Hi Alyce,
Happened to note the misspelling of "Cichlids" in your messages, which at first appeared to just be a typographical error and understandable as we all make occasional mistakes in spelling , but as I see it being used consistently as "Chiclids," I like to draw your attention to the fact you're consistently spelling it wrong. Please know that I'm not trying to nit-pick here nor criticize you in any way (expect perhaps as "constructive criticism"), but if you need to put in a search for Cichlids some day, you'll never find anything under your spelling of it. The word is pronounced -- "sick-lids" -- not as being similar to the chewing gum -- "Chiclets" (if that gum is still being made).
Getting more to your problem, I'm glad to see that you're a freak about water quality. Better to be overly concerned about water quality than to not pay much attention to it at all, as many other hobbyists do. At least in this way, you're keeping on top of your fishes' needs. If you're totally sure that your fish are eating everything you feed them, and that there's no uneaten food adding to the waste, then as Dawn suggests (and as you seem to be understanding), your bioload and it's accompanying wastes are slowly overtaking the capacities of your filter. You should know too, that common Plecos can easily reach 18" in length -- and can grow rather fast. You'll need a fairly large size tank when you do finally get one when you move (if that's not too far in the future), or may need to trade in your Pleco -- if it's one of the more common larger species -- for one of the smaller Bushy-Mouth Pleco (Ancistrus) , which gets to only about 6" or so.
Ray
--- In tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com, "Alyce W" <frogg_lady54@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks Dawn! Yes, I agree that there is a high bio-load....there are 6 Chiclids, 2 small Cats, and a Pleco, pics of the Chiclids are in my album, Alyce's Aquarium. They are very friendly, HUNGRY fish and eat all we put in. I do feed twice a day, flakes or crushed pellets (which I think are too hard for them to eat, they nibble then ignore.) and algae wafers for Darth Vader (Pleco) I am looking into a larger tank when we move. Meanwhile I can be a freak about water quality, I test twice a week and do regular water changes.
> I will try less food and more cleanup to reduce the waste! Thank you!
>
> --- In tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com, Dawn Moneyhan <dawnshungryeyes4u2c@> wrote:
> >
> > If the problem is that they need food that sinks, then you may want to try soaking the pellet food in tank water long enough to water log it, so they sink when you put them into the tank, and thus are eaten right away.... or try to find cichlid sinking pellets. What kind of cichlids are these?Â
> >
> > With the stats that you listed of nitrate of 40 - 60 with 1 - 2 water changes/wk, if sounds as if there is more waste load than this tank can handle. That may be due to the food, it may be due to growing fish/crowding of the tank, or a combination. Hearing that the filter pads are clogging after only a few days also is an indication that the tank is getting more waste than it can handle, so my first guess would be uneaten food.Â
> >
> > If soaking the pellets doesn't work and you're unable to find a sinking pellet they will eat, then try decreasing the amount of food you offer at a time (to about 1/4 - 1/3 of what you normally offer at once) and feed them small amounts multiple times in a day instead of just one large feeding. The only way to avoid the filter pads from clogging so quickly is to decrease the amount of waste that is passing through them.
> >
> > Dawn
> >
> > Dawn Moneyhan
> > Aquatics Specialist/Nutritionist
> > To learn more about me go to
> > http://www.helium.com/users/449334
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Fri, 4/1/11, Alyce W <frogg_lady54@> wrote:
> >
> > From: Alyce W <frogg_lady54@>
> > Subject: [tropical fish club] Questions From A Newbie :-)
> > To: tropicalfishclub@yahoogroups.com
> > Date: Friday, April 1, 2011, 5:08 PM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Â
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Guys! I love reading these posts, I'm learning SO much!
> >
> > I bought Chiclid Gold Food Pellets for our Chyclids but they won't touch them until hours later when they soak up and fall. I tried crushing them and they went right for it! Is this okay?
> >
> > How do I keep the double Whisper filter pads from clogging in just a few days? I do 30% water changes once or twice a week, tank is cycled, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 40 to 60, PH 7.6, Temp. a bit low at 76.
> >
> > Thank you!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
No comments:
Post a Comment