DISASTER!!!!!

Ok, as you all know i picked up a group of Tropheus Lufubu I havent been able to shut up about... well yesterday I finally finished there new home... (bleached coral, painted black background).... I put in 50% water from my existing 80gal tank.... well obviously that wasnt enough to cycle it, cause my nitrite are very high, and I woke to find all my fish dead
I was sooo depressed today I couldnt get up until just now 1:20pm..... Finally I got in my mind I am going to find some more to replace my little babies.... lufubu, or illangi, or chaitika are the varants I am looking for if you guys know any I would appreciate a reply...
Thank you

Joe i'm so sorry to hear that...Terrible, I hate when that happens

Sandnuka,

I know this isn't the greatest time, but so that you don't find yourself in this situation again....

Water doesn't hold anywhere near enough of the beneficial bacteria that is the product of a tank "cycling". I've found no measurable value in moving water from a cycled tank to a new tank in terms of cycling. You can really only cycle by either placing media that does hold a concentration into the tank, or by growing it from scratch.

Personally I'm finding sponge filters to be a great way to move the bacteria from one tank to another to jump-start a cycle. This does, of course, require multiple tanks and multiple sponge filters per tank. I use canister filters on my bigger tanks and then add sponge filters to give me a "seed" for new tanks that I need to start up.

The other way is to do a fishless cycle using ammonia. This will take 28 days of daily attention, +/- 7 days.

Either way, I tend to do massive water changes on a new tank until I'm positive that the cycle has completed. I start out with 80% changes daily, finally getting down to 20% change every 3-4 days over a couple of week period. I also have to keep a very close on the new fish as they do usually exhibit small signs of ammonia or nitrite poisoning well before they die. Hanging in the top of the tank, particularly if they take a vertical position with their mouth toward the surface, is the most noticeable (and one of the latter states). If the reach this point do a 80% change right away!

And of course, ensure that new water is of the same temperature, treat with a dechlorinate product of your choice, and be sure to match the chemical make-up if other products are in use (pH adjustments, gH adjustments, etc).

So sorry for your loss. I'm sure once your new batch is in and settled you'll feel much better.

damn that sucks. sorry about that man. you just got those fishes too. shouldn't the ammonia be high not the nitrite? did you check the readings on the other tank

Dude that totally blows big time....sorry sand

thanks for all your sympathy... really much appreciated... Really... feels good, your all like family.... lol, since my wife just laughed at me why I was so down that my fish died... just doesnt get it! Oh well... I learned something new.... Yeah it was the amnonia that spiked... seeing the nitrite spike made me realize that there had to be amonia in the tank...
On the up side, because the fishes dead lil' bodies were in there soooo long it kinda sped up the cycling of my tank... should be down within a week now.. woooop wooop... and I did find some more of them online, just pretty pricey and shipping was ridiculous..... I hate that!
So everyone keep ya eye out for some local tropheus Moorii variants for me. If ya see any let me know asap. Thanks again for all your concern.

Do you know if The Wet Spot in Portland has them? They do carry more cichlids than anyone else around the area that I know of and you can chose to have them shipped or go down and pick them up. Grey is my contact there for the online business and I'd be happy to ask if you want to check on something specific.

I'd be up for a road trip down when the tank has cycled. I love that store! LOL

Seriously sucks to hear joe if you need any fish for cycling that tank let me know I got a couple around we can toss in there till its ready for your tropheus.. Oh and I will ride with you to the wet spot in portland if you go...
I been wanting to check on that store for awhile now and have not had oppurtunity too...

I heard sooooo many people talkin about that place..... well, its about damn time I get my ass down to portland..... first I will try to find there sight and see if they have a stock list..... if they dont, I will call them.... THey have some tropheus Moorii Variants, I maybe ready for a roady..... with the exception that there still probably gonna be allot more pricey than if I find a breeder up here.....
So, no one knows any tropheus breeders that deal with lufubu, or illangi?? well really any moorii variants would be ok??? anyone???? btropheus??? you know anyone????

*update* the wet spot does not have one type of tropheus.... they do have a couple types of calvus, and frontosa... thats cool.... but not what I am looking for

First off I am also sorry for your loss Sandnuka, I think Larry Beck gave some sound advice. I keep many extra sponges cycling.

Wetspot really should have some Tropheus in right now, I have been going in there all year and they almost always have at least 3 different variants of Tropheus.

condolences, hope you can find what your looking for, have you ever heard about this site, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I've had good luck when buying through them, frts killer but so would gas to PDX.

Good luck to you

oh man, so sorry for the lost.

I talked to the wet spot, they are out of tropheus, honestly.... Yes I have heard of aquabid, there prices are always a little too high because allot of there fish are WC (wild caught), and there shipping is expensive.... I have found a few sights that carrie the fish I want, Im just waiting to put in an order until I find out for sure if there is no local breeders around.

Ok, just wanted to give all hobbyiest a heads up.... Im sure allot of you have made this mistake.... but honestly, I have been in the hobby for a long long time, and this is the first time I had a bad case of New tank syndrome hit!

The problem was... I had gotten a tank with a large amount of waste in it... (Last owner had a great filter, so didnt do allot of water changes, also uses sand, so couldnt do a good cleaning)... I did a 100% water change, (50% from my other tank) stired around the sand (wich caused all the waste to circulate) and put a new filter on the tank with new filter media.... This cause a amonia spike! killed everyone of my fishies......

So, moral of the story, if you purchase a tank, be sure to use the same filter... and/or (i would do this as well) let the tank run for itleast one week after adding water to it before adding fish... or you could loose out on some great fish (and big money) like I did!