Fish Gone Now African Cichlid Venture Starts. Advice Please.

[shepherd88]

Ph 8.0 kh at 90ppm

How do i up my kh whilst keeping ph stable.

Do i need to?

Will me adding the crushed coral to my filter upper my ph or kh or both

 

[bullit]

Now youve tested your ph and that it is 8.0 you dont need to worry about raising it, its high enough. This also means you havent really got to play with your gh and kh.
 
If your ph was low say 7.2, but your gh and kh were high, you could sacrifice the lower ph and be fine. As you have a high ph then i wouldnt really worry about it.
 
As for putting the crushed coral in your filter, i would prob leave that aswell, you would have better having coral sand in the tank but then again your ph is high so doesnt really matter. If you did want to raise the kh then baking soda is easy to use. It will raise your ph aswell but it will max out at 8.2.
 
 
Id also put more rocks in the tank. Cheers

 

[Lolly123]

I second the advice above. You have good stats for cichlids. I wouldn't bother with the crushed coral either.

 

[shepherd88]

Thanks guys..so basiclly if i have this right.....as my ph directly from the tap is 8.0 then i dont need to higher it with coral substrate or rock or even crushed filter coral.

And because my ph is stable and high then i dont need to worry about the kh as all that does it stabilise the ph and if its high already it doesnt need stabalising?

And more rock as in just pile more pebbles up on top? Thanks much help....

Going to wait and leave the water and test it next week before fish go in

 

[Lolly123]

I think your KH is quite sufficient in my eyes and crushed coral wouldn't be a necessity in my view. I read online somewhere that between 90ppm and 170ppm is just fine to maintain a stable PH between water changes etc.

There are products that can raise KH independently of PH, but I'd say why bother messing with it if you're reading the stats that you currently have. I'd say be happy with your stats and welcome to the world of African cichlids.

 

[shepherd88]

Thank you i will be retesting and getting africans next week cheers

Last thing are yellow labs and demasoni ok together

 

[Lolly123]

I know that the demasonis are really quite aggressive, but I'm sure the index says that the yellow labs are an exception to the rule and make good tank mates for the demasonis. I've known people that have kept at least 12 in an effort to spread out the aggression and also following the m/f ratio.

Maybe you can find someone one here who is keeping them or has kept them and they may be able to advise you a bit further.

Another nice fish where the males and females have gorgeous colouring is the pseudotropheus salousi. May be worth checking out too if your original stock ideas change.

 

[shepherd88]

Thanks i will keep that in mind....all these water stats were messing me up lol

 

[Lolly123]

Haha relax. I think you'll do great. It's nice to see someone doing their research into the fish and their water parameters before stocking their tank.

Although I always try to put max effort in to recreating the natural habitat of the fish I want to keep, I think they can adapt to a wider range of conditions than we may give them credit for. But yes, always good to try and make the wisest choices and decisions for our fishy friends.

 

[Yanks15]

Your water is fine. Don't mess with it. A species only Salousi tank would be perfect for your sized tank plus you get the yellow females with the blue males. Win-win!! Good luck.

 

[Lolly123]

Agree with the above lol salousi's are gorgeous. Think I may be heading that way with my tank.