Cloudy Water

I have sand right now in the tank, i think it would be near impossible to remove it as i don't have anywhere to put my fish while i do it. Would it be okay to just sprinkle some crushed coral over the top of the sand? i can remove some sand using the siphon. Also would live rock help? If i remember correctly malawi cichlids like the sand+rock combination? the last thing is, i am getting quite a bit of algae build up in the tank, i am cleaning it literally every couple days, i have heard that you can buy some fish, snails or shrimp that would reduce the amount of algae, but i cant find any that would be suitable with my cichlids and the tank conditions, the temp is around 25-26. any suggestions would really help, thank you
 
Malawi's do like rocks, and in fact, may graze on the algae growing on the rocks. You could buffer your water with limestone based rocks (old live rock could work as long as it's clean of any residual salt.) Sprinkling crushed coral over the top of the sand may have an effect, but it would be much better if you mixed coral sand (basicailly it's crushed coral that has been ground up and reduced to the size of sand) with your current sand. Alternatively, you can put crushed coral in a mesh bag in your filter so that the water flows through it, buffering your water as it flows. I have had great success with this method, and I recommend it if you don't want to make any major changes.

There are a lot of different options and methods to achieve the same result.

BN plecos can be used as algae eaters in your setup. Shrimp would be eaten by your fish, but I'm not sure about the snails.
 
Malawi's do like rocks, and in fact, may graze on the algae growing on the rocks. You could buffer your water with limestone based rocks (old live rock could work as long as it's clean of any residual salt.) Sprinkling crushed coral over the top of the sand may have an effect, but it would be much better if you mixed coral sand (basicailly it's crushed coral that has been ground up and reduced to the size of sand) with your current sand. Alternatively, you can put crushed coral in a mesh bag in your filter so that the water flows through it, buffering your water as it flows. I have had great success with this method, and I recommend it if you don't want to make any major changes.

There are a lot of different options and methods to achieve the same result.

BN plecos can be used as algae eaters in your setup. Shrimp would be eaten by your fish, but I'm not sure about the snails.

thanks for the reply, i think i will get some of that coral sand and mix it with my sand. Do you think a BN pleco would fit in my tank, its 125l, i did some research and they can grow up to 15cm, and their pH level requirement is max at 7.5 whereas i am trying to make my around 7.8 - 8 for my cichlids
 
You two might want to get together on a guess of how much CC would be good to try. It would seem that each of the different methods might carry different effectiveness (sand is going to disolve more quickly than gravel or CC size crush, in filter is going to dissolve more rapidly than out in the substrate etc.) My concern would be too much CC going in initally and not being able to back off (note that CC in a mesh bag in a filter (but this usually requires a larger external cannister filter or larger HOB to have the flexible media space) is the only really removable option). I would definately have at least a KH kit for doing these type operations.

~~waterdrop~~
 
If I were to guess, I would say that 15 pounds mixed with your other sand should give your pH a boost, but not too high. Of course if it turns out that you still need a little more, then you have the freedom to do so.

My brother has a BN pleco in his Malawi tank and seems to get along fine with the higher pH.
 
i went to the LFS and they gave me 2 pleco that are similar size to the cichlids, they are doing well in my tank, there is no fighting or anything. Is there any way i can find out if my cichlids are Herbivorous or Carnivorous? they do like to dig in the sand alot... as for the coral sand, the shop was out of it, but when they do get some i will buy and as suggested mix a reasonable amount into my normal sand.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top