# Help!



## Nickeley722 (Oct 3, 2007)

We moved into a new home last saturday and during the negotiations my wife and kids conviced the previous owner to leave her tank and stand in the living room behind ( We have never kept fish so I have no idea what the attraction to the tank was). There was no fish in the tank and she seemed more than happy to accomodate us. When I returned home from work Tuesday night they had filled the tank with water and had put in 12 fish. I inquired about what type of fish they were and was informed they were cichlids. 

I started to research online about cichlids to try and determine what kind we have and how to best take care of them. Obviously, I realize today that I am in need of a lot of help.

The tank is a 70 gallon rectangle tank.

The tank is not cycled( Had never even heard the word until last night). Is there anyway I can cycle the tank and keep these fish alive?

My wife purchased an Aqua Clear 70 when she purchased the fish. I went out and purchased a Fluval 405 this morning and managed to get it up and running, I have both of them running at this time. Will that be enough or is that to much?. I am unclear on how much filtration to use.The internet has so much contrasting information.

I also purchased a water test kit but at this point I am still unclear on what I should be testing for and why? 

The pet store sold me some cichlid lake salt and some gentlemen that was shopping nearby recommended instant ocean. I went ahead and purchased these items but have not added them to my tank. 

If anybody out there could start walking me through what I need to do at this point I would greatly appreciate it. My boys are spending a lot of time gazing at the tank and anything that keeps them from playing video games all day works for me. 

Nick


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Well for starters welcome to the wonderful, stressful world if fishkeeping....

Take the instant Ocean salt back. You are keeping a fresh water tank, not a saltwater tank.......

Get a freshwater test kit. Aquarium Pharm makes a good one. Test your water and find out your PH, KH, GH now. You will also need to test your Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels.

You need to find out what type of cichlids you have. This is VERY important...

Find some Bio-Spira A.S.A.P. This will instantly cycle your tank. Otherwise, you will want to return your fish. Thats in their best benefit.

Cichlid salt can be used but is not normally necessary unless you have soft water and are keeping African cichlids. You need to keep fish that are comfortable in your tap water conditions. Much easier than trying to adjust your water to suit your fish.

There is more but this is a good start and should keep you busy for today 

Good luck and please let us know how your progress. We will do everything we can to help you out and make your first tank an enjoyable one.


----------



## gnuisance (Oct 4, 2007)

Those fish are at risk big time right now. There is probably a ton of ammonia in the tank and it can be deadly to fish. Have you treated the tank with any dechlorinator or tank stabilizer? IF not I would highly recommend you go to the pet store and use 5x the recommended dose. It might also be a good idea to pick up some test strips so you can see where you stand while you are cycling. I hope your fish make it....


----------



## Nickeley722 (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks for the quick responses!

My wife says she treated the tank with a Tap Water Conditioner from API when adding the water. I purchased a kit already, Fresh Lab Deluxe from Red Sea. I will open it up and see if I can figure out how to get you PH, KH, GH,
Ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. I am pretty sure that 4 of the fish are called Electric Yellow's. I stopped researching what kind of fish I have when I started reading about cycling and that lead me here. I will try to see if I can figure out what box the camera is in (still unpacking) and get some pictures posted.

Nick


----------



## Nickeley722 (Oct 3, 2007)

The kit comes with color coded cards so to the best of my abilities here are the test results.

Amonia- somewhere between .25 and .5
Nitrite- .05
PH 7.6

There was no test for nitrate in the kit. 

GH and KH is a little confusing to me. It took 21 drops of GH to get to the ending color on the card. It took 7 drops of KH to reach the ending color. . According to the chart it says my GH is very hard but my KH
is soft. Is that possible? 

Nick


----------

