PH, GH, KH numbers ok for Malowi tank?

[JimZi]

I'm putting together a 75 gallon setup hopefully for cichlids.... Malawi I'm thinking especially yellow labs. Anyway, I have well water and here are my test results.

PH 7.6
GH 0-1
KH 5

I've been using my well water in my community tank for 4 months now and it maintains the 7.6 PH with no problem but I'm wondering if I will have to do more like use some coral in my filter and maybe some crushed coral in my gravel as well? Thanks.

 

[liv2padl]

your water chemistry is not appropriate for African cichlids. the numbers you want for Malawi cichlids are:

pH 7.7-8.6
gH ( hardness) 160-280ppm
buffer capacity (kH) - 180-240 ppm

1° hardness = 17.8 ppm

you need crushed coral and some Rift Lake cichlid salts by Seachem or similar.

 

[mostlycichlids]

I use seachems products to buffer my water they have great salts and products for african cichlids and the work the best for me. I use cichlid lake salt and lake malawi buffer.

 

[wobble]

Here's some great info on setting up a Malawi tank:
http://www.malawimayhem.com/articles_setup_01.shtml

Here's a quote from that article:

"Malawi cichlids come from a rift lake in East Africa (Lake Malawi) that is very much alkaline (pH 7.5 to around 8.8) yet has relatively soft to medium hard water at best. (4-6 dGH and 6-8 dKH)."

You're current water is close. If you decided to use some buffering substrate, it would probably put you right where you need to be.

 

[JimZi]

Thanks. I want the best conditions for the fish and don't want to try and really stretch the parameters. As long as I'm in the ballpark and can adjust a bit to get it near perfect I think I'll probably go for it. The last thing I want to do is try to do a major altering of my water to make it right which might not work in the long run.
Thanks for the tips and I look forward to hearing more, learning more and getting it right long before putting any fish in the tank!!

 

[wobble]

If you are within the limits (even lower limits) then I wouldn't spend time adding chemical buffers. It's more important to keep stable water paremeters, rather than constantly trying to achieve the "perfect" water conditions. Your fish will appreciate it.

Good luck!

 

[JimZi]

What do you guys think of Eco-Complete Cichlid sand? I actually like the appearance of it and it looks like it will also help with the water parameters.

 

[Lady G]

I had the eco-cichlid sand, and I liked it had no problems with it and it did help with my water.