Water softener and African Cichlids...

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Kevin007

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May 27, 2008
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I have a water softener set up at home and plan to keep african cichlids in the very near future. I think my only solution is to use buffers. There is no store a 55 Gallon bucket of non softened water. Which buffer would you recommend? I searched up Seachem and they have 2 products, one is cichlid lake salt and one is Malawi/Victoria buffer, I think seachem recommends you to use both of them, what do you guys do?

OT: For those who live in Ontario, Toronto, do you know where to get limestone or pool filter sand? there is this rumour and silica sand is not being sold in Ontario anymore, is this true? Will I have to settle with something else?
 
My home also uses a water softener; do yourself a favor and make sure it uses potassium chloride salt, not sodium chloride. Your fish and plants will thank you for it.

What is the existing pH, KH (carbonate) and GH (general) of your softened tap water? This will largely determine what you need to do in terms of chemical additions. Make sure you let your water sample sit out overnight before measuring. One of the users here (jpappy) mentioned early on to me when I was setting up my Lake Tang. tank that as long as the KH is high enough to maintain a stable pH, the level of KH is less important than the GH for the health of the fish. I have also found this to be true. IMO one of the easiest things you can do is to use a cichlid appropriate substrate (limestone content etc.) to help buffer the water without the addition of chemicals. Alternatively, placing limestone in a canister filter can also help maintain conditions that are cichlid approved without the addition of other powders or buffers. In general, you do NOT want to manipulate the tank pH needlessly.

The Seachem buffers are good products, but it can be far more economical to use baking soda or Epsom salt to control these parameters. Baking soda increases KH and pH but has little effect on GH. Epsom salt raises GH nicely but has minimal effect on either the KH or the GH. Depending on the levels you want for your specimens, you can experiment to find out what amount of each product needs to be re-added at water changes to miantain optimum levels. It takes some trial and error to determine the right amounts.

For example, I used a standard 'cichlid complete' substrate that helped bring my tank water to a pH of 8.2 with a stable KH of 9. I have no need to alter either of these parameters. However, the all-important GH of my softened water is a measly 4..... way too low for Lake Tang or Malawi cichlids. With each 50% water change, I maintain a GH of 16-18 by adding in 5 tablespoons of dissolved Epsom salt. The one commercial product I do use is Cichlid Essential to restore certain trace minerals that are removed via softening and that are important to cichlid health.
 
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Kevin007 said:
Alright, I'll post the water chemistry as soon as possible, maybe even as soon as tomorrow. I have never kept cichlids before and did not find the need to have a GH and KH test kit, so i'll have to get it tomorrow.

I currently use this one: http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...quariumpharmaceuticalsfreshwatermastertestkit

I guess I'll need to buy this tommorow: http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA...17/cl0/nutrafintestkitghkhfreshwatersaltwater
Click to expand...

......subscribing to thread. The API GH/KH test kit is another good choice, and might be a little less expensive than the Hagen kit. Yeah, these parameters are really important for cichlid communities; more so than for other tank set-ups. Low GH and too low pH in particular can lead to osmotic imbalance for Tang/Malawi species and subsequent death so you're making the right move for the long-term health of your tank :grinyes:
 
Definitely! Is there any chance of petsmart or bigals price matching the online USA bigals store?

i can save alot of money on the test kit and new filter for the cichlids. Look at the price difference from the US store and the Canadian store. Do you think my Big Als or petsmart will price match the USA store?

Canada: http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/...rmastertestkit
USA: http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS...rmastertestkit

Canada: http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17898/si1319896/cl0/eheimfilter2217pluskit
USA: http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl3684/cp17290/si1382920/cl0/eheimfilter2217pluskit
 
What pH and KH does your tap water settle out at? Seachem's Cichlid Lake Salt is always good, but not a buffer. I used Proper pH 8.2 with great results.
 
I just came across this thread, I live in an area of Nevada that has HARD water upwards around of 7.8-8. I just moved to the new house and have yet to restart my 100 Gallon. I don't like fiddling with water chemistry if i can avoid it, & want to go with fish that will be happy in my water. I also want to go with a sandy bottom and i keep thinking africans. I have never raised these but i know they like hard water but not sure how hard it need to be and how hard is TOO hard. what do you africans experts think ? any help tips would be appreciated.
 
This would be better as its own thread.

African rift lake cichlids are perfect. Lake Malawi is the usual. Most think of mbunas when they think of Africans, but I prefer peacocks. They are more beautiful and colorful, have nowhere near the aggression issues that mbunas have, and are much better to deal with.

There are articles in my blog about mbunas, peacocks, and sand.
 
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