African Cichlid / Water Change info

[liv2padl]

hmmm, those articles are right. i misread the columns on my 'chart' and took the parameters from the Lake Tanganyikan side. thanks for catching that.

 

[wobble]

my recommendation is use your tap water, treat it for chlorine/chloramine and add some crushed coral to a small dedicated cannister filter. this will elevate your gH, kH and pH and accomplish everything your Malawi cichlids need for optimum health ... and will be a heck of a lot cheaper than RO water and all those other unneeded commercial chemical products.

"cleaner" in what regard? the absence of any mineral content? true, but fish cannot live in "pure" water and thus you need to purchase special additions such as a product called "RO Right" to add back those very minerals which the RO filter has removed. while your tap water 'may' have an insignificant level of ammonia, your biofilter should remove this without your need to do anything about it chemically.

I agree. With your numbers, it would be very easy to have a ph crash. The crushed coral will act as a safety net to keep your ph higher than 7.0.

Malawi cichlids don't need the exact specs as the lake. You can be a little outside those parameters. Afterall, unless you got some wild caught fish, they were tank raised and I doubt had those exact water conditions. Water stability is much more important. Maintaining a constant ph is better than the fluctation as one is trying to achieve the "perfect" ph.

 

[rosita]

My 55g has Malawi peacocks. All you need is crushed coral in substrate and I highly recommend keeping with the Seachem Rift Lake Salts. The other additives aren't necessary. Maintain water changes once a week as recommended by others above, with gravel vac. Mine are thriving, and I've had two females actually hatch fry-got 7. They're probably around 7 months old. Just my two taters worth. . .

 

[jaynyfl]

Thanks everyone! I think I have some great ides with all of your help to keep my tank as healthy as possible. I will probably add some more Crushed Coral to my substrate and use a combination of Espsom Salts / Baking soda IF need be to get my hardness up a bit, But are there other benefits BESIDES the PH / GH / KH that some products can add to an African Cichlid aquarium that is really worth the money???

Jason