African Cichlids to Community Setup

[Sunny.C]

hey guys i wanna change my 35 gallon african tank over to a community tank, the fish have grown to big and aslo there will be less agression with community in my tank size.
So do need to change anything in my tank???filter media,coral & sand??? what do i need to change or clean out?

 

[Ben]

do you have any rocks that make the PH higher?
the sand will be okay but remove the coral
test your PH and if it's above 7.5, i suggest lowering it to around 6.5-6.7.
other then that, nothing needs to be changed

DD

 

[Sunny.C]

yes i have some white rocks and some turf ones i think it's called, but i plain on removing them out. How am i suppose to take the coral out??? The coral is crushed and in small pieces, besides it's 50% normal pebbles 50% sand and coral will this be ok
So if i clean out all the gravel and water out 100% it should be ok to go??

 

[Sunny.C]

by the way my ph is currently on 8.0 if i take out the rocks, clean out gravel and do a 100% water change will the ph be ok then?? also does this mean ill have to cycle my tank again?

 

[Ben]

i suggest taking the filter out, putting it in a large container etc etc, let it run so you dont lose any bacteria that is needed

while that is going, remove all the coral or maybe all the substrate and add a new layer of what you like, as long as it isnt coral

one done, put the filter back in with new water

and voila, instantly cycled community tank
EDIT:
With the PH i recomend gettting something you can get at your lfs called PH Down. this should help lower the PH. do this and lower it to the right amount before adding any fish.
also, adding wood to the tank lowers the PH
DD

 

[Sunny.C]

Well my tank is a aqua ar620t it's a all in one tank the filter is located on the top of the tank with filter media in there, can i use this with the same filter media? also with my gravel if i use the 50% pebbles that's in there should be cool?
Isn't ph down just a fomula to lower the ph for a day or so?? how will i maintain low ph??? Dirft wood? also sand buffers the ph up correct?

 

[black angel]

first of all i would see what the ph is straight from the tap into a glass. it may be your tap water is fine and all you need to do is change the substrate.
get your ph and then people can help better.

 

[gixer]

i certainly wouldnt waste my money on ph down. like already said find out what you tap water ph is first.

its more than likely you will just need to remove all the rocks and coral and do a 100% water.

 

[freddyk]

PH down is unreliable and unstable and I don't recommend it at all.

You really don't need to worry about PH, it's really only a problem in theory and not reality, unless it's severely off track. Get the crushed coral out so it doesn't go higher then necessary and use the water you have. Better to use water a little alkaline then bouncing around all over the place.

For 15 years the tap water in my city, no matter where I move, is close to a ph of 8 yet this has never posed a problem for any fish I've ever kept.

 

[Sunny.C]

my tap water ph is about 7.6, what do i need to do to my tank to lower the ph and keep it there?

 

[freddyk]

Nothing, your water is good.

 

[Sunny.C]

Don't most community fish require ph under 7

 

[vantgE]

Maybe but it doesn't matter, fish are usually already aclimatised to your tap watter when you buy them from the store, a higher ph won't hurt the fish it becomes a problem if it isn't stable the fish will get stressed

 

[freddyk]

Don't most community fish require ph under 7

There's often a little miscommunication along the lines. The ph is judged by the average in their habitat, but almost all our fish are bred in captivity - raised in tap water. In general wild fish have shown able to acclimatize. As I said I've been keeping them with a ph of 8 without any problems in community setups for years. The eggs can be affected, so if you had some plan of breeding it could be a different story.

The one in my avatar, for instance, has a 'range' of 6.5 to 7, yet somehow he keeps on living and thriving.

 

[Ben]

PH down is unreliable and unstable and I don't recommend it at all.

Hmm, works for me just fine.
While i was doing my S.A community set up it worked just fine, no problems at all, and the PH has stayed the same, nothing has ever gone wrong

DD