Basic Cichlid Care

[kiriyama]

Hi there , at the moment I researching small cichlids (Lake Tanganyika). This will be my first Cichlid tank and I want to get it right. I have an idea about pH and substrates and tank environment.
What I want to know is if there is anything else I would need to add to the tank , i.e. I have seen Cichlid Buffer(?) in the shop and Cichlid Trace(?), also Cichlid Sand(?), . Do I need to add anything to the filter or use special filtrtion ?
I was going to to use crushed coral sand as substrate but have read on here that its to rough , would like black sand but are there any that raise the pH up ?
Going to use Ocean Rock as this was advised......
Sorry for the dummy questions just want to get to the finer details and get it right.........

 

[dthoffsett]

The cichlid buffer is used to raise the Ph/Kh and there are some that include trace elements that some keepers swear by, but I personally don't see any difference using them. As for black sand, Eco Complete does an African Cichlid sand that is mostly black w/some white sprinkled in, you might see if you can source it. You don't need to use anything special in your filter, just make sure you have plenty of turn over for them.

The biggest key to Lake Tangs is to keep your nitrates low and your Ph/Kh stable, this is especially important w/wild caught specimens, but even tank bred will love you for it.

 

[kiriyama]

Cheers for the reassurance mate, just want to get it right ,

 

[doresy]

Lake Tanganyika is extemely deep thus it's temperature and PH is very stable. These are particularily important when doing water changes. Small, more regular water changes are far better than large ones so the temp stays within a few degrees. As mentioned it is far more important to keep the PH stable than worrying about the actual level. Trouble with adding buffers is the level can go up and down especially at water change time.
My LFS conditions all their Tanganyikans to the local tap water before sale and I use a coral substrate as they also prefer a light coloured substrate and I feel it compliments the rocks (which are also of great importance)

Oh, and glad to be talking Tanganyikan with you.....we are rare