Help - Possible problem with newly stocked tank

Having completed a 6 week cycling period I stocked my new African cichlid tank at the weekend. Last night I spotted a few fish of different species "shimmying" themselves sideways against the fine gravel. Is this evidence of ammonia or nitrate poisoning?

I tested the tank water with the following results before performing a 20% water change and 1 hour later adding 10ml of JBL Denitrol. The water testing results with JBL Combiset before the water change were as follows:

• Ammonia: 0.1 mg/l
• Nitrite: 0.05 mg/l
• Nitrate: 5 mg/l

The day after the water change I tested the pH of the water and I estimate the colour to indicate a pH of between 7.8 and 8.0. I did not have the time to retest the Ammonia or Nitrate, but can do so tomorrow if this is recommended.

I also noticed that 2 of the 3 newly added fish (Frieberg's Peacock) have reddish gills, but I'm not sure if this is the natural appearance of young fish or an ailment symptom.

Would the addition of well secured live plants help? Your ideas much appreciated.

Definately test the water ammonia levels again. I would wager they are much higher now. Ammonia is more toxic at higher ph too so you need to act to get it down (the ammonia, not your ph). I know the idea with these cichlids is to stock them at the same time to avoid hyper dominance in some of them but it seems your system wasnt ready for it. Get back to us with your test results, and test everything again. Live plants wont help here mate, and your fish would most likely shred them.

Jay

yeah sounds like ammonia or nitrite is doing the job alright, wat where the tests before you put the fish in in? i wouldn't bother with plants (if even compatible with these fish) just keep up the water changes and test it every day, you will have to religiously test that water it is now your number one priority, wife/girlfriend/mother, kids or job go out the window for 10-20mins, if left unchecked it could spiral out of control. if i have a problem i check everything twice or three times a day just to drive me bananas, i'm not sure how big your fish, tank and filter are but if adult i wouldn't have put 3 in as that would be a fairly big load on your filter and the biological bacteria you waited for so long to develop. but it is too late for lectures now get cracking on that water, test and change and test and change (mr motivator wouldn't have a patch on me) oh and keep us posted

good luck with it, Darren

Thanks for all your suggestions. I will conduct another 20% water change tonight (the earliest I can get to this after work). Is JBL denitrol going to help here or JBL filterStart to boost bacterial numbers in the filter. Who needs weights room when you can lug around 35 litre water drums?

By way of background, its a 350 litre Juwel Trigon tank, with a Juwel internal filter (cyling 6 weeks) + a JBL e1500 (ruuning for 2 weeks). I cycled with 3 starter fish who all survived and 2 indeed thrived. Over weekend I added 17 juvenille cichlids, 1 semi mature (5cm), and a pleco (4cm). The fish started shimmying 2 days later, but not all the time. One of the fish does it every 5 to 10 minutes or so.

On a serious note, this situation is naturally concerning to me. I've just left a voicemail with the one person I know in my area who may be able to temporarily house some fish. My LFS (Seahorse Aquariums) where I got the fish has always been very accomodating so they may be able to help also. It looks like the sudden stocking over the weekend may be stressing the filter system, despite the tests revealing ammonia and nitrate levels below the threshold limits on the JBL test kit i.e. 0.1 mgl Ammonia and 5 mg/l nitrate.

failing that, is anyone out there in a position to help me by holding on to some young cichlids for a week or 2? I am based in Leixlip and able to travel either evening or very early morning.

Hi All, I would really appreciate your advice here.

By way of an update, I spoke with my LFS and a trusted local fish enthusiast & I have now received 3 different opinions on the current situation ranging from (a) possible problem with nitrate/ammonia to (b) possible gill fluke infection to (c) fish just settling into new water conditions so no need to take corrective action.

Based on the following test results I don't think it is a nitrate/ammonia issue due to over-stocking as the results put each within acceptable levels as far as I can tell.
- pH approx 8 (tap water 7)
- Ammonia 0.0 (tap water 0)
- Nitrite 0.25 (tap water 0)
- Nitrate 5 (tap water 1)
- Total Hardness 7 (tap water 10)

Based on a trusted advisor at my LFS who supplied the fish I have continued with the 20% water changes twice per week.

