After visiting a few of my lfs I was told that they just use tap water for all of their tanks including the African Cichlid tanks. Our local tap PH is between 6.5 and 7.0. Does this have any long term affect on the fish? I've been just using tap water as well in my tank and the fish seem fine.
African Cichlid PH
- Thread starter Flatfish
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They'll probably survive, but not really thrive.... they'll be much happier in pH 7.5 - 8.2.
Easiest way to buffer the water up is to either add crushed coral to the substrate (or your filter in a bag) or add 1 tsp baking soda per 10 gal tank water.
Easiest way to buffer the water up is to either add crushed coral to the substrate (or your filter in a bag) or add 1 tsp baking soda per 10 gal tank water.
get some buffering rock or substrate like lace rock, holey rock, or crushed argonite. baking soda and epsom salt when doing water changes too.
Yep, get crushed corals, limestones or even sea shells. Test your KH and GH as well. You will need calcium carbonate to increase both the pH and hardness levels.
I use Seachem African Cichlid Salt and also the Seachem Buffer.
Does an awesome job and brings the fish colours out a lot more.
In Lake Malawi the lake is surrounded by limestone which helps buffer the water...
Does an awesome job and brings the fish colours out a lot more.
In Lake Malawi the lake is surrounded by limestone which helps buffer the water...
Ok so if I add crushed coral or limestone that will help raise the PH and Buffer the water but what happens when I do my weekly 50% water change? Won't that create a huge shock to the system? My PH is really low...about 6.5 - 6.8. The tank is 300 gallons so I guess I would need a lot of rock or crushed coral. Would my stable low PH be better than fluctuations? Thanks for the help.
Besides the crushed coral, I would add baking soda to buffer. If there are fish already in the tank, start by buffering slowly over the coarse of a several days. You'll want to add approximately 30 tsp (1 per 10 gal) or 10 TBS of baking soda. Mix 3-4 TBS in a couple of glasses or bucket with dechlorinated water and add to the tank. Do this slowly over the span of several days to get the pH up to the desired level (around 8.2)
Add the equivalent amount to replacement water when doing water changes.
This is, of coarse, a rule of thumb and works for my water. Your water is much more acidic than mine and may require a bit of testing to fine-tune.
Add the equivalent amount to replacement water when doing water changes.
This is, of coarse, a rule of thumb and works for my water. Your water is much more acidic than mine and may require a bit of testing to fine-tune.
They should be fine in that water, if they have been living it should be fine. You may try some drift wood and lava rock to increase the Ph
your tap water should never be below 7.0 if its lower than that you have problems.I have been in the water industry for many years and your tap water should leave the water plant at a 7.5 or better. Most plants produce water in the 8-8.5 range. If your tap water is lower than 7 you need to call the water treatment plant and ask them why. I also lived in the northeast where your from and the ph out of the tap was an 8.0. They do this for a variety of reasons, the most important is public health. 6.5ph is corrosive to pipes. Especially older lead soldered pipes(which most of the northeast has) the lead leaches out of the joints and can cause serious health problems. If you have that low a ph you should be contacting someone.
why? epsom salt and baking soda is much cheaper than this option and has the exact same effect.Yogie;4631109; said:
you are throwing money down the drain.