CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

So far the three fish I recently bought have been getting along. The Jack will sometimes chase the flowerhorn but it doesnt last long. I did add some more hiding spots for them. I added a hollow artificial log and a matching cave. They all seem to be loving their own places. It seems as though at night, when the lights are out, they all like to hang out at the top of the tank. It looks like they take a breath from time to time. I do not recall my red devil doing this. Is this normal? It seems like they are most comfortable while all the lights are out.

This tells me that ONE: this is a NEW tank and you HAVE high AMMONIA AND OR NITRITES.. this wil make the fish breath at the top.. YOU need to do a 25% water change with dechlorinated water.. YOU need to get some Ammonia INSTANT Liquid test kit and monitor the water daily and do 20% water changes every TWO TO THREE DAYS, to keep it under 2.0 to 3.0.. Ammonia build-up in a new tank will climb to a good 5.0 and if you are lucky, this wont' KILL the fish.. IF it climbs slowly, and you do water changes as shown, then the fish should be fine..

ALSO,  ONLY FEED THEM ONCE A DAY!! As your tank is cycling, you dont' help the process if you are feeding them to much.. ONCE a day is fine, they wont' starve..

AIR STONES?? running any in this tank?? IF the tank is to smalll for the fish you have, they deplete the AIR in the water faster.. NEW fish take time to ajust to a new tank, but should NOT be breathing at the top.. 

LET me know HOW big this tank is and I wil tell you how much % to change out..

My tank is 75 gallons. It has been running with my red devil, which died after a long eight years, in it for about a year and a half. I took a water sample to my local fish shop and they said my nitrates were good. They had gone up a tad since Wednesday, the day I brought the new fish home. I brought a sample to them Wednesday to make sure my water was fine before I got any new fish.

So this tank is not a NEW tank.. That is good, but you stil need to check the Ammonia and NITRITE, NOT NITRATE.. IF your Rd died in this WATER, then you NEED TO DO A GOOD 30% water change, 20 gal,,,  to get FRESH water in.. NOW I dont' know how much deco you have in the tank, MORE deco, rocks, thick bed of GRAVEL take way from the 75 gal.. So lets say this tank is a 70 gal just to be safe.. (although small water changes wont' make  a difference, a large 50% or more could make the tank recycle)
 
70x .25%= 17.5 gal of conditioned/salt water.. round off to 15gal or 20 gal
70x .30= 21 gal  round off to 20 gal...
70x .40= 28 gal.. here, I would do 30 gal, but only when you forget to do the tank after 2 weeks. This would be a EMERGENCY water change amount...

YOU need to clean this tank WEEKLY, at 20 gal... Vac the gravel good, with American cichlids along with the filter.. Change out or clean the filter media pad.. YOU really need to take the filters to the sink and clean it out.. Get some small long filter brushs and make sure you clean the impeller as they get coated with slime coat and that keeps the filter from running at peck performance.. Waste and uneaten food gets traped in the filter bottom and stays their ferminting and reinters the tank.

Air PUMP and airstones?? are you running any?? YOU need to get air into the water.. this helps the fish with oxygen and also toxic gas pops with the bubbles at the top.. So you get two benifits here using a air pump and airstones..

What kind of CICHLIDS did you get?? I am assumming American but I could be wrong here...

Feed them only ONCE a day until you get this tank settled out.. with the nitrates climbing, that means to much food is being used.. Feed only what they eat in 5 min.. USE pellets as flakes just make a mess in the tank and filter...

HOW many filters AND WHAT kind are you running on this tank??? ON a 75gal you should have TWO filters, one on each sides and both together should turn over 750 gal PER HOUR OR more on this tank...