i have a 75 gallon tank with african cichlid's.i waited for all my water chemistry and the cycle for my tank until i put my fish in. currently my african cichlid's are all dying off the water is really cloudyand you can barely see the back side of the tank.


here are my tank componets:
1.filter= marineland pro series bio-wheel power filter, emperor 400 (up to 90 gallon tank filtration
2.light= standerd light that came with tank
3.fish species list=
1 marble african cichlid(other one died :angry:
3 cobalt blue african cichlid
1 orange african cichlid
1 south american cichlid (forgot the name)

AMMONIA LEVEL= 8.0 DONT KNOW WHY I NEED HELP
PH=normal
hardness= normal hardness for florida
i also put a biological stone in the tank. you soak it in water and put it in the tank.it is supposed to give good bacteria or something. also i will try to post pictures tonight when i get a new battery for my camera.

Big water change NOW!!!!! I keep africans as well. And they need the same water peramiters as Oscars.. You need to run a full test. What are the rest of your readings?

You do need a huge water change now!

your ammonia level is deadly.... what is the frequency of your water change?
that level is somewhat you never do water change. are you cleaning your filtering
system? how? cloudy water tank means there is something wrong along the
way? how big are your fishes (approximate)????

thats what im doing right now lol 50 percent enough? my marble african cichlid is about fully grown . and the others are about 2-3.5 inches

i do water changes 25 percent every week and my filter uses activated carbon ,which you change about once a month.

how about filter cleaning? did wash it in tap water or tank water in a bucket?
i suggest to replace the carbon with wool or sponge to host good bacteria.
carbon has no use unless you are removing medicine after medication.

What is your filter capacity? I can't for the life of me figure out why your ammonia is so high.

i cleaned the filter tank water when i first got it . the filter capacity is up to 90 gallon filtration ,so i still got a little extra . water change is going good though should a replace the water with tap water ? it wierd though because i keep my 55 gallon oscar tank the same way and its crystal clear

Replace the water with tap water that is treated with prime! That will help with the effect the high ammonia is still having! You will probably have to do another water change for the next few days!

And it wouldn't hurt to add another filter! I always run more than double on my tanks. You will also need to feed VERY sparingly!

not to sound like a newbie but what exectly is prime?

mr$amazing wrote:

can you brief us how long have you set up the tank?
yeah, emp400 is can handle a 75 gal tank.
yes, you can use tap water for refill but needs to check the
water condition too.... sometimes, tap has ammonia too but won't reach 8.0
by any chance, what is your filter pump in 55 gal oscar tank?

mr$amazing wrote:


Prime is a water conditioner that removes chlorine, and makes ammonia less toxic. It can be found at your local fish store! And in your case it will be very helpful. The instructions are easy to follow on the bottle!