African cichlids

[jredouard25]

What would happen if u were to keep African cichlids in a non-rift valley set up?


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[Demeter32]

What do you mean by "non-rift valley set up"? Are you talking about a planted tank, low pH and soft water, with tropical fish, in a cold water setup?

 

[jredouard25]

What do you mean by "non-rift valley set up"? Are you talking about a planted tank, low pH and soft water, with tropical fish, in a cold water setup?

No


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[Demeter32]

Then please explain what you mean by non-rift valley setting.

 

[fluttermoth]

If you keep fish that need hard water in a tank that has soft water, it will damage their gills and skin, cause respiration problems and, in the long term, organ failure and the fish will die.

It can happen very quickly, or over a period of months, depending on the species of fish and exactly how soft the water is.

 

[jredouard25]

If you keep fish that need hard water in a tank that has soft water, it will damage their gills and skin, cause respiration problems and, in the long term, organ failure and the fish will die.

It can happen very quickly, or over a period of months, depending on the species of fish and exactly how soft the water is.

I was just really curious since I am returning my African cichlids.


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[Colin_T]

You can keep plants with Rift Lake cichlids but because the cichlids do a lot of digging, the plants might end up floating about the tank.

If you have hard alkaline water and have peaceful Rift Lake cichlids they can be kept with some other types of fish that also require hard alkaline water (rainbowfish and some of the bigger livebearers), but the cichlids need to be peaceful.

If you have agro Rift Lake cichlids and mix them with other types of fish, the other fishes will probably get bashed when the cichlids mature.

If you put Rift Lake cichlids into soft acid water they will suffer and usually end up dying

 

[jredouard25]

You can keep plants with Rift Lake cichlids but because the cichlids do a lot of digging, the plants might end up floating about the tank.

If you have hard alkaline water and have peaceful Rift Lake cichlids they can be kept with some other types of fish that also require hard alkaline water (rainbowfish and some of the bigger livebearers), but the cichlids need to be peaceful.

If you have agro Rift Lake cichlids and mix them with other types of fish, the other fishes will probably get bashed when the cichlids mature.

If you put Rift Lake cichlids into soft acid water they will suffer and usually end up dying

Would if an African Cichlid can adapt to soft water conditions and not breed wildly. Like if u breed them in soft waters and through generations they adapt to it? Is that possible has it been done?


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[fluttermoth]

No, it's not possible.

There are some species of fish that are naturally more adaptable than others, but you can't undo thousands of years of evolution with a few generations of captive breeding.

 

[jredouard25]

No, it's not possible.

There are some species of fish that are naturally more adaptable than others, but you can't undo thousands of years of evolution with a few generations of captive breeding.

OOF. What about like. Ok breeding them in there natural water. THEN BY PPM introducing them to normal water ever so slightly. Would tht work or? No period?


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[fluttermoth]

If you want to keep the African cichlids;

First of all, you'll need a separate tank to move them into, filled with the same water as they have now (and, don't forget, you'll need to move some cycled filter medium to the new tank's filter when you move the fish, or you will have ammonia spikes). It need to be decorated with a lot of rocky caves. Don't bother with plants; these fish don't live with plants in the wild, and will just rip them up and make a mess, IME.

Then you can make up your hard water, by dissolving the minerals (they come as a dry mix that looks a bit like salt) in some warm water until it's the hardness you want. Then use that water to do your water changes; you'll want to do a water change every couple of days, as you'll need to get the hardness up quite quickly, but not so quickly that you shock the fish.

Once you've acclimatised your current fish, you will need to add more cichlids; because these fish are so aggressive, you must keep them in an overstocked tank, or the stronger fish will be able to pick on and bully (and very probably kill) the weaker ones.

Because you need to keep Rift valley set ups overstocked, it is essential that you keep a good maintenance regimen; a big filter, preferably an external, and lots of water changes, using your hard water mix. I used to change about 75% weekly on mine.

 

[jredouard25]

If you want to keep the African cichlids;

First of all, you'll need a separate tank to move them into, filled with the same water as they have now (and, don't forget, you'll need to move some cycled filter medium to the new tank's filter when you move the fish, or you will have ammonia spikes). It need to be decorated with a lot of rocky caves. Don't bother with plants; these fish don't live with plants in the wild, and will just rip them up and make a mess, IME.

Then you can make up your hard water, by dissolving the minerals (they come as a dry mix that looks a bit like salt) in some warm water until it's the hardness you want. Then use that water to do your water changes; you'll want to do a water change every couple of days, as you'll need to get the hardness up quite quickly, but not so quickly that you shock the fish.

Once you've acclimatised your current fish, you will need to add more cichlids; because these fish are so aggressive, you must keep them in an overstocked tank, or the stronger fish will be able to pick on and bully (and very probably kill) the weaker ones.

Because you need to keep Rift valley set ups overstocked, it is essential that you keep a good maintenance regimen; a big filter, preferably an external, and lots of water changes, using your hard water mix. I used to change about 75% weekly on mine.

I feel more easy on cichlids now. U made it really better for me to keep them. Ty a lot a lot.


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[jredouard25]

I feel more easy on cichlids now. U made it really better for me to keep them. Ty a lot a lot.


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75% OML THATS ALOT! Can I just have a really giant filter


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[Essjay]

Filters only remove ammonia and nitrite from the water and suck up some bits of fish poo etc. But animals, including fish, excrete a lot of other things besides ammonia and they secrete things like hormones. The filter cannot remove these, and we have to remove them by doing water changes. The more fish there are - and Fluttermoth points out that Rift Lake cichlids must be kept overstocked - the more of these chemicals there are in the water so bigger water changes need to be done to remove them.
Years ago I worked in a hospital lab and you'd be amazed at how many things we tested in urine. And there were lots more things we didn't test. Fish excrete similar, if not the same, things as humans.