want to switch to a cichlid tank
- Thread starter ch-47 soldier
- Start date
right now my tank is full of mollies, platies, swordtails, guppies, 3 rummynose tetras, 1 albino rainbow shark, 1 pleco, 2 skunk cories, some apple snails, and an unidentified catfish.
i was looking to add the malawis whenever possible.
I'd do what AC suggested above, and in the meantime you might wanna pick up a small bag of crushed coral and stick some of it in your filter, that'll buffer the kh, gh along with ph and make the water params stable enough to not have to use buffering chemicals.
Hey Ib3ak - good to see you back around the site 
Ch47 - you'll have to move out your current stock and move in some malawis the same day, or your bacteria will begin to die off; that or feed the bacteria (some fish food...source of pure ammonia alternatively).
You probably want to do something like move out current stock to wherever they are going and on the same day introduce one group of your mbuna - the least aggressive. Then add each successive group a week to ten days later when you have verified that the bio filter has caught up.
As Ib3ak says, using substrate to buffer Ph is better than adding chemicals.
Ch47 - you'll have to move out your current stock and move in some malawis the same day, or your bacteria will begin to die off; that or feed the bacteria (some fish food...source of pure ammonia alternatively).
You probably want to do something like move out current stock to wherever they are going and on the same day introduce one group of your mbuna - the least aggressive. Then add each successive group a week to ten days later when you have verified that the bio filter has caught up.
As Ib3ak says, using substrate to buffer Ph is better than adding chemicals.
yeah but you cant beat the look of Texas holey rock it makes a tank pop i know its a little spendy but wow does it look good..
You always want some aerating effect.
Easiest is to place filter outlets so as to ripple the surface of the water, use a spraybar something like that - not hard at all.
I agree with Pitbull on the Holey Rock - well worth the money.
I'd have to agree with the two Colers. I don't use aerators except on tanks where extra oxygen is needed ( i.e. when elevating tank temps to treat for disease ). Most often the water movement caused by the filtration is enough.
You can buy crushed coral at your local hardware store. Basically a bag of crushed shell. Mix this in with your choice of sand ( pool filter sand with black moon sand turns out nice ). This is fairly cheap and will buffer your water to where you'd be fine. Chemical additives are difficult to manage and can cause rapid swings in your pH which is worse than having a steady, albeit not ideal pH.
A higher hardness level ( which crushed coral/ limestone, etc. ), will help keep the pH stable and the upper 7's are fine for Mbuna.
My concern is your nitrites. How old is the tank? You're nearly through the cycle but I would still wait until you hit zero before making the switch. Mbuna are messy, and will add an extra bio-load to your tank right away.
A higher hardness level ( which crushed coral/ limestone, etc. ), will help keep the pH stable and the upper 7's are fine for Mbuna.
My concern is your nitrites. How old is the tank? You're nearly through the cycle but I would still wait until you hit zero before making the switch. Mbuna are messy, and will add an extra bio-load to your tank right away.
