General Newbie Questions?

by **miami754** » Fri Nov 21, 2008 11:21 pm

Sorry, I always forget to look at the top for messages. I responded.

by **bigwillcast** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 5:10 pm

Andrew-

even though you didn't actually offer any help and just opinion. I do have an issue on my hands that I would like your help with.. I had a nitrite spike of 5ppm yesterday and I noticed my fish kept rubbing themselves against the rocks.. I changed 30% of the water, and called my LPS guy. He told me that I need to add in water conditioner and all these medications (9 tablets of clout and enough dose for my tank of anchors away). He also told me that I was probably overfeeding (point taken) and I need to stop feeding for a couple days.

Does this sound like a good idea to you guys? Any other suggestions?

How much DO I feed? I need some kind of measurement. I wasn't feeding them more then they can eat in a 2-3 minutes. These fish ate A LOT in that time. I mean, atleast 2-3 pinches of food.

by **miami754** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 6:57 pm

Clout is used to medicate cichlids that have bloat. You have to add it over a period of days in a very specific fashion. Rubbing against rocks is not a sign of bloat so I'm not sure why he recommended that to you. Rubbing against the rocks is called flashing and cichlids do it all the time. Now they may be doing it more now that your nitrites are spiked so high, but unless you are seeing some other signs of disease, medicating every time you see flashing is worthless. Like I said before, you need to do enough water changes to keep the spike belo 1 ppm. If that means daily water changes then that's what it means. After your 30% water change, test again and see if the nitrites dropped. If not down to 1 ppm then do another one.

Are you seeing anything on the cichlid's scales? Are they eating fine? Anything else abnormal besides flashing that you see?

by **miami754** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 6:58 pm

Clout is also pretty potent stuff. I use it when I have a fish with bloat, but you need to be sure. It is not something you want to be using often.

by **bigwillcast** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:24 pm

no, nothing else abnormal besides the flashing.

by **miami754** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:28 pm

Then I say do another 30% water change, see if you get to 1 ppm. The measure it every day for next week. Any time you see it creep above 1 ppm, do a water change. Meanwhile, watch the cichlids for other signs. If you see something else then let us know. Flashing by itself is not a good enough reason to go and throw clout in there. Cichlids flash all of the time. I bet the 5 ppm nitrites are irritating them even more which might be why you see a big increase in the flashing. Clout won't help you with that though. Water changes will.

by **bigwillcast** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:29 pm

Could the water conditioner I'm using be affecting my level readings? I've done two 30% water changes in the past two days and now I'm reading like a 4ppm nitrite. Is that possible?

by **miami754** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:31 pm

What kind of tests are you using?

From your PM, it sounds like you were at 5 ppm, then went to 3 ppm after the water change. Then you did another and are now at 4 ppm. Is this an accurate description of what happened? If it is then something messed up with the tests. If you are using the strip tests then that may be the reason. Those tests suck. always buy the drop tests.

by **miami754** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:32 pm

What kind of conditioner are you using (out of curiousity)?

by **bigwillcast** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:33 pm

I am using the strip tests. Any particular brand of drop tests I should get?

General Newbie Questions?

176 posts • Page 7 of 18

General Newbie Questions?

176 posts • Page 7 of 18