Water change

[jredouard25]

When changing water in a Malawi Cichlid tank. Do I put cichlid salt and a ph buffer to my new water or just the Cichlid Salt? When changing my water ?


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[jredouard25]

When changing water in a Malawi Cichlid tank. Do I put cichlid salt and a ph buffer to my new water or just the Cichlid Salt? When changing my water ?

Also are trace elements(by sea hen) needed for Malawi cichlids.

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[fluttermoth]

The cichlid salt should raise the pH enough.

As we've said in the past, hardness is more important than pH, so as long as the hardness is right, you can leave the pH alone.

 

[jredouard25]

The cichlid salt should raise the pH enough.

As we've said in the past, hardness is more important than pH, so as long as the hardness is right, you can leave the pH alone.

Should I use live sand for the substrate or just regular marine sand?


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[Colin_T]

Regular marine sand is fine.

If you get a large plastic storage container or a clean plastic rubbish bin, you fill them with tap water and add the Rift Lake water conditioner. Then aerate the water for at least 24 hours before using it. Once the water has been aerated for 24 hours you can use that water to do water changes on the Malawi tank.

The Rift Lake water conditioner will have pH buffers in it so you won't need to add any pH buffers.

 

[Byron]

Regular marine sand is NOT OK to use. It contains sodium chloride, common salt. Sodium chloride is harmful to freshwater fish over time.

You need aragonite sand that will contain calcium and magnesium, but not common salt. CarribSea make one sand, I have used this for livebearers.

 

[Colin_T]

The amount of salt (sodium chloride) on beach sand is not going to make a lot of difference. It will be diluted by the water and if you wash the sand before use (which you should do for all substrates), any salt on it will be washed off.

 

[Byron]

The amount of salt (sodium chloride) on beach sand is not going to make a lot of difference. It will be diluted by the water and if you wash the sand before use (which you should do for all substrates), any salt on it will be washed off.

That is not what I was referring to; "marine sand" is likely to contain minerals including sodium chloride to increase the salinity of a marine tank. This sand is used in reef tanks, etc. The regular aragonite sand does not, it is sand with the calcium and magnesium. No question about salt in this one, so safer to use.

 

[Colin_T]

Most marine sand is calcium carbonate and is made from crushed coral and shells. I use it in my tanks with rainbowfish and don't have a problem with it. Mind you I collect mine from the beach so the shops might sell something different.

 

[Gweeds1980]

When changing water in a Malawi Cichlid tank. Do I put cichlid salt and a ph buffer to my new water or just the Cichlid Salt? When changing my water ?


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Surely you should be all over this, not too dissimilar to your reef tank you're talking about on R2R...

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[jredouard25]

Surely you should be all over this, not too dissimilar to your reef tank you're talking about on R2R...

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That was info I needed in future reef and maybe cichlid tank.


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