Ammonia in cichlid tank.

[CourtneyA]

Hi all,

 I’m new to the hobby and am looking for advice on keeping the ammonia down in my cichlid tank. I’ve got 15 fish in a 55 gallon tank. All mbuna with the exception of two orange splotched cichlids, a blood red parrot  and a common placo. They all get along peacefully. I was going for the idea that they’re less aggressive when it’s stocked up. So far so good....except that ammonia level. I do weekly water changes (50%), use a marine land 375 penguin with the rotating bio wheels, stocked the media basket in the filter with ceramic media and stuffed the baskets of the filter with foam. The tank has been stocked with fish for at least 6-8 weeks. I do have Amazon swords in there. I used a piece of foam from another tank that was already colonized with good bacteria in the filter for a week before I added the fish. 
I’m going to add a sponge filter. Between the moving bed filter and the sponge filter, which one does a better job of bringing the ammonia down?? How much longer should I wait before I expect the see a healthier, more cycled tank? Any advice would be valuable.

[laritheloud]

What are your tank parameters currently? How much ammonia are you seeing, and does the weekly water change stay on top of it?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Hi @CourtneyA I'm not a ciclid keeper so others might have more personal experience. If like you say you "stocked up" you know you might be pushing your capacity to the edge. If your tank was cycled before you added the fish...did you add all the fish at once? That could have shocked the system, hence the ammonia levels. Whenever I add new fish I act like it's a new tank and personally I dose with Seachem Stability. It's been 6-8 weeks now so I'm not sure if that will help you or not. Water changes and Seachem Prime or similar will be your best friend while seeing if your tank ever stabilizes or if you indeed have too high a bioload- options if that's the case would be reducing fish- or adding plants, lots more plants. Filtration will help. I used to run a sponge and an HOB on one of my tanks, now I run 2 smaller sponges in both my 20 gallons. Without knowing further those are just some general ideas about what is going on.