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Added African Cichlids an hour after tank setup. Any chance of survival?

M

maroon

My brother was browsing by the pet store this morning and saw some african cichlids and liked them so much that he bought home 5 adults, along with a brand new 55 gallon tank/stand/filter. He knows nothing about fish keeping.

So he calls me an hour ago telling me what he did. At this point, it seems to me as if all his fish are going to die within a week tops since he had absolutely NO cycle.

I told him to do 25% water changes every day. Any other advice to try to keep these fish alive?
 
R

rodclement

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
agreee with sandee, Aquatic Obsession has it, just make sure you get the one for freshawater.

Also no feeding for at least 3-5 days, do the water changes but make sure he does it with dechlorinated water, of the same temperature, and then add more DR. Tims

Rod
 
S

SWITCH420

WOW another fine lfs who only cares about making a sale......they could of sold him the setup and told him 2 come back in a few weeks 4 the fish hope the fish make it. i would never go back to that lfs..
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

How big are the fish...since they are FW fish and if he runs a decent filter with carbon it shouldn't end in tragedy. Just adding some bacteria is going to do the trick. Just do the water changes. Not as hard as salt water. Not that I don't agree there should have been more responsibility from the LFS...probably a big box unit. I will add that the biggest LFS in my area has let me go home with a nano tank and saltwater fish before I knew what I was doing.
 
M

maroon

All the fish are alive and He's been adding Dr. Tim's and seems as if they're gonna make it. He's been doing 50% water changes everyday. Thanks guys!

Now, I think I may need to speak with that certain PET COmpany manager that sold him these fish. They told him that African Cichlids are the hardiest freshwater fish and don't need a cycle. im like huh?!?!?
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

maroon said:
All the fish are alive and He's been adding Dr. Tim's and seems as if they're gonna make it. He's been doing 50% water changes everyday. Thanks guys!

Now, I think I may need to speak with that certain PET COmpany manager that sold him these fish. They told him that African Cichlids are the hardiest freshwater fish and don't need a cycle. im like huh?!?!?
Click to expand...

This is Petco speak for - I want to make my monthly sales quota and these fish will help.

frankly I dunno if they have a quota or not but he/she certainly doesn't have any business acumen. I would have sold the tank AND sold the fish, but insisted the fish be kept in a separate tank at their store and to come back in a week or two after the tank cycled to pick them up. He makes the sale and keeps a customer long term that way. Of course if the fish die they I'd have to issue a refund/credit. Ideally he doesn't sell any fish and just has them come back to buy it. But I would bet most people impulse buy and if he didn't pay for the cichlids then, probably would go to some other store and get them later.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
They knew they were selling to somebody new in the hobby (new tank) so I am sure they just assumed that if the fish die the person will think it is their fault and come back and buy more fish. Good thing your brother had you to help.
 
M

maroon

Well, one of them died this morning. Probably not due to water quality but rather because they are so aggressive and recommended that you overstock your tank with them. With only 5, they will probably all die and have only one stay alive at the end. I would tell him to buy more, but that owuld just dig the hole even deeper, so I just told him to return them. I didn't know they give refunds on dead livestock, I'll be sure to let him know that as well. Thanks guys!

But seriously, there should be some decency in these shops that sell LIVE fish. I mean the person that sold the cichlids to my brother had a 180 gallon Cichlid tank at home, so he definetely knew what he was doing...just makes me wonder how many fish are going to die in these endless push towards profits... :-[
 
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