding of brine shrimp or mysis once or 2 times a week. Bloodworms are not good for mbuna and can cause the evil malawi bloat. Its best not to feed them.
They would also enjoy some veggies like zuchini,cucumber, and spinach.
BUt your diet isn't the best when it comes to africans(assuming you have mbuna). They need a more veggie based diet with less protein. A veggie/spirulina flake or pellet should make up the most of their diet with a feeding of brine shrimp or mysis once or 2 times a week. Bloodworms are not good for mbuna and can cause the evil malawi bloat. Its best not to feed them.
They would also enjoy some veggies like zuchini,cucumber, and spinach.