General African Cichlid Discussion • Set up a New Aquarium Need Guidance!

[Devi]

Hi
I set up a new 36g Aquarium (30l*15w*21h) it came with a 200w heater and a power filter. I left the aquarium running for 24 hrs with the power filter without fish. I bought cichlids 1yellow lab,3 red zebra and am not sure about the remaining 2. Is it ok to have them in a same tank. how many cichlid i can store in my 36g aquarium. As am new to aquarium i don''t know what equipments still i need and how to check for ph level, nitrogen level and all other stuffs. Is it important to have an air pump. Please help me

Thanks in advance
Devi

[fusion]

Welcome to the forum

Your tank wont be cycled,

I would read this to start with http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... _cycle.php

Did you buy the fish from your local fish store? if you did i would ask them to take back the fish until the tank is cycled

An air pump isnt really needed as long as your filter is moving the water at the surface

There are a few test kits, i use the API master freshwater test kit and so do a lot of others on this forum

As for how many fish you can have, i wouldnt worry about that just now, better to get your tank cycled first then ask about them

[Devi]

Thanks for your reply. I'll research and do all the possibilities.

[Storiwyr]

Your tank wont be cycled.

This. It is extremely important, and putting fish in an uncycled tank is often fatal, and even if they survive it can weaken them long term. We'll help you sort out the rest, but the cycle is critical to getting off to a good start.

[Devi]

As i cant return my fishes to the store is it possible to cycle with the fishes or is there any other way to cycle my aquarium. Did using de-nitrate will help to break-up or reduce ammonia from my aquarium.

[DJRansome]

Cycling with fish can damage them, and the damage can be permanent. It can be done however. You can buy bottled bacteria from Dr. Tim (Dr. Tim's One and Only) and it will be a big help. It seems to work best if you order Dr. Tim's One and Only by overnight delivery so you are sure to get fresh, lively bacteria.

In a 30" long aquarium, the red zebras are too big anyway. (The yellow lab will be OK.) Did you find out what the other two blue ones are? Maybe you can rehome the fish with a local fish club or another LFS?