African Cichlid / Water Change info

J

jaynyfl

AC Members
Oct 3, 2005
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Hello! I have a 65 Gallon African Cichlid (Lake Malawi) tank. When I do my monthly water changes I am aware that I should treat the water and add some things to my 'new water' (R.O) to have my Cichlids stay as healthy as possible. I sometimes feel like I am overdoing it.

I currently add Prime to my water, Seachem Rift Lake Salt, Seachem Malawi Buffer, Kent Cichlid Essentials, and Weiss Bacter Vital.

I have my eye on a few other products but dont want to overdo it. Can anyone advise what the best 'combo' is of products to treat and 'enhance' my water to promote healthy & happy, growing and colorful Africans???

Thanks.

Jason
 
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I would suggest weekly water changes instead of monthly.

You may already be overdoing it with additives. Could you post your tap water specs (leave tap water sitting for at least 24 hours) as well as your tank water? ph, kh, gh, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia.
 
I currently add Prime to my water, Seachem Rift Lake Salt, Seachem Malawi Buffer, Kent Cichlid Essentials, and Weiss Bacter Vital.
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you're tilting at windmills here. what purpose do you believe all those chemicals serve? if your water is hard and alkaline already (out of the tap) you need nothing but a chlorine/chloramine neutralizer ... all that other stuff is a waste of your hard earned money. why are you using RO water in the first place? what's your kH, gH, and pH.
 
My goal is to make my water in my tank as suitable as possible for my Lake Malawi cichlids to breed, be healthy & colorful.


What should my kh, gh be at for my Lake Malawi Cichlids? and how critical is that in the general health of my Africans?


I will post the tap water specs later.


Jason

 
Water Conditions

... aren't there other benefits to products like Cichlid Essentials, Cichlid Chemistry besides the KH, GH?

Jason
 
What are your tap readings on the pH, GH, and KH? Need to know what you have before determining what you need.

I really think you should be doing more than monthly water changes.
 

Should I do water changes more frequent than once a month even if my levels (Nitrate/Ammonia) are ok??

PS: what is a safe and acceptable level of Nitrates?

65 Gallon Tank
Primary filter: Marineland Emperor 400
Secondary filter:Fluval 204
 
aren't there other benefits to products like Cichlid Essentials, Cichlid Chemistry besides the KH, GH?
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african cichlids from Lake Malawi thrive in water which is hard and alkaline. if your water out of the tap has a pH of 7.7-8.6, a gH of 240-320 ppm and a kH of 180-240 ppm, then it's just fine for your Malawi's. cichlid "essentials" is not at all essential, cichlid chemistry will not benefit your cichlids at all. the manufacturers bank account will be significantly benefited however and they count on hobbyists like yourself who 'fall for their hype".

if you have low gH, kH and pH out of the tap, then yes, the addition something to elevate these parameters will enhance the color and health of your cichlids. you can achieve this with the addition of crushed coral to system much more cheaply than those other products you've been buying. coral is calcium carbonate .. the calcium half of the molecule will elevate your gH, the carbonate half of the molecule will elevate your kH and pH. a good way to add crushed coral is to set up a dedicated cannister filter filled with crushed coral.

trust me ... all that other stuff is just expensive hype.
 
I think you should do weekly. Nitrates just give you a relative indicator of where your tank is going. The water changes also help remove unwanted DOC's, that we do not have test kits for. It also helps in keeping your tank stable as liv2padl mentions, which can eliminate all those additives.
 
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