STARTING AN AFRICAN CICHLID TANK ADVICE NEEDED

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bert

ENJOYING THE HIGH DESERT OF NEVADA
Nov 2, 2003
279
0
0
NEVADA
www.truckflix.com
I am re-starting my 100 gallon tank after a move and the water here is HARD, it leaves white crusty deposits on fixtures and water spots on glass. I want to raise fish that will thrive in this hard water and think african cichlids would be a wise choice. I am not fond of changing PH around with chemicals so africans seem the logical choice. Now for the substrate, I want to go with some kind of sand if possible and I am not familliar with the different kinds available. I see people who have african cichlids using a buffering sand such as crushed coral or cichlid sand that has small shells in it. Can I use the sand sold in fish stores that are used for marine tanks such as reef sand or argonite ? if not, why not ? I don't want a dark sand or a white sand, something in the middle like a tan reef sand. The cichlid sand i see is a black & white mix that looks like salt and pepper and I don't like that because my black gravel i had in my tank before the move turned white when some of the black faded away and i hated it. so what sand can i use and does my hard water need to be buffered to stay hard ? ALSO, which african cichlids do best in very hard water at a PH above 7.9 ?
Bert
DAYTON, NEVADA
 

Pittbull

ALL BOW DOWN TO THE FIN GODS
Apr 14, 2007
7,549
4
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Louisville Kentucky
Real Name
Mike
aragonite reef sand is tan..


with a PH 7.9 thats not entirely to high for africans its good and would be ok for mbuna and others, as for the ph list values malawi expect a ph up to 8.6 tanganyika ph up to 9.0 lake victoria ph up to 8.6 they all can adjust to certain ph values just as long as the ph doesnt drop below 7.8 and if your ph is at 7.9 and add the buffering capacity of substrates i really dont see it raising it to high maybe a few levels higher if at all, would be my guess so you may end up with a ph around 8.0 or a tad bit higher and the sand should maintain the ph and hardness as well, as for my local water we have hard water as well ph is 8.2 and hardness is 375 to 400 thats straight from the tap and i stick with the analogy of keeping fish that meets my water perimeters its a good rule and i so hear you on the manipulating of water to make it harder or softer why bother aye, call me lazy, hehehe, later buddy..

and as a side note if you perform your water changes weekly your ph shouldnt decline its only when you neglect the water changes when you have a drop in ph over time..
 

bert

ENJOYING THE HIGH DESERT OF NEVADA
Nov 2, 2003
279
0
0
NEVADA
www.truckflix.com
I do my water changes every 2 weeks because i like a clean tank. I picked up some light tan pool filter sand and after checking with my LFS in Reno, he downsized to salt water only and walled up 3/4ths of his store. he is low on stock and he said go with the pool filter sand for the africans since tap PH is very high, it may be higher than 7.9 i still have to unpack my gear from the move. I picked the sand up for $11.00 for a 50LB bag and got 3 of them for my 100 Gallon. His ( lfs) sand was $25.-35 bucks for a 20 lb bag of reef sand. the stuff i got is almost the color of the argonite reef sand tan.
 

Pittbull

ALL BOW DOWN TO THE FIN GODS
Apr 14, 2007
7,549
4
0
Louisville Kentucky
Real Name
Mike
cool deal yeah it should be fine my friend and i am so about saving a buck here and there..
 

Pittbull

ALL BOW DOWN TO THE FIN GODS
Apr 14, 2007
7,549
4
0
Louisville Kentucky
Real Name
Mike
:lol: so true my friend.. :dance::dance::dance::dance::dance:
 

bushwhacker

old school newbie
Aug 2, 2008
1,585
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67
westminster sc.
if your worried about the ph dropping mix some crushed coral into the sand your using as a buffer, then when you do your water change toss in a few teaspoons of baking soda that will keep your ph up
 

Pittbull

ALL BOW DOWN TO THE FIN GODS
Apr 14, 2007
7,549
4
0
Louisville Kentucky
Real Name
Mike
cool setups bert cant wait to see what you do next aye..
 

bert

ENJOYING THE HIGH DESERT OF NEVADA
Nov 2, 2003
279
0
0
NEVADA
www.truckflix.com
Thanks. I have my rockscape set up after a lot of trial & error and i am eager to get it filled up. I bought a new filter to replace my 5 year old Magnum 350, I got a Rena XP-4. I am still trying to decide how I want to load my bio-media basket (s) since this thing has 4 large baskets. It came with a few stars but not nearly enough. I am deciding on how to cycle it, with/without fish. I have been studying an african cichlid book i bought and really want to research and stick with certain region and not mix regions in order to keep as much peace as possible. I want to get ones that don't grow very big and stock say, no more than 20-25 in my 100 Gallon if that many. What kinds of scavengers are safe with these fish ?
 
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