Converting cichlid tank to softer water

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karen99

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Nov 21, 2005
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I have a healthy Malawi tank, set up for about 6 months which is very heavily filtered. When I set it up I added a small amount of pea gravel (mostly limestone) to the regular aquarium gravel for the cichlids. I can't remove that gravel now.
Well, the cichlids have been a big disappointment - no matter what I do they remain very skittish and I rarely even see them. I don't get to enjoy them and I don't think they're very happy.
So - I am now planning to sell the cichlids and try some different fish.
I've always liked the look of rosy barbs and the tank is big enough to hold a small school of them. My question is: will the limestone gravel be a problem? I plan to put some driftwood in which might help a bit...
Or is it better to stick to hard water fish?
 
you could use reverse osmosis water and still keep the pea gravel. i don't know what your budget is though. r.o. water will be at about 5.0 ph before adding minerals.
 
here's some advice regarding your malawi cichlids which 'may' help you to enjoy them more ... and cause you to keep them rather than get rid of them.

if you want these species to behave normally, you've got to maintain them in groups of 4-5 .. one male + 3-4 females of the same species. a 50 gallon tank of malawi cichlids might hold two groups of 5 cichlids representing two different species, or three groups of four cichlids representing three different species.

then you need lots of rocks ... with at least one cave for each fish in the tank.

finally, understand that these fish are 'algae scrapers' and will spend a great deal of time perusing the rocks for algae .. "IF" you've got algae for them to feed on.

if you didn't meet their needs, then their behaviour was abnormal. if you met their needs and you still didn't appreciate them, then by all means trade them in for some other fish you may prefer.
 
Unfortunately RO water isn't in my budget... and I was really hoping not to remove the gravel. I guess I will have to look for fish that like the hard water.

As for the cichlids, I don't have the ideal grouping of fish as they were fish given to me by a friend who bought them as misc cichlids. He had the cichlids (including a few very aggressive species that I sold off) in a planted 35 gallon hex with a few bricks and no caves... not the ideal setup but it looked beautuful and the fish seemed happy. I moved them to my tank, set up with better water conditions and lots of caves (broken flowerpots) and they just disappeared into their caves and I never see them. They are 3 zebras (1 m, 2 f), 1 male powder blue, and 1 female saulosi, as far as I can tell. I don't see any aggression problems, but then again, I don't really see the fish often.
 
What's the pH and alkalinity of your tap water? If they're quite low you might be able to keep the limestone pebbles. If it's already on the high end then you should remove it.
 
karen99 said:
I have a healthy Malawi tank, set up for about 6 months which is very heavily filtered. When I set it up I added a small amount of pea gravel (mostly limestone) to the regular aquarium gravel for the cichlids. I can't remove that gravel now.
Well, the cichlids have been a big disappointment - no matter what I do they remain very skittish and I rarely even see them. I don't get to enjoy them and I don't think they're very happy.
So - I am now planning to sell the cichlids and try some different fish.
I've always liked the look of rosy barbs and the tank is big enough to hold a small school of them. My question is: will the limestone gravel be a problem? I plan to put some driftwood in which might help a bit...
Or is it better to stick to hard water fish?
Click to expand...


I've had 2 rosy barbs for about six months, only 1 now (other died about a month ago, he ate a baby snail :-/)

They really are not the best fish. Mine, well, they were kind of stupid. They constantly run into stuff, and their also very vicious. You cant mix them with anything. If you want em, go get em, but Im just telling you...their not the best. But they were the first two I had ever bought, and I still have 1, they are pretty hardy.
 
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