Well I`ve recently had a right nightmare with the Malawi tank
I tested my water one morning last week and the nitrites were off the chart! My male Jacobfreibergi was looking really bad, he was listless, floating onto his side and gasping like mad, I really thought he was going to die
So, a 90% water change and another test which still showed the nitrites to be 0.50, then a couple of hours later another 90% water change at which point the levels were down to 0.25. By this time it was 2.15 in the morning and I had to go to bed, (bearing in mind it`s a 389L tank it took a while to do the water changes even though I`m now using a home made python) so I added some more media from the FX5 on the Tang tank and hoped for the best
I came down in the morning and Jacob had moved behind some rocks but was moving around more. I did another 50% water change and within an hour or so Jacob was out and about a bit more.
Since then he`s improved massively and he`s definitely got his va va voom back, he and his female are constantly getting jiggy with each other
I`ve tested the water every day since last week and everything seems to have stablised, nitrites are 0, ammonia 0, nitrates at approx 40 (40 from tap).
As the levels are now stable I`ve ordered a few more fish which are due to be delivered on Tuesday. 6 socolofi, pair of Taiwan reef and 3 male OB Fire. Will post pics once they`ve settled in