Fish Gone Now African Cichlid Venture Starts. Advice Please.

[shepherd88]

Well took the decision today that ive spent alot on the tank and the fish just dont cut it for me.......ive always wanted lake malawi cichlids so i took most of my fish back to the local shop and the mrs is having the rest of them tomorrow so the pics still have a few fish left.

So need advice...i know i have to harden up the water to raise the ph (?) I think thats what for...now i bought a kh test kit and was told to harden up my water untill after 10-13 drops the water in the tube goes from blue to yellow...now atm it is at 5 drops so im going to use the hardener i have and over the next week get it up to the correct dosage.

How do i keep the ph up once its correct.....do i use the harderner to keep it raised.

Also im going to be keeping hopefully yellow labs and demasoni..? As my tank is only 50 gallon 180litre was planning on the 10 labs 10 demasoni ratio...(?)

How is my new tank scape for the mbunas i have tried to create holes in the rock and 2 fake plants..


Using my 1100lph external filter thanks...
Kh tester

Hardener

 

[techen]

Have to put it bluntly, Please don't mess with the PH. Keep fish that are fine with your PH, you can have crashes and big PH drops that can shock and kill fish right before your eyes. It's very very risky playing with PH as water will not want to change it's PH, everytime you change the water it's going to alter it as well.

 

[balajake]

I'm planning to up my PH by placing small bags or coral sand in filter, using limestone rocks in the tank and bicarbonate of soda mixed in with water changes if its needed.im plan into buying seachem PH alert so I can monitor everything. I won't be using chemicals

I'm planning to up my PH by placing small bags or coral sand in filter, using limestone rocks in the tank and bicarbonate of soda mixed in with water changes if its needed.im plannning to buy seachem PH alert so I can monitor the ph in that tank constantly. I won't be using chemicals

 

[shepherd88]

Sorry im new to this...i have never tested my ph but my local aquatics shop tests my water weekly and always say its perfect...so how do i go about getting the water ready for africans? I am right in saying they need a harder water than typical freshwater...its all new to me this so excuse my bad knowledge.

Do i not need to test kh then

 

[balajake]

I'm new to this too and I'm planning A switch too. Africans need a higher PH so of course you may need to up it. Most prefer to do it with more natural methods and don't like using chemicals.youwillneed a test kit to see what your water is before you proceed

 

[shepherd88]

Im not planning on rushing getting the fish i want the water to be perfect...im keeping my external running and i will be fish free from tomorrow..i will purchase a tester kit....what do i actually need to be testing......does kh and ph have a relation as when i test my kh i should know my ph?

Will i have to get special substrate and rock to help buffer the ph or can i keep my pebble and fine gravel set up.....all seems so hard lol

 

[Lolly123]

Ideally, test all of your water parameters yourself and then post them here so people can help you. Although the LFS will tell your your water parameters are spot on, they would do anyway in the interest of making money.

KH and GH have a big part to play in buffering your water and maintaining a stable PH. So I would say its imperative to know those to enable you to work out what options might be available to you. Most people advise against playing with PH as it can be a very hard battle and returns to what it would have been in the long run.

As posted above somewhere, coral sand helps in raising the PH in order for you to keep cichlids. I am literally doing what you have done and I'm transforming my community tank into an mbuna tank as we speak. But I'm lucky and have hard water and always have done.

Someone else will surely comment on this thread to help you, but unless they know what they're playing with (water parameters) they might not be able to advise until the testing has been done and posted.

Also, a lot of people keep sand in their cichlid set ups as they like to dig and you'll often see them grabbing mouthfuls of sand and spitting it elsewhere, which is quite funny to watch.

 

[shepherd88]

Ive literally yesterday changed from sand to black gravel as it was a nightmare keeping it clean....anyone know a good test kit to properly test my water....
So basically if i dont get coral sand and/or cichlid rock in my tank i cant keep them?

Really want to keep my current set up if i can...

I will get a water test tomorrow from my local shop and post up exact stats...thanks

 

[Lolly123]

I wouldn't go as far to say that you can't keep them based on the knowledge we have so far. Here is what I know off head, someone else may interject to correct or add further info....

Okay, so KH is carbonate hardness and measures the amount of calcium carbonate that exists within your water. KH resists against the ability to have PH crashes/swings and so on, due to capacity in which it buffers. You need to know what your KH is because in most circumstances it does have a direct correlation to the PH value.

If I'm correct you can use baking soda as a cheap alternative to raise KH and PH. But without knowing these values...it's difficult to give you advice.Before you add fish you need to use a good liquid test kit like the range from API to test these parameters. You're also gonna need ammonia, and nitrite at the very least to ensure your water is 'safe' for fish

 

[shepherd88]

Ok thanks i will get readings from my shop tomorrow and purchase a test kit...thanks for your help. Very confusing lol

Am i right in saying once i get the ph correct over time all i will need to monitor is the nitrate nitrite and ammonia along with ph

 

[Lolly123]

It is, I feel your pain, I'm still learning myself lol.

Once you know your readings then I think you'll be able to move forward pretty quickly and hopefully find a solution (if you do in fact need one)

Just as an added note, I believe that the pseudotropheus demasonis are one of the most aggressive fish in this group, there is a little section in the fish index. But it seems that the yellow labs are a good tank mate. By all means check it out when you find the time.

 

[shepherd88]

Thanks....i hope maybe i dont need to harden my water afterall...hope the north of england has good water lol
Ye i heard conflicting reviews about demasoni and yellow labs not being good together as the demasoni were too aggresive but alot of people online seem to keep them and the local fish shop says they are perfect together so suits me.....would anyone add info on adding white zebras also

 

[Yanks15]

When you can, get an API test kit and post all of your stats. Don't rely on your LFS because chances are they use strips and they are not as accurate. Second, if you are not experienced with altering water parameters, unless you want to waste money on good fish, please don't attempt it. I tried years ago and it was difficult to keep up with. To stabilize a higher pH use a substrate like Aragonite. It will buffer your pH to a suitable level for them (if you need it) and you don't have to worry about fluctuations. Third, people will keep all sorts of Mbuna together. Some prefer to keep aggressive fish to a species only tank and Demasoni are beautiful as a colony. But you wouldn't be the first to keep them with a less aggressive species like the Yellow Labs and they would probably work just fine. 

 

[jocie1976]

I know there is a product that you can buy to add to Mbuna tanks. It's a type of salt that is found naturally in their environment. This is a link to one of the products that are available, although I am sure there are more varieties available: http/www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/CichlidLakeSalt.html
Hope this helps you and good luck!

 

[shepherd88]

Hey guys little update
Went to my local aquatics shop today and bought myself a ph tester kit to go with my kh tester.

I got him to test my water looking at ph and kh only really.... he said my ph was at 8.0 and my kh was at 90 ...?

Now i was talking to him about how to correctly raise the ph and he told me about coral rock and substrate also substrate you can add to your external filter to help raise and buffer the ph....

Now seeing my ph was at 8.0 i thought i would try just using the coral bag into my external alone to see how it helped.

I got home and tested my tap water and beta tank water to check my ph

My betta tank ph

My tapwater ph

My coral bag im going to add today to my external

Ph tester kit

Now i tested my betta tank kh as well as the ph of 8.0 and it turned yellow at 5 drops....what does this mean.....how you reckon to my plan ?

Just want it to be right thanks