Tilapia in un-cycled aquariums

[Cengiz BAYAZIT]

Hi All,

I had 15 female Tilapia in 1 tank and 5 males in another with automatic fish feeders on them. I couldn't go and see the fish for 5 days due to the weather here. Finally I got there and 3 of my 5 males were dead in foul water.

So, in an effort to save my fish, I brought them to my apartment and set up 2 new aquariums 25 gallons each, put 5 females and 1 male in each. Obviously the tanks were not cycled. My ammonia is 3-5ppm and nitrites are at 0.1ppm. pH is 8.1, and temp is at 25C.

I keep doing daily 30-40% water changes , but the ammonia is more stubborn than the fresh water I add.

I added some bacteria today (filterstart from jbl) . It's been 5 days now, the fish are 6" + in size and are a little darker than usual, but swimming arround happily. I haven't fed them for 2 days now.

Any/all advice is welcome at this point. Immediate/intermediate suggestions please.....

Thanks in advance...

[Alex Veidel]

Keep doing what you're doing. Everything seems to be looking pretty good, even if your ammonia is a little high. I'd keep cutting back on feeding a little. Tilapia can go over a week without food (I think at least two weeks) and the less they eat, the less they poop. If you're fish are looking happy, then you're doing things right :)

Keep an eye on those nitrite levels; don't let them build up.

[Cengiz BAYAZIT]

I'm also reducing the temperature to slow down the fishes metabolism. How do I suppress the nitrites?

[Alex Veidel]

With water changes. Until your system finishes cycling, there's not much else you can do with it.