Cichlids and water - new owner

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Hi Chris, I hope you can help me!  On about May 26 I purchased a 30 gallon tall aquarium that the owner sold with 3 African Cichlids.  I am brand new to freshwater aquariums, so I followed their advice and the fish seem to be doing ok.  The water was setup & treated beforehand with Start Right, new carbon filter, etc.  A couple weeks ago my wife bought 3 Cory's and a plecostamus for the tank as well, and I added 3 small clay pots for hiding spots.  She also purchased Quick Dip 5-in-1 test strips so I could see what was going on.  I've been following the results of testing and I've noticed that my Ph level stays around 7.2, my nitrites are "safe", my nitrates are deep into "unsafe" colors.  Hardness is about 300 and alkalinity is about 100.  Today I noticed that the fish are not eating or as active as they were.  There isn't a pet store within 60 miles of me so I kind of have to rely on advice of others, and no one else in town has cichlids.  Can you offer any adive to bring the chemistry in my tank to the levels that the fish are happy?  Thank you so much!

Mike
Answer -
Hi Mike;

Make a 25% water change. It sounds like it is the Nitrite that is elevated. This is the one that makes fish sick. You might want to double check which one it is on the test strip. They are commonly confused. Nitrates are much lower in toxicity and take a long period of time to rise and cause trouble for the fish.

Keep making the 25% water changes, daily if necessary, until the levels return to normal. The tank is still trying to settle in again to a proper balance after being moved and having new fish added. Feed very little food right now.

If it is indeed the nitrates that are elevated, there may be a disease or a parasite like "ich" involved instead. Raise the temperature to 82 degrees and treat with aquarium salt. Put in 1/2 teaspoon of uniodized salt per gallon of water. This will kill the parasites. Keep the temperature elevated for 2 weeks. This too will help kill whatever is bothering them. Whatever salt you use, look on the label and make sure there is no other ingredient but salt.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!

Chris, thank you for the response!  I checked again, it is the nitrate that's elevated, 100-120ppm;  nitrite is 0; hardness is 300GH;  alkalinity is 80KH;  and PH is 7.2  I will get some salt tonight, we don't have a pet store per se, but there is a farm store that seels some aquarium supplies.  I'll let you know how it goes, and I'll pop on over to the forum as well!

Mike

Answer
Hi Mike;

I'm glad it was the nitrates. They are much less toxic. The goal for a healthy aquarium is to keep them at 40 ppm or lower. They will lower on their own as you make regular water changes. Every week, remove 25% and add fresh water. If they are still getting the salt/heat treatment, add only enough salt for water that was changed. That way, the salt level stays the same during the whole treatment time.

See you on the forum!

Chris Robbins