New Tank, New Stuff, Any Advise Please Guys :)

[seb421]

Hello Got the Master Test kit and Tested the Tap water a few times

Results are;

PH 7.8 / 8

KH 12, 214.8 ppm

GH 14, 250.6 ppm

are these good enough for lake malawi cichlid's

these are a couple of the books I bought a few weeks ago

i have a Juwel Trigon 190

Have just purchased a Fluval 305

I have bought 25 KG of Ocean rock too.

also have 19 KG of Pettex Aquatic Roman Gravel Natural Lakeland

and 8 KG of Aquatic Roman Gravel Speckled Sand

got some of this API 8.2 stuff

seachem cichlid lake salt

got some free water condition's when I bought the tank (second hand)

Got a Thermometer too (one stick on and one glass internal)


i would like to keep lake Malawi cichlids

these are the fish i like

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Yellow-Fin-Fairy-Cichlid.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Fairy-Cichlid.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Red-peacock-cichlid.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Deep-water-Hap.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Electric-blue-johanii.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Bumblebee-cichlid.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Cobalt-blue-zebra.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Marble-peacock-cichlid.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Frieberg-Cichlid.html

http://www.aquaticstoyourdoor.co.uk/Zebra-obliquidens.html


Not Sure How many of the fish I could stock mind?

is there anything else I need to buy?

tank is being cleaned out Friday ready to be set up and cycled

thanks for any info

 

[OldMan47]

The pH buffer should not be needed with all the other things you have going for you. You have water much like my tap water and I know that many of my club members do fine keeping neolamprologus and brichardi in that water. The ocean rocks and lake salt are also going to drive even soft water higher than what you already have from the tap. I would try to back away a bit and use just the lake salt mix and tap water at first or just the ocean rock and nothing else. Don't be too surprised if things reach the levels that you need without both kinds of amendments in the water. If you can reach the needed conditions with only the ocean rock, that will be better in the long run than needing to add chemicals each time you do a water change. I do not keep rift lake fish but am well aware that they are a special case in that they need rather harder water than even my mollies do.
I see no reason not to cycle the tank while you are working out the details of getting the water just right for your new fish.