Kh & Gh For Malawis

[Seed]

I've had a mbuna tank for quite a while, when I set it up I had read somewhere that the GH of lake Malawi was typically lower than the other rift lakes, somewhere in the 100 PPM range, which is where I've had it pretty much forever, but it's been so long now I don't know if that's accurate. I recently had to switch to a different buffer solution than I have been using and I had to retest the water in order to create a recipe for my water change solution.

My main question is what is actually the typical GH and KH values for lake Malawi? Want to formulate this properly, and if my values are too low or too high I'd like to gradually increase or decrease them accordingly over the next two months or so to more accurately reflect their environment.

My values now are KH 179 PPM and GH 107 PPM.


EDIT
For my inability to read a chart properly lol

 

[dthoffsett]

The water chemistry in Lake Malawi is very similar to that of Lake Victoria. For this reason, many species from these two lakes can be housed together. Lake Malawi's pH ranges from 7.8 to 8.6, with a total hardness of 4.0-6.0 dH. The reason for the variation is caused by the level of Carbon Dioxide dissolved in the water. In areas with turbulent water, where the water is better aerated, the pH is higher, while in calm bays, the level of dissolved Carbon Dioxide is higher; consequently, the pH is lower there. Surface temperature ranges from 76 to 85 degrees, while the temperature at lower levels of the lake remain at a constant 70 degrees. Carbonate hardness ranges from 6.0 to 8.0

This was taken from here: [URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/lakes_east_africa.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/lakes_east_africa.php[/URL]

 

[Seed]

Ahh thanks, kh was right on, gh a little low. Thanks for the reply.

 

[dthoffsett]

No problem. Unless you are keeping wild caught species, I wouldn't worry about having the exact same gh/kh levels. Stable water chemistry is more important than achieving "perfect" levels.