Cichlids

wilson004

AC Members
Jun 29, 2005
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does anybody know of a calcultor for baking soda to increase the ph or how much baking soda is needed to increase so many gallons, and also i have 2 electric blue but there not very colourful. will they be more colourful as they age?one is like kind of brown and the other is a blueish white..thanks for any help!
 
my water is right around 7.0 right now, what is the max i can put the ph without causing problems to the fish,id just like to know im gunna try and keep my tank around 8 tho but if i go slightly over i wanan know if it will hurt them,thanks
 
IMO, 7.0 is about perfect, I dont know why you would want to raise it. Alot of times you can do more harm then good, messing with your PH. Sudden fluctuations will cause alot of stress on the fish. In a well aged tank, your PH will lower naturally. Have you tested the PH out of your tap water?
 
7.0 is not perfect for rift lake cichlids, which is what electric blues are.

Wilson, do you have a high range test kit? When I started with my rift lake cichids, I tried to follow those things, but they don't work very well. My recommendation would be to start with adding a teaspoon of baking soda into your tank and see where that gets you. I would aim for a pH between 8 and 8.0 for your guys.

As for the color, how big are they, what tank mates, are ammonia and nitrite 0ppm?
 
nitrite 0, ammonia 0, nitrate 20, there is 2 electric yellows, 2 electric blues, 1 demasoni, 1 borleyi, and 1 other fish my mom got, i dont know what it is tho its like black with red fins but its not a shark. the yellows are only 1.5 inches,blues are about 2,demasoni is like 3, and the 2 others are about 2, but only the blues arent very colourful
 
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I've kept yellow labs and rustys in water with ph in the high 8s, even had yellow lab fry coming from this water.

I would be more concerned about keeping a STABLE ph, which is easier to do when you don't try to change it too much from it's natural state.
 
2"?
Geez, I would think the fish are still too young to hit full coloration.

Is there proof that changing the pH will affect their coloration?
I've only heard of raising the temps to get the coloration more intense...
 
I had the same problem with cichlids and low pH. I used crushed coral and sea shells. One tank the crushed coral was mixed with the substrate. The other tank I have crushed coral in bags (aquarium baggies, not sure of what they are called) inside my filter. Worked like a charm!
 
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