African Cichlid Emergency!?

I have a African Cichlid Tank.
I've had African Cichlid's for a long time.
Tank was cleaned yesterday. Filter and water change was invloved. Water is tap water dumped in with large containers.
My problem is within 24 hours of cleaning tank 6 fish have died. I have run into many problems with Cichlids this one has me confused. I'm trying to save rest of fish. There are some bubles on surface of water. Can someone please help me!
Answers:
You should not change water and filters at the same time. You lose too many beneficial bacteria that way. I don't feed my tanks the day of and the day after a water or filter change to give the lost bacteria a chance to regrow without being overloaded with fish waste. I would assume your tank is spiking, or the containers/water was contaminated. Stop feeding your fish for a few days and do a 25% water change now and in two days. Consider using salt for freshwater fish as it will slow down the absorption of contaminated water and fight off secondary problems.
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cichlids some times kill each other and you should probaly wash out the tank one more time and the fish theat are still alive put them in a bole for 24 hours but make sure its a deep bole or else they willl jump out and make sure you dont over feed them

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Ok, I'm assuming you did this since you say you've had your fish for some time, but you didn't specify above, so start with step one--did you add dechlorinator (water conditioner) to the water? If not, that is why your fish are dead.

If you did, step 2: Did you change all the water? If not, what percentage? If you changed more than 50%, you may have altered the pH too much and the fish are in shock.

Option 3: Did you add anything to the tank when you cleaned it? Did you scrub it with soap, bleach, etc? (This could be the root of the bubbles you said you had.)

Option 4: Did you check the water temperature before you added it to the tank? If it was too hot or too cold, this could be the root of your problem.

I doubt the bubbles are the problem, unless there are A LOT (from soap). They are most likely from the protein in the water conditioner.

I would suggest taking a sample of your water into a pet store ASAP (if you don't have a test kit yourself). Ask them to test for ammonia, nitrates, and pH. If these are all in the normal range (and remember cichlids often like a higher pH than tropical fish, so make sure you tell whoever is testing your water what you have), then you might take a second look at your fish and make sure there are no signs of disease that may have just coincided with your water change.

Good luck! Hope this helps!

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Tap water usually has too much Chlorine in it and will kill all fish. For now get some bottled water and save the remaining fish then use bottled water or tabs to treat your water first. Even letting water sit in a bucket overnight may not work due to the use of chloramines that will not evaporate out. Chlorine levels can vary in different periods in tap water. Good luck . In the future you might try 1/3 water changes instead of 100% which your fish may not tolerate as well. Good luck and thanks for posting this question

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I'm not an expert, although I am an Af-Cichlid owner myself, but it sounds like you have contaminated your water. Especially as you have bubbles on the water surface, I'd guess your cleaning or water change perhaps used a container that was washed with soap at one time and some residue remained.

I'd get fresh water in a clean bucket and get the fish out of the aquarium ASAP. Then call your local fish store, see if they'll put your fish in a rehab tank while you sanitize your own tank. Hopefully they can give you the best advice.

Good luck.

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If your fish that died aren't new then that would eliminate the fact that sometimes pet stores sell sick fish.Another thing is you can cause Ick which is a disease that fish can get from dirty water from over feeding or not changing the filter enough..Also you should take care in how you treat your tap water. There is a water treatment made by tetra that works real well %26 they also make a water clearifier..You need to do a good clean but you don't want to kill all bacteria in tank because there needs to be a certain level conducive with fish, not much but some.I have Oscars %26 they are usually hearty fish meaning tough so go over all I mentioned and see what happens!