Lethargic Jack Dempsey

[Larryfish]

Okay. So I bought a jack Dempsey from petco along with a thirteen gallon complete setup 1 day prior to buying the fish. . Anyway. I bought five comet goldfish because I'm new to this and the manager at perform said they would die overnight and that my tank would be cycled and have the bacteria it needs within 24 hours. 24 hours came. And the goldfish were still alive. So I went back to petco and the same manager told me that it would be okay to now put the jack Dempsey in the tank. I noticed he was being a little sluggish today. So I donated the goldfish back to the store and checked my ammonia levels which were sky high because of the goldfish and the tank not being properly cycled(didn't know this beforehand). I bought live bacteria and put it in the tank but he still is barely moving. What do I do??

 

[Larryfish]

The jack is only about 1 1/2 inches long. I know the tank is small. And I'm planning on upgrading very soon.

 

[ehh]

50% water change. Test the water tomorrow. Probably gonna have to do another water change. Repeat until cycle has completed. Should take a couple weeks.

Btw, you're gonna need a bigger tank in about two months. My jack Dempsey, which I bought at around the same size as yours, grew to about 6" quickly.

 

[Larryfish]

50% water change. Test the water tomorrow. Probably gonna have to do another water change. Repeat until cycle has completed. Should take a couple weeks.

Btw, you're gonna need a bigger tank in about two months. My jack Dempsey, which I bought at around the same size as yours, grew to about 6" quickly.

But will the fish suffer long term affects? Or will he die ?

 

[ehh]

well he can die from ammonia poisoning. and if he doesn't die then i wouldn't doubt that long term exposure to ammonia would cause some long term problems.

 

[tarheel96]

How high was your total ammonia? It could have read high if your tap water contains chloramine (chlorine and ammonia) with the goldfish not contributing as much ammonia as you might had suspected. In either case, I'd recommend dosing with Prime to detoxify ammonia if you're going to do a fish-in cycle. Ammonia (and nitrite) are extremely toxic and you'd need to dose with Prime on a daily basis until sufficient colonies of nitrosomonas and nitrobacter have established themselves in your filter media. You would need to dose with Prime daily because its effects wear off after ~24 hrs and ammonia will become highly toxic again.

What kind of filtration are you using? How soon and whether or not you can ever get ammonia and nitrite to read zero depends on the amount of biological filtration you're using. The 'cycling' process can take up to 2 months to complete.

Aside from Prime, the only other water conditioner I know for sure that detoxifies ammonia is Amquel.

 

[o5b0rn3b]

You need a large water change right now, then another tomorrow. After that, I'd be doing daily 30% water changes at the least. Your fish should be fine if you keep up on that until you are cycled. Cichlids are rather hardy, though he is small and either way I can't promise you zero problems. Keep up daily water changes for 4-8 weeks until you are fully cycled, I'm assuming you have a test kit if you can read your ammonia.

Also as stated before, you're going to need a bigger tank not soon after you're cycled. My JD grew an inch a month until about 6" and reached 9" within a year.

 

[Larryfish]

You need a large water change right now, then another tomorrow. After that, I'd be doing daily 30% water changes at the least. Your fish should be fine if you keep up on that until you are cycled. Cichlids are rather hardy, though he is small and either way I can't promise you zero problems. Keep up daily water changes for 4-8 weeks until you are fully cycled, I'm assuming you have a test kit if you can read your ammonia.

Also as stated before, you're going to need a bigger tank not soon after you're cycled. My JD grew an inch a month until about 6" and reached 9" within a year.

I used half of a one ounce bottle of fritzzyme because I was told that it would help. I only have half the bottle left ? Can I still make the water changes without the product ?

 

[Larryfish]

He seems to be doing a little better. But he is way darker then he was when I first got him. ? Is this a sign of stress?

 

[ehh]

I used half of a one ounce bottle of fritzzyme because I was told that it would help. I only have half the bottle left ? Can I still make the water changes without the product ?

Testing the water will tell you if you need to do more water changes.