Driftwood for bio-filtration?

[djsaltynuts]

live rock is made to hold bacteria colony for salt water tanks and id recommend giving it a good soak before using it but would be great for housing freshwater bacteria as well as giving refuge to possible cichlid fry in the future. driftwood slowly lowers ph and it’s good for long term heath of rift lake cichlids to keep the ph on the higher end.

 

[duanes]

I believe that a 55 will work with minimal filtration while, as long as they are juvies.
But as adults the fronts and livingstoni will eventually outgrow that size tank, and "maybe" faster degradation" as they grow without adequate filtration.
The only way to tell, will be with regular testing of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
If ammonia and nitrite are both 0ppm, that would indicate your filtration is adequate,
If nitrate rises above 10ppm, that would indicate to me, water changes need to be more frequent and larger.
Once the fronts and livingstoni grow larger than 5.5", I consider the tank too small.

My livingsoni surpassed 5.5" in about a year.
Although fronts grow slow, livingstoni grow quickly.

 

[confusedfishkeeper]

i wouldn’t recommend driftwood for a rift lake african cichlid tank have you considered live rock and shells maybe with aragonite or crushed coral as a substrate?

Yes I have and I am aware that low ph does not suit the African cichlids too well. But I like driftwoods a lot. So it is a very conflicting situation.

 

[confusedfishkeeper]

I believe that a 55 will work with minimal filtration while, as long as they are juvies.
But as adults the fronts and livingstoni will eventually outgrow that size tank, and "maybe" faster without adequate filtration.
The only way to tell, will be with regular testing of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
If ammonia and nitrite are both pro, that would indicate your filtration is adequate,
If nitrate rises above 10ppm, that would indicate to me water changes need to be more frequent and larger.
Once the fronts and livingstoni grow larger than 5.5", I consider the tank too small.
View attachment 1456193
My livingsoni surpassed 5.5" in about a year.

Thanks. Yes the idea is to rehome the fish once they outgrow the tank. As it stands, I enjoy watching juvies more than adults. So hopefully, it would not be a heartbreak situation.

I just bought a water testing kit based on a recommendation from a previous post on a different question. It's time to put it to good use.

Your livingstoni looks great.

 

[djsaltynuts]

fronts grow allot slower than livingsoni in my experience and you probably wont have to rehome them for a couple years. imo juvenile fronts are nothing compared to the adults since it takes so much time for them to develop their defining features like the nuchal hump and fin extensions and are only worth keeping so that you can see them into adulthood. the driftwood wont make a large impact on the ph so you should just add it if you like it and consider adding aragonite.

 

[neutrino]

Yes I have and I am aware that low ph does not suit the African cichlids too well. But I like driftwoods a lot. So it is a very conflicting situation.

It doesn't have to be a conflict, really. I've kept and bred Cyphotilapia for over 20 years and kept and bred Malawi cichlids over 15 years.. As long KH buffering is sufficient to keep pH stable, driftwood doesn't hurt them one little bit, same with Malawi cichlids. In fact, I've had kapampa fry in growouts with driftwood new enough to stain the water, and with sufficient KH and pH they did great, grazing on the algae and bio-film on the driftwood. I'll sometimes put a tangle of rocks and branches in the main kapampa tank for females to release fry into, then transfer them to a growout-- again, no issues whatsoever. My well water varies a bit but can be in the mid 6s pH, which I raise to the upper 7s with baking soda, which is a carbonate (KH) buffer.

With a container type filter, like a canister or hang on filter, you can also control tannins with carbon, something I had to do just recently when I added some old, found bogwood to a SA tank that, even after soaking for in a bucket for a couple of months, released very heavy tannins for the first two or three months in the tank.

As for growth, for me most Cyphotilapia males, frontosa or gibberosa, easily get from an inch to 6 inches in a year, females typically an inch or two smaller. Males often reach an average 8 inches in two years, sometimes bigger. This has been very consistent for over 20 years. I was mod on a well known Cyphotilapia forum for years and I can also tell you it's not unusual with moderate feeding of high quality foods, clean water, and enough space. For some they grow slower, I can't speak for them, what they're feeding, etc.

So, for the fronts alone, not to mention the livingstoni, a 55 is not a good 2 year home for them if they're growing like they should.

 

[neutrino]

...The funny wording in the post above is because I was in the middle of an edit when my internet died for a few minutes.

Anyway, the main caveat I'd add for driftwood and fronts is the same as for rocks and fronts. You don't want sharp rock edges or branches where they can run into them. Cyphotilapia can move very fast when they want to. They tend to bolt when startled and some of them don't take much to be startled. So sharp objects too high in the tank can result in eye injuries. Best to have objects like that either lower in the tank or placed so they're unlikely to run into to them.