Speak to me of "needle fish"

[toddnbecka]

African cichlids aren't impossible, all you need to do is add epsom salt and baking soda to your water to raise the Kh, gh, and pH. The best thing about baking soda for that purpose, no matter how much you use the pH won't go higher than 8.2. Using more will raise the Kh, which determines the stability of the pH. Epsom slat will raise the gh, but won't affect the pH.
Here's a link with a bit more detail: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php

 

[Ruben Tolon]

Also, the Leporinus fasciatus is a big choice for a 55 as they get large, active, and pretty aggressive.

 

[keiferd]

I say just go with african cichlids. Maintaining the PH isn't hard at all. I bought this Tanganyika buffer at my LFS and added 1 teaspoon in my 37 gallon and the ph shot up to about 9. I did a water change after that and its now around 7.8. Since then I add a sprinkle of it every other water change and It maintains at 7.8-8 and this jar of buffer will last me 3 lifetimes and I payed 8$ for it. Well worth it. African cichlids are some of the most intelligent FW fish I've seen. If I start walking towards the tank from 20 feet away they see me and get excited to be interacted with. They regularly eat from my hand and love to be pet.

 

[keiferd]

I'd also like to note that even when the PH was above 9 for a few days It didn't seem to bother the cichlids or the mollies I had at the time for cycling, they were extremely active. As long as it is a little above 7 you should be fine Malawi mbunas are a very hardy fish. You should be more worried about them killing each other than you killing them

 

[Nottingham]

Are you using a water softener in your home by chance?

Most fish will adapt to most any water chemistry as long as it is stable. Trying to change it can lead to problems in fluctuations.

Unfortunately, this is my boyfriend's parents' house and yes, they use crazy ridiculous water softeners. Even the outside spigot is passed through the water softener! It drives me crazy, even for simple things like washing my hair I forget to use a miniscule amount of shampoo and then I'm rinsing for years. So we put the coral in to lower (raise? I don't know) the gH and kH and then the pH went through the roof. So we were trying to stablize the pH when disaster struck in the form of a nasty ice storm that knocked out all the power lines.

So to clarify, would a mbuna tank be feasible even without the coral? If we just are consistent with the same water source the fish will adjust to higher than ideal pH and softer water?

THANKS for that link! I've got it Favourited and everything

Yes, we did realize that those stripey dudes were probably a bad idea. They were probably only 1.5 in when we got them and at the time of the tradegy they were at least 7 or 8 in and FAT. Again, we didn't see any issues with aggression but perhaps it hadn't had time to manifest itself yet.

 

[jpappy789]

Unfortunately, this is my boyfriend's parents' house and yes, they use crazy ridiculous water softeners. Even the outside spigot is passed through the water softener! It drives me crazy, even for simple things like washing my hair I forget to use a miniscule amount of shampoo and then I'm rinsing for years. So we put the coral in to lower (raise? I don't know) the gH and kH and then the pH went through the roof. So we were trying to stablize the pH when disaster struck in the form of a nasty ice storm that knocked out all the power lines.

So to clarify, would a mbuna tank be feasible even without the coral? If we just are consistent with the same water source the fish will adjust to higher than ideal pH and softer water?

THANKS for that link! I've got it Favourited and everything

Yes, we did realize that those stripey dudes were probably a bad idea. They were probably only 1.5 in when we got them and at the time of the tradegy they were at least 7 or 8 in and FAT. Again, we didn't see any issues with aggression but perhaps it hadn't had time to manifest itself yet.

SO I assume that there isnt a faucet that bypasses the softener than...can you do that manually? Have you tried any kitchen sinks???

Generally I advise against moving the pH or Gh but africans do much better in pH's over 7.8. Carefully raising the levels is definitely possible but the key word is carefully . The link provided is great...

 

[Nottingham]

Nope, everything is passed through the softener. My boyfriend's father hooked it up and didn't think to leave at least one free faucet. As for manually unhooking it, if you met my boyfriend's father you'd understand what a bad idea that is