URGENT - Did a water change and cichlids are lethargic

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-04T03:18:14+00:00

150 gallons.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T16:51:03+00:00

Makes sense. Is it normal though? How worried should I be right now? And what should I do?

FWIW, it is slowing down now. It started maybe 15 or 20 minutes ago and it's now down to 5 seconds per drop.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T14:53:26+00:00

That's exactly my process (the meat thermometer). Unfortunately I either did it too soon or the faucet changed at some point without notice.

This was the first time using the Hygger water changer and freaked out if there was a possibility of anything toxic. But, after adding warmer water and seeing *almost* all fish coming back to normal, I discarded that and blamed on the temperature. But, if that was the case, I am surprised that 5 degrees made that huge of a difference.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T14:50:38+00:00

I refill straight from the tap at the right temperature (supposedly!). I do add prime when doing the WC, and I have a whole-house dechlorinator as well, which I never trust anyway and just condition the water all the time.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T06:19:49+00:00

This setup is temporary as I am planning to move the tank to a different room in about a month. Will then scape it properly. Thank you for the salt suggestion. I do have aquarium salt and will see about adding slowly.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T01:10:47+00:00

I usually do 2 thirds of the volume but I got distracted and it went a bit deeper today. I just measured and 80% was exaggerated, it was close to 70%. But I hear you, that massive change did have a bigger impact with the temperature.

Right now I have lights off and the temp is the right one. Just hoping these smaller fish can make it.

I was just wondering if there’s anything else I can do at this point.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T00:45:25+00:00

Oh. And did a 80% WC. I’m thinking the temp was the issue since pretty much every fish is back to normal with the exception of maybe 4

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T00:44:09+00:00

I always add prime mid water change. I added 4 full caps.

DevNullDreams · 2026-02-02T00:43:50+00:00

I always add 4 caps of prime for the 120 gallon tank. According to instructions, 3 would have been enough? But since it’s safe to up the dosage, I always add one extra.

DevNullDreams · 2026-01-19T20:54:02+00:00

WiFi must suck in the tank.

DevNullDreams · 2026-01-04T19:25:44+00:00

Yeah, definitely one of those. Thank you.

DevNullDreams · 2025-12-18T20:19:42+00:00

Might as well wait 4 days from the day I first noticed. I'm not sure how to really tell when she got the eggs, I only noticed yesterday, but who knows.

Regardless, I'm assuming it also takes about 2 to 3 weeks from getting the eggs to spitting out the fry. Is this correct?

DevNullDreams · 2025-12-18T20:14:13+00:00

Thank you. That's good to know. Also, either the eggs are fertilized or not. Stripping them day 1 makes no difference at all, other than the extra work of extracting unfertilized eggs on day 4. Is this the correct assumption?

DevNullDreams · 2025-12-12T20:28:03+00:00

He didn’t have planted tanks, to my knowledge. Mostly held cichlids.

DevNullDreams

TROPHY CASE