4Ft Stocking Questions

[fish12]

my ph is 7.6 and the fish i want to get are a pair of bolivian i was just wondering would this be fine for them or will i have to do something about it?

and how do you test the hardness of your water??

cheers

 

[Jay-93]

I don't know the exact Ph requirements but I would suggest it needs to be a little lower.

Simply because Rams are deemed to be good tankmates for Discus, who tend to require water around 6.2-6.8, although this has changed slightly due to years of captive breeding.

So I would expect to have the Ph a little lower, Rams need very good water quality to survive. Maybe add bogwood?

 

[fluttermoth]

Your thinking of blue/German rams, Jay.

Bolivians are much hardier and a pH of 7.6 would be fine for them.

You can buy test kits for hardness.

 

[Jay-93]

Your thinking of blue/German rams, Jay.

Bolivians are much hardier and a pH of 7.6 would be fine for them.

You can buy test kits for hardness.

Ahh, apologies, I thought it was the case for all Rams. I've kept German, Electric Blue and have some Gold atm, but never Bolivian does their Ph have to be 7+ or can it be in the mid-6's?

 

[fluttermoth]

Anywhere from 6 to 8 is ok for Bolivians.

 

[fish12]

should i be worried about the hardness of my water or not?

cause i dont wanna spend 50 -60 bucks on fish and they all die due to the water hardness!

thanks

 

[FishFanatic04]

I am planning to get Bolivian's as well and my Ph is 8.0 I'm planning to buy them locally if possible so they will already be used to local water, but if I have to order them, I'm planning to do a prolonged acclimation in my quarantine tank, hopefully getting them used to my ph. Changing the ph seems like a headache and a waste of time since it can be unstable which is worse then a stable high one.

 

[fish12]

Thanks everyone i think i might be overeacting abit as i have never owned cichlids before,i just know keep your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the absolute minimun and do weekly water changes by removing 10-25% of water. Keep the tank at around 24-25 degrees depending on the fish.

Correct me if im wrong but becuase drift wood is dead it leaches out acidic minerals into the water and that is why you do weekly water changes to prevent it getting to bad? And end up killing your fish. So would i benefit from not having driftwood? But as i am getting acouple of bnoses should i be putting alittle bit in. And the pet says not to worry about your water hardness as it not a big deal?

Thanks everyone
Hopefully im not pissing everyone off