Newbie needs help with South American Chichlids

ahhh, "experts". if i had a dime for every time i'd heard that......

but seriously, we gave you advice based on our experiences and knowledge. told you what would work in your tank and what wouldn't. i would hope that we here on AC have more experience than 'the expert'.

i highly recommend running only one tank right now, since you are new to the hobby and you are going to be dealing with fish-in cycling. having 3 large-ish tanks that all need at least one large water change daily (and maybe more!) isn't a task i'd wish on any newbie. you could be likely to burn out on the hobby pretty fast that way.

"did not put any fish in for a few weeks" is not cycling the tank. you need to add an ammonia source so that the nitrifying bacteria can colonize. your tank is not cycled and you will need to keep ammonia and nitrite levels at or as close to zero as possible to ensure that the fish in the tank don't get sick, or worse, die.

"water testing is fine" - what type of tests do you have? strips or liquid drop kit? did you test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? what are the results (in ppm numbers)?
 
I yi yi this is some trouble you got yourself into. I could relate though. I wish the so called "experts" would just be honest and say they dont know rather then say put the Umbee, Jack Dempsey and some Jewel Ciichlids together and they should be fine.

If you need answers or advice come to us not the LFS. Alot of us have alot of experience in the fish hobby. No most of us wont call ourselves experts but hobbiest. But its a hobby we love. So listen to us before a sales men who is just trying to take your cash. They worry about getting money we worry about caring for fish properly.

My suggestion would be take the BP (Blood Parrots) and GT (Green Terror) back keep the firemouths. Get yourself an API Liquid Test Kit since those stick test kits are not very accurate. Do the proper water changes daily for the firemouths. Youll be doing this for about 3 weeks to a month.

The other 2 tanks the 55gal and 29gal need to be cycled properly. If you toss the fish just in there then youll need to do water changes on 3 tanks daily just to keep them healthy which as BFM stated will burn you out of the hobby. There are alot of good articles on cycling tanks online with the use of ammonia.

Wish ya the best of luck. Dont forget to take those fish back. Tell the "expert" they werent compatible and you want your money back if he says no thats when you ask for management. =-)
 
Sorry but i am going to have to agree with what everyone else has said here a 45gal really isn't that big for the fish you have placed in there keep the Firemouths or get a 125gal
 
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