Starting A Cichlid Tank

[mephisto]

Hi All

Im not what you would call a newbie fish keeper but I am a little out of practice. Ikept 17 fishtanks going when I was 14-21 then had to close them all down when i went to uni (im now 33 btw). Right im now reasonably settled so the liungering love of fish has been filtering through my mind and I have bought a 4ft fish tank (hopefully being delivered today). The only fish I never really kept was Cichlids so thats where i thought I would begin this time. Im am well aware that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing so I thought I would join this forum and get advice from the experts .

Question involve what hardness and pH should the water be (I want to keep Malawi Cichilds). what are the best rocks to use etc?

I look forward to getting hints and tips and one day hopefully cautiously adding a few of my own.

 

[bobf]

Hi Mephisto - it never leaves eh?

I think your starting point is to look at the quality of your tap water.

If it's soft, like mine, (6.5ph) then you need a substrate and/or rocks which will help raise and buffer ph and general hardness. I use crushed coral sand and a limestone based rock - can't recall what its called.

If your water is already good for Malawis then you can use any kind of (clean, obviously) rock and substrate - sand, gravel, whatever.

Have you tested the tap water?

Depending upon what you decide to keep, this site will give you a really good insight into the fish/compatibility and also specifies ph and general hardness for each species.

Cichlid forum profiles

 

[mamafish68]

HE CALLED US EXPERTS

CICHLID-FORUM IS THE PLACE TO BE FOR SURE!

I recomend using Prime for your additive against chlorines etc.

heat of 78-80 deg.

Ph goal of 7.7-8.3ish

0.0 nitrites/ 40nitrates

good strong filter, you can NEVER filter enough IMHO

water changes once a week of 25-40%

giant danios for cycle period, they're hardy enough and are attractive as dither fish at top areas of the tank.

 

[mephisto]

No it never leaves once an addict always an addict

But this is the sort of advice I was after thank you for your replies Im a water scientist (specialising in microbiology)so testing and quality shouldnt be an issue. I am going to be using sand mainly because I like the look of it.

When it comes to rocking up is there a best kind to use?

 

[bobf]

When it comes to rocking up is there a best kind to use?

Only the point I made before

If your water is already good for Malawis then you can use any kind of (clean, obviously) rock and substrate - sand, gravel, whatever. If you need any assistance to buffer the ph and calcium hardness then limestone types would suit.


So long as you create plenty of voids/hiding places for the little fellas to argue over the you should be good to go! For that reason I favour the more rugged angular rocks rather than the pebble types some folks use.

I've even seen a malawi tank furnished with housebricks on there side, so they each had the three holes (caves!) visible. Just rows and rows - I thought it looked like a high density housing estate for fish. Awful, but probably effective!