When I letf this ever this was ok but whe I got back my cichlid (I for got the type of speices b ut he's 3.5 to 4 inches tall and I've had him for about a month )was laying belly up, but still breathing. And would only move the two fins his side the rest of his body doesn't move. His body is discolor and red around his fin . This two other fish in the tank and there ok. Two day ago I put a old heater I fond and a sea I got from another tank. Don't know what happend

Water test

Ammonia 0
Nirite 0
Nitrate o
Ph 7.6

Will add pics later

It is difficult to say what caused this to happen since all the other Fish seems to be okay. Please recheck your nitrate again. I'm a little dubious that your level actually zero since nitrates are normally present most of the time. Depending on what sort of nitrate test , you may have to shake the bottle thought to 30 seconds and then the vile for up to a minute. Failure to do this can give you false readings such 0.

the NITRATE being zero rings alarm bells for me ..........sounds like a pre-cycle tank ??????????

biggamehunter wrote:

i concur bgh.... perhaps, he cleans the filter too in the wrong way

Im with OFL, to get zero for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate points to incorrect testing

I had those readings on the beginning of my fishkeeping hobby!
I cleaned the complete filter and all media several times a week...
It seemed like a smart thing to do at the time.