By the high nitrite readings, it appears that your tank may not be cycled completely. Also, I don't like those stick tests. I suggest getting a master test kit.

Not sure what to tell you at this point - but get a liquid test kit fom your LFS. Those test strips are sketchy at best. THe liquid is much more accurate and harder to mis-read.

I know the whole cycle thing but i had thought i went through my nitrite jump already and them bam this but i dont get why my fish are doing so good shouldn.t they be acting wierd?

I'm going to say though, at this point, it cant hurt for you to do a large change 25% - 30%, if the water is really that bad.

Your nitrates look high too, which I would think if the nitrates were high, the nitrites wouldn't be. Nitrites are converted to nitrates, so go figure. Again, I would definitely get a master test kit, it uses test tubes and droppers. This will give you more accurate results. I also see no readings for ammonia on that strip. An ammonia test is very important and can reveal what is going on.

The cycle isnt done until nitrite is at zero. Nevermind the jumps. They may survive if they are hardy, but they are probably breathing slower, not growing, not showing all their colors etc. They may not show outward signs of distress.

The funny part is they are all very bright and colorful i can post some pics i took last night of them. I will go to my lfs and grab a master test kit u know how much they cost and thank u guys so much for helping me out with this

I think like $15 ... Ammonia testing is key.

I paid $35 for mine, but the kit will test the water hundreds of times, so well worth it. Your fish may appear healthy because of the dechlorinator you use. Most water conditioners/dechlorinators now lock the ammonia to make it less harmful to the fish. The ammonia is there, its just not killing them. The high nitrates don't have as much an immediate effect as high ammonia, but they will damage the fish, and possibly kill them over time if not remedied. Generally, using an ammolock can keep your fish alive through cycling, especially if you do very frequent water changes.

i used my neighbors ammonia test last night and it was just at the first reading i forget wat it was but it was low

That's the thing Kizel. Low ammonia means its not cycled. NO ammonia is what you are after.

o well ill have to just hope and prey and wait it out

hope you got a master kit and all is well .. i have been told to these strips are dodgy.. in the master kit you need two bottles for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to test correctly so i am not sure how these strips work .. you also have to shake alot .. hope it all works out.. water change and liguid good bacteria are great..

oh i forgot when i first put fish in my tank i done small 10 to 15% water changes every second day to keep the levels diluted..

Thanks kylie!!

I'm new to having a cichlid tank, and I've been having the same problem with mine, but finally the nitrite levels are going down...though it still isn't where it should be. I bought a nitra-zorb pouch today, and hopefully that will help. I think I'll buy one of those master test kit's myself because the stick test doesn't truely tell you where the levels are at.

hope it all works well.. keep up he small frequent water changes and that will keep everything diluted.. did you add all your fish at once to.. that can cause your levels to spike .. you need to add fish gradually to let the bacteria buid up .. all the best r..sorry do you have a first name or nick name ..

Just call me kizel kylie my last name is Kizelewicz and my first name if robert so i just go by kizel

amber as your bacteria grows it will all drop.. did you add some liquid bacteria helps things along great.. not sure about the pouches never used them .. just keep doing the water changes..

ok kizel it is..

lol so kylie how are you tonight?

only 4.38 pm here in aus.. but all well great weather .. getting ready to do dinner and bathing of monsters..

ur so lucky is about quarter of 2 in the morning here in boston mass lol stinks

Yeah, I have been doing the water changes and adding the bacteria too. I just saw the pouch today and since you put it in with the filter, I thought I would try that too.

Well after taking a look at this post i got curious about my 1200 litre (320 gallon) tank & found that i have no ammonia, no nitrite but the nitrate level is of the chart its so high??
I have 2 canister filters and an internal power filter which gives me around 5000 litres an hour of filtration. Anyone got any ideas?

ok michael .. water changes.. bacteria turn ammonia to nitite which another bacteria to to nitrate.. ammonia very harmful nitrite less harmful nitrate the least harmful.. still none are great .. you need to do water changes weekly to keep the nitrate diluted for the fishes.. does that make sense..

Yeah that makes sense :)
I do weekly water changes but still the nitrate levels dont seem to drop much?? I might have to buy some nitrate removers from my LFS next time
Kyle where in Aust r u from?? Im on The Gold Coast.

hey michael nsw south coast .. ulladulla..what fish to you keep.... how much water do you change . how big is your tank.. if it has a lot of fish you will get more nitrates so you might have to change more water.. sory about all those questions..

lol i have a few tanks all of which have american cichlids, my biggest is an 8ftx2.5ftx2.5ft which houses my 2ft+ giant gourami, a 30cm blackbelt, 30cm festae, 20cm gold severum, 20cm green severum, 35cm silver shark, 10cm jack dempsey, 12cm festae, 15cm brasiliensis, 15cm fenastralis, 30cm featherfin syndontis. i think thats all the fish in that tank :)

Oh i forgot the 25cm red devil, 20cm parrot cichlid (not the man made one)& a 15cm pink jewel in the 8ft tank.

holy cow .. om my god.. serious big fish ...he he he thats a lot of waste product/poop that is why your levels are high. ha h ah

U should have seen the poop when i had my 80cm gibbicep in the tank, those fish r pooping machines!!
Anyway im gonna give the tank a heavy clean tonite and see how the nitrate levels r tomorrow.

vaccumm as much poop as you can out.. those poop bacteria must be working overtime.. he he

i hav enever had an americian cichlid ..oops bar convicts.. none of the lfs near me have them only africians.. and some big red devils..

Michael, what percentage of water are you changing out weekly? Off-the chart nitrates indicate you need to increase the percentage changed out or the frequency of water changes.

I take almost half of the water out each which is around 600 litres and i modified my gravel vac with a wider hose which gives me alot of extra suction through a 10 metre long hose which goes straight out to my back lawn.

HEY ANYBODY ON HERE KNOW AN EASY WAY TO GET THE PLASTIC BORDER OFF THE TANK WITHOUT BREAKING IT?

R.kizel, are you talking about the black plastic around the top and bottom?

YEE

Justin do u know how to take this off?

well, ive used a blow dryer, or heat gun before to kinda soften up the glue, then usually use one of those craft style razor blades that are long and skinny and just cut up between the glass and plastic.......but i must warn you i had one fall apart at the seans because i removed it,, just so ya know lol

The whole tank?

I had to replace the top tank frame on a 72 gal tank because of a broken crossbar that was causing my tank to bow. I drained it half way first to release some water pressure. I did what Justin did, minus the heat actually. Just lots of razoring around the inside and outside of the tank, keeping a small net under my razor so no silicone scraps fell into the tank. Does it need to be replaced? Or are you asking because you just want it off? It is a structural requirement if it came built that way ...

Yea the same thing happened to me frank the middle crossbar is broken and i have the replacement for it but i just cant seem to work this one off

Slow and steady wins the race my friend. There is lots of silicone holding that frame on, so you really have to get under there and cut it all out. Also, when you replace it, make sure you do the same - use enough silicone and make sure it is aquarium safe.

yea i got it all from my lfs