Hamstar99

mint set up. Love all the rock

do you use stress zyme, prime etc? They can give false readings. If you have zero nitrites and nitrates you are all good.

not sure. Are you using API solutions? Can you test your tap water or something that should read zero. Should be bright yellow, pretty hard to get mixed up.

Hes a mint looking fish Ryan. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=760 some more pics from the net.

sweet. Temperature will also slow them down. I guess if its your natives it will be cold?

:thup: nice setup

haha. I reckon they are the bees knees with my malawis.

It'd probably be ok at the moment but id keep an eye on it. You wouldnt want it going non stop. Like Hovmoller says you may need another to help it in winter.

protecting what? the low ph is just slowing their growth. I think a few have been lost in the filter wash up. Hence the ammonia spike. lifting the Ph will help them recover a little more quickly back to the original levels. Mini cycles and ammonia spikes dont usually take this long to sort them selves out in an established tank. Usually wouldn't think any more than a day. water changes will only harden the water if it bore water maybe. Regular water changes will help keep the ph more stable with soft water though as your Ph drops with nitrification process. Another thought - you could try is some stress zyme if you have any.

Yeah i think you tank is "re cycling". looks like you might have upset the balance a bit by washing your filters a bit too vigorously maybe. Looks like you ammonia has already spiked. There will then be a nitrite spike before it settles down again. Any chance you can raise the PH a little to speed the process up maybe?

cat food is something you can feed them as well.

Did you change anything before you tested? Could be a little mini cycle? Nitrites still zero though, so strange :dunno: . Test over the next couple of days and see what happens.

Have you tryed your local bunnings or paint shops. Im not sure how smooth it is but i guess you can make that decision when you see it.

Where they a pair when you bought them or just a random male and female. If they were just a random couple might take them a while to get to know each other. You could of broken him up with his original missus which he might not be too happy about??? Id certainly keep an eye on her specially if he starts nipping.

I don't think you will ever get deep enough to cool your pipes cooler than what your tap water comes in at unless you set up a heat exchanger.

That "adapter" is basically a transformer converting down to 12V. Its only a lamp nothing complicated just need to change a transformer to a 230 down to 12v.

You could get another adapter (a 230/12v one) wired on if you really wanted.

Just looks like you didnt rinse it enough. You can let it settle and the filters clean it up or you can take it out an rinse it better

exactly. Cichlids in the wild didnt have limited mates as they do in some tank situations.

haha sweet as. As an example though on my last tank (480l odd) i cycled with 2-3ppm ammonia and stocked with 40 cichlids (between 2-7cm, but mostly around five). With this amount there were no ammonia spikes/ mini cycles. It is pretty common to cycle with 2ppm over seas then fully stock with cichlids which are often "over stocked" and stocked all at once because of aggression issues. Keep monitoring though for your own piece of mind and for future reference.

Shot graham beat me too it.

I think Zeebee got some clear ammonia from here in Te Awamutu so she should be sweet without surfactants. Sounds like your ready for your fish. One of the main advantages of what you have done is being able to fully stock your tank once you are cycled (now)

Ok cool you might be nearly cycled then. Just seem strange that you never get zero readings for you ammonia. Yeah test the tap water or an established tank to see if you get zero readings on them for your ammonia and nitrites. Try not to re dose till it gets to zero, tomorrow hopefully? Dose every 2-3 days to 2ppm to keep your bacterias alive until you stock. Dont re dose with ammonia for the last 48-72 hrs before you stock your tank. Water changes to bring your nitrates down if need be. Multiple smaller daily ones are better to get nitrates down to 10ppm or so before you add your fish.

Have you been re dosing with ammonia or have you still been waiting for it to zero out? Nitrites drop fast but that reading does sound strange especially since you still have ammonia. Can you test another source with no known ammonia just to confirm your testing is accurate?

Hah. yep thats what id do.