i adopted this fishy from my friend.she was tired of caring for it and started to let it go.not changing water.keeping up with the parameters.this fish went a long time without a filter and an air pump.the water was filthy when i went to get it.she said the water evaporated fast and she poured water in there everyday so im assuming thats how the fish got its oxygen.the fish came with his home.a 10gl with white gravel,couple of fake plants,a castle and a couple of other silly looking ornaments.as soon as i got the tank and fish i went out got some new gravel,some river rocks,a real plant(starts with an a i forgot name),another fake sword plant,a log with entries and fake plants on it,some water conditioner for chlorine and chloramines,some test strips,a hang on ph testcard and an ammonia alert card and some new food.he was eating goldfish flakes.got him some floating and sinking cichlid food he just spits those out but loves the leftover goldfish flakes and beefheart i got him.oh also an aquatech 10 to 15gl filter and air pump.
now for the problems.im guessing the tank is cycling cuz of the new filter,gravel and decor.my ph 7.8,alkalinity between 80 and 120,hardness 300,nitrate 40,now the problem two nitrite and ammonia.nitrite and ammonia keep rising ill do a partial water change about 15 to 30 percent on the weekend.sun,mon,tue are fine then midweek nitrite bam 3.0 overnight and ammonia is below noticeable,then bam ammonia 0.03.then keep rising if i dont add this kordon ammonia/nitrite/nitrate detoxifier plus. add 5ml of that stuff and the ammonia stabilizes but nitrites stay the same.go to work and bam ammonia again.
how do i deal with this?i know this specific fish should be in a 30gl plus tank but i cant afford to buy a 30gl,new filter more gravel,more river rocks,more decor and not to mention nowhere sturdy enough to handle the 300lb plus tank so i would need a stand.helpppppppppppppppp