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I have had a real problem keeping these guys alive. I obtained 20 healthy fry and after they had grown to about an inch long, place them in my 135 gallon tank. Our water contains a lot of calcium carbonate and tap water tests 20 ppm nitrate. I have two Eheim Pro II filters on this tank whihc turns it over about three times an hour. I have done 75% water changes every two weeks but within about six weeks, only two survive. I have three mature tropheus that appear to be very healthy and active.

I have a large calico pseudotropheus and some smaller peacocks with a pleco doing clean-up. Any information would be much appreicated. I live near Houston, Texas.

OlCoyote - Thanks for joining Fish Profiles. I have a couple of questions and comments for you. First, was the 135G cycled before you added the fish? If it wasn't the spikes in ammonia and nitrIte could have done some of them in. Second, having 20 ppm of nitrAte in the water is not going to be a great thing for your fish. Even after doing a large water change you are not really resetting the tanks nitrATes. Third, what type of food were you feeding. Tropheus need a mostly veggie diet or they might get some digestive problems. Fourth, is it possible that your large pseudotropheus picked on them? pseudotropheus are not known for being really nice fish.

Below are a couple of links about your fish.

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/247.htm

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1865


55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thanks Windsdlc for your help. The tank has been running for some time when I put the duboisi in it. I was using an undergravel filter with four power heads but removed it about a month ago on the advice of the guy i get the trophs from.

He has several beautiful tanks and is a very knowledgeable guy. he gave me some of the same food that he had been feeding the and I still have it-forget the name but it is vegetable. When I pulled the undergravel filter out, I did sustain a mass killing and lost about 15 fish, all of my Illangi but one. I cleaned out the tank, added water conditioner and put the trophs in. I started losing them almost immediately and am now down to one who has stopped eating and hides in the limestone rock. The pseudo is the biggest fish in the tank but I have not seen him hassling the fry. I have two mature Moliro and one juvenile Illangi who are fine.

If 20 ppm is bad right out of the tap, I must then have to use some kind of chemical to remove it. based on what you say, this is the likely cause. I have about 20 Nkonde fry in my 12 gallon tank but really want to have things settled before I add them. What kind of additive do you recommend to get the nitrate doen to 0 ppm?

thanks again-this is a great site!

Sounds to me like a huge anaerobic bacteria pocket was in the gravel when you removed the undergravel filter. When you removed the filter, your fish came in contact with it. I've seen it take a day or two to kill one of my tiger barbs. I've also been told that it CAN kill fish instantly.

If you have a planted tank... NitrAtes are not all that bad, as long as it is controlled. I have been told that 20 and under is not bad depending on how densely planted the tank is. The plants actually depend on some nitrate for nourishment.

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

You might have created a mini-cycle also after messing with the under gravel filter. The lost a bunch of fish and added a bunch of fish too quick.

What are you using for a filter now?

Generally the way to get rid of nitrAtes is to do water changes. I think there are filter materials that claim to remove nitrAtes but I am not sure how well they work.

Growing aquatic plants would help naturally filter out the nitrAtes but most of the fast growing plants that would really take up the nitrates fast would probably not work well with your cichlids.

I think Reverse osmosis systems will remove nitrates from your water. I believe it will also take out minerals and such too. Your cichlids like a heavey mineral content in the water though so you would have to add it back in.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric