Questions about chemicals in cichlid tank??

ChevGirl

ChevGirl

AC Members
Oct 21, 2005
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Hi,
I have a 29gl Cichlid tank and I was wondering if anyone puts any chemicals in theirs? We always condition the water when doing water changes, and we have some chemical to reduce fish loss when adding new fish and we also have some waste control. I was just wondering what do anyone here use in their tanks, or if I should stop using any chemicals at all? We also put aquarium salt when doing water changes. :confused:
 
You don't need all those chemicals and salt, don't waste your money. All you need is a good water conditioner/dechlorinator for water changes if you use tap water. I recommend Seachem's Prime.
 
We did read somewhere that is the fish get the Ick disease, salt is good for that. But we do condition the water but it's not the usual tap water we have, it's from a well, sort of. And I do live in Canada, so we don't have the same product as you do.
 
I second what slappy said, dont waste your money.

Adding a dechorinator is good even for well water because most of them also remove heavy metals from the water.

Depending on what cichlids you have, you may want to buffer the water to the correct pH. Salt can be added if you want, but usually you only add it when your fish are ill (such as ich, but also for other things).

And we have the same products as the states up here... at least in vancouver, and they may work and they may not, but you dont need them. I have bottles and bottles of 'waste control' that were given to me and ive never touched them, 'cycle' too, they arent needed at all.

:)
-Diana
 
Yes, if the fish develop Ick you can treat the disease with salt and raised temps...after the Ick is cured, the salt should be removed through water changes. If you use well water then you shouldn't need a dechlorinator either...at least not to remove chlorine/chloramines anyway.
 
When doing the water changes, our PH is always at 8.0, and we don't have any chlorine in the water. I think this well water we have is the best for our cichlids. :thm: But I will take your advice and not put any more chemicals in my tank. BTW my cichlids are :
An Auratus
A Red Zebra
3 others that we are not sure of, but we think one might be a Albino Kenyi and we will be adding a Yellow Lab and another Kenyi.
 
Bad idea, 29 gallons is too small for africans, other than maybe a trio of yellow labs.

You should really do some research on these species before you buy them: auratus and kenyi are some of the most aggressive mbuna, and will make a quick lunch out of the more peaceful yellow lab.

For those fish your gonna need AT THE VERY LEAST a 55 gallon tank, much bigger if you want to go for an aggressive tank (which the bulk of your fish are anyways) and to overstock (should have a tank at least 75 gallons).

So you are going to need to upgrade asap, even if your fish are small! They get territorial fast and you'll end up with just one left in the end.

Check out http://www.malawimayhem.com for more information on these fish.

:)
-Diana
 
Everyone always told us that our cichlids will eat each other, but they really do get along very well. Since they are in the 29 gallons their fins are all intact and they don't fight each other. We did our research for our fish and we know that we need a min of 55gl tank. We will get one because we love our fish we have. But I just find it funny that everyone tells us that they will attack each other, but nothing ever happened since we had them. :huh:
 
Aggression develops and increases as the fish mature. Currently how large are your fish?

(sorry ~*luvmykribs*~, you beat me to it)
 
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