Just Some Starting Advice

[Mudpit]

Hey there.
I've just shot a new tank. Came second hand with plants an substrate. Some seem to be of. Others dying.

Being Malawi cichlid tank. I have made a little limestone cave for the fish and the water hardness. I've not tested my water yet. But.
Beside the plant food and a light do i need anything else?
Things are being strange

The fiber tangle plant seems to be getting brittle.

The small stalk like plants seem good

and this is falling apart very fast.

All plants came with the tank as did the small rocks and drift wood.

Other question is what would grow well over the limestone?

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Sorry last pic was bad

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[BettaBettas]

yea I see you have a major algae bloom, so I would get some otto catfish is the ph and things are correct, get some sort of algae eater maybe some nerite snails or something
And ya know you can raise the water level a bit....
Also I would clean the tanks glass more often it seems...
other than that. 

 

[LyraGuppi]

You could look into different kinds of mosses to grow over the limestone, but African cichlids often don't get along well with plants. I'm not an expert on plants or algae, so hopefully a more experienced member can come along.

 

[Mudpit]

yea I see you have a major algae bloom, so I would get some otto catfish is the ph and things are correct, get some sort of algae eater maybe some nerite snails or something
And ya know you can raise the water level a bit....
Also I would clean the tanks glass more often it seems...
other than that. 

Yes I do. I cleaned the glass maybe 3 days ago. The algae came with the tank. I made an assumption all was good and removed the hair algae buy hand and it went nuts. I was told the bristle noses wont eat the hair

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You could look into different kinds of mosses to grow over the limestone, but African cichlids often don't get along well with plants. I'm not an expert on plants or algae, so hopefully a more experienced member can come along.

Thats the first time to here that about cichlids. Little buggers dont get on with anything!

I think Moss might be the best way

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[Byron]

I suggest you forget plants, especially those in the photos, this is simply not going to work.  Rift lake cichlids must have moderately hard or harder water, so knowing your GH and KH, and pH, is crucial.  A substrate of sand would be better, one composed of calcareous substances like aragonite and crushed coral which will also increase GH, KH and pH.  And a lot of rock, real or artificial.  Vallisneria can do well, as it prefers harder water and is native to the rift lakes.  But these cichlids will eat algae and frequently higher plants.
 
Given the substrate that came with the tank, and depending upon your water parameters, you might be better with different fish.  I saw your other thread about the advice from the store that all cichlids get along together...I would forget any advice they give on anything.  And please fully research a fish species before acquiring one, they have very specific requirements.

 

[Wildbetta]

yea I see you have a major algae bloom, so I would get some otto catfish is the ph and things are correct, get some sort of algae eater maybe some nerite snails or something
And ya know you can raise the water level a bit....
Also I would clean the tanks glass more often it seems...
other than that. 

Otos would most likely not survive in that tank for long. They are very peaceful no aggressive and small which means they are will be targets for the cichlids.  Plus there is very little of that algae in the tank presently that they would even eat.  

+1 to Byron's advice.  

 

[Mudpit]

Thanks for the advice guys.

So. I was water changing manged to pull out a pipe on the ug filter. So in trying to fix it i broke it. So I bit the bullet an did a 100 % water substrate and filter change:

I'm noticing the rock work and plants as harder to set up in the fine substrate.
Any tips or should a i just get big flatter rocks and stack them staggered? Also what kind of weight can i have?

My other concern is the filter. Not sure of the output but it was blow the fish around. I made a little spray bar that sprays into the air and a is making a less chaotic current. The fish dont appear to be on a treadmill anymore. And the water appears to have enough oxygen as per fish behavior. But can to much current hurt? They sometimes just let the current push them temporarily and 1 peacock just hides all the time. Was a reclusive fish to start with but he seems worse. He is a pinky orange colour.
But anyway I'm hoping my tank looks improved

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[Ch4rlie]

I am a little concerned that you have not yet found out what your water parameters are in terms of general hardness (gH) and Carbonate hardness (kH) it is really quite important for choosing the right fish to suit your water conditions otherwise they will suffer and likely die in the wrong type of water.

Wildbetta already mentioned that otos are softwater fish so they would not suit hard water conditions and Byron has already said that chichlids are hard water fish so they won't suit soft water conditions.

Research is key when it comes to choosing fish for aquariums. There is no one size fits all for this kind of thing. So if you could find that out, easily done through online with your local water authority website to see what they give as water hardness readings, as well as ph etc.

If you're not sure what to look for, perhaps taking a screenshot of the water reading page onto here and we can find it for you.

 

[Mudpit]

Yup. I understand. And i have been researching it. I have rift salts etc that I'll be adding next change. As well as getting my own kit for water testing I'm staying with African cichlids. I get that Asian and American do not work with the water type.
It gets hard to research and ask specific questions to problems i have onlyfound very generic information for with the belittlement. But im doing my best. My fish are alive. They are active. The are not killing each other. They are eating. They do not have white spots. I'm not familiar with malawi bloat. I'll sure I'll spot it if it strikes. Anyway I'm done. Have fun guys

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