Lake Malawi- Question From A Beginner

[Colin_T]

Yep your local fish shop should sell African Cichlid or Rift Lake conditioner. These usually contain calcium, magnesium and other trace elements.
There is a link on this forum somewhere that tells you how to make up rift lake conditioner from basic ingredients available at most supermarkets. Sorry I can't remember where it is but I'm sure if you have a looksie under the African cichlid section you will find it.
But have some limestone or shells in the tank (as suggested by darrle69) because that will help keep the PH up.
And check your tap water for general and carbonate hardness. If it is hard to start with you probably won't have to add anything.

 

[darrel69]

There is a link on this forum somewhere that tells you how to make up rift lake conditioner from basic ingredients available at most supermarkets. Sorry I can't remember where it is but I'm sure if you have a looksie under the African cichlid section you will find it.

I forgot about that lol good thinking... HERE IT IS

but yea, test your tap water .. you may not need it !! ... im not sure wether you'd need to dechlorinate your water before-hand or not though as it may affect your results ?? i would just in case.. afterall it has to be dechlor'd anyway before adding to the tank... Maybe you could test both ways to see if there's a difference.

 

[Colin_T]

dechlorinator won't affect the hardness test results.