Adjusting The Hardness And Alkanity

[newtothegame]

I need to know how to adjust the hardness and alkanity of my tank, and also with both african and south american cichlids, the difference in needs is so drastic, what would a good happy medium be?

 

[three-fingers]

There is no happy medium - generally (with easy tank-bred things like angelfish) the South American one's do great in pretty alkaline water so long as water conditions are good (like obviously no ammonia or nitrite, but low nitrates too). But, while hardy, the African cichlids that need high pH aren't really as adaptable.

Not that it really matters, because with most species there's big incompatibility issues other than just water conditions .

My recommendation would not to try and adjust the water conditions until you know why the fish need them like that, and when you do, specialise on the chosen fish.

It's better to choose species that will do OK in the water conditions right out the tap, a lot of fish are more adaptable than often thought.

Which species were you interested in particular that have such different water chemistry needs?

 

[newtothegame]

I could'nt make up my mind on which type of cichlids, so i over populated my tank a lil and mixed the 2 types, its been working out great and there color has improved, no aggresion yet with the exception of my smallest fish which is a green terror, but there laying off of him after the days go by, but the growth on them has not been noticable in the last 2 months, which i don't know if thats normal or not. im keeping ph at about 7.4 and no ammonia, havnt checked nitrate levels, but i stocked plenty of live plants to help with the nitrate shock i probably got 2 weeks ago, im thinking there okay where there at but im just trying to keep prime water conditions