The fish continue to "shimmy" at the coral gravel albeit they seem to be taking turns at it every couple of minutes. I have noticed that the fish waste does not look dark and solid as normal, but rather transparent and very long. In addition, the only object that was in the tank that I did not get from my LFS was a piece beach retrieved Red Sea coral. I removed this, which has started to grow filamentous algae, unlike clean ocean rock, as a precaution.

Would this "shimmying" be any part of cichlid territorial behaviour?

I will try to upload 2 videos of the cichlid shimmying behaviour.
Video 1



Video 2

nitrite is not an acceptable level, this is near a week and they are swimming in it, this is stressing them out and posibly wearing down their immune system opening them up to parasitic infections resulting in the transparent poo

i would suggest letting the fish settle in and keep feeding to a minimum. make sure temp. is not too high as this can adversly affect malawis. add polyfilter as a filter aid. malawis rarely get disease and if they do they can usually recover without medication. put up a vid and it may help with diagnosis. if the fish originate from asia they may have a mild bacterial infection (normally indicated by slight rotting back of the tail and severe shimmying)
anyway stay cool as the problem should be easily sorted.

Tx Dar. When I stated "acceptable levels" I was referring to the guidelines on the JBL test kit, but I accept your opinion over JBL's. Also please bear in mind that I expected 0 Nitrate in the tap water but it showed a background of 1 mg/l (aquarium water tested as 5mg/l).

So do you recommend reducing fish numbers and daily water change to reduce Nitrate level?

just had a look at video. fish are ok. just reduce feeding to minimum for a few days and add polyfilter to speed up process. check temperature and try to keep below 25c.
everything will be fine in a few days.

the shimmying and scratching in this case is likely a reaction to the water quality not yet being at the required level. it probably increases each time you feed them. normal test kits are only a guide and the parameters in a newly set up tank can change very quickly. a polyfilter (sold in all shops)which removes excess ammonia directly can greatly help to reduce toxins.

You were correct in assuming that the shimmying levels increased post feeding. Based on your advice:

1. I purchased and installed the Polyfilter (Standard) in my external filter (JBL e1500) in middle of one of later sponge filters (cut out permits insertion of filter accessories).

2. I replaced the internal Juwel filter poly pads which were actually filthy brown (start out white). I'm getting rid of this filter once the external has cycled as it takes up a lot of room and the replacement cycle for the filter sponges is ridiculous (e.g. poly pads every week, carbon filter every 6 weeks etc.)

3. While inserting the Polyfilter in the JBL e1500 I also noticed growth in both the outlet and inlet pipes. The growths look like circular brown/green blotches (through green piping) which I suspect are algae, but I thought it might be worth mentioning considering the external filter is only setup 3 weeks and I wonder what the pipes will look like in 6 months. Would this indicate the need for a phosphate remover to my external filter?

4. This morning the water seemed a little clearer, the fish colour improved and the shimmying level seems to have reduced slightly.

I did not feed them until this morning, after letting the modified/serviced filters run for 9 hours. However I noticed the fish shimmying again after feeding this morning and they continue to do so this evening.

I plan to check the Polyfilter on Sat,and feed only once every 2 days until then.

Are there any other things I should watch for or try? For example how can one definitively know when your internal or external bacterial gunge is mature and performing optimally? I am beginning to suspect that the internal Juwel filter sponges need to be replaced/cleaned. I would have thought that 2 filters systems running side by side would handle the waste from the lightly stocked tank. My LFS seemed happy with the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test results. Can you recommend the optimum filter media for bacterial growth?

On another note; isnt the scratching behaviour a norm for africans? I dont mean excessive like but whenever they do it which is from time to time it tells me that it is time to change the water.

I agree when they are trying to adjust to new water they wld exhibit the same behaviour; so sometimes i see this behaviour immedietly after water change with salt and other buffers added.

From the video the fishes look fine to me. Nice and clean tank too. Good luck anyways.

ahhh; forgot to add that since you do water tests and the results are ok; theres nothing to worry about.

I think what you could have done here was get some sponge filter pads off a matured filter. This would have given you the boost to your baterial levels needed to cope with the sudden increase in demand from the addition of the new fish.
When cleaning your existing pads, don't go all out on them. Lightly squeeze them in a bucket of tank water, removing build ups on the outside.
This is where your good bacteria live so don't flush them away.
If you feel one really needs replacing, only do one at a time. You don't want to be starting your cycling process all over again.
Ammonia and nitrite should be zero.