Ph Question-update With Video

[vancouver]

Today I bought what I think are a pair of some sort of africans.. lol

Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but I'm quite sure I can accommodate them.

They were in neutral ph at the store .. The store sucks basically.. I posted a topic about it in tropical chit chat..

anyways, they are about 1.5'' in length and pretty skinny.. I put them in a 10g right now with a 1'' keyhole and a platy..

Now the question... Should I acclimitize them to a higher ph, or will they thrive in the ph they were in at the store..

Is it a better idea just to leave them? or will the neutral ph hurt them long term.

 

[vancouver]

Looks pretty much like this.. minus the red eyes... one has a lot less red on it's body and less vibrant red speckles on it's tail.. I was thinking they might be male and female, but I really don't know.. could just be a dominant male and his little buddy. They get along very well.. hang out a lot together.. don't fight over food.. and are very inquisitive.. I like them a lot..

 

[adambrum]

Yes they are african cichlids.

I hope you have a much bigger tank !

My advice would be to take them back there is a lot more to keeping these than just the ph, they are not like normal tropical fish

 

[Ferris]

Sound like Aulonocara male and female - if so, they are nowhere near as aggressive as Mbuna but will need something like a 30 gal min for the pair and won't mix well with community fish.

Will need a couple of pics to be certain though, there are a lot of African species that could match that description/pic.

 

[vancouver]

I plan on getting pics when I can.. good computer is in the shop, and installing camera software on this 1995 computer will probably crash it.


They were quite skinny, and must have been hungry, cause not 15 minutes after being in the tank they were already eating.


So should I be worrying about raising the ph? or should I just keep them around 7?


''I hope you have a much bigger tank !

My advice would be to take them back there is a lot more to keeping these than just the ph, they are not like normal tropical fish''

I have about 10 tanks, so accomodating them shouldn't be a problem.. What is the ''lot more to keeping them'' part?.. Anything else I should know?

 

[Ferris]

Ph shouldn't be too much of a problem unless they are wild-caught, which is less likely. Most Malawi's are farm bred in a Ph close to 7 rather than their natural environment which is around 8.5. Might be worth checking with your LFS where they came from.

 

[vancouver]

They wont know.. and I really don't want to deal with them again..

They keep all their fish on a barracks system.. definitely around 7 I know..

Good to know I can keep them at 7 and they wont suffer any ill effects down the road. And hey, I might even be able to mix them with some of my other fish.

 

[Ferris]

If they are Aulonocara, there are possibilities to mix them with other fish but just bear in mind their aggressive nature.

Diet shouldn't be a problem as Most Aul's are omnivore's and require some protein in their diet whearas most Mbuna are herbivores and a high protein diet can prove fatal to them

 

[vancouver]

They've been eating catfish pellets since I've had them to fatten them up.. they were quite skinny when I got them... the catfish pellets I find fatten fish up quite well..

I've got a bunch of different types of cichlid pellets for them to eat, and frozen brine shrimp.

 

[vancouver]

I know someone said 30g minimum for the 2 of them..

Just want to make sure a standard 33g will suit them for life. Had a very unexpected death and now have an empty 33g.

I guess they will like a rock/cave structure type tank with places to hide..

I think I'm going to move them and the keyhole they are currently with to the 33g once it's been totally cleaned.

Thanks

 

[Ferris]

That tank should be fine if they are Aulonocara but remember we don't know for sure what they are yet without pics for a definite id.

I know you're stuggling with that at the minute but i think you need to know exactly what they are.

 

[jollysue]

hope you lucked out and got a fish that will work for you, vancouver. It really is important to determine if they are herbivore or omnivore with these fish. At least that is what I read here.

just saying hi really

 

[vancouver]

haha hi

My computer should be back within a few days, so will definitely post a video of the little buggers so someone can hopefully ID them for sure..

I like them a lot.. more personality then my other cichlids, and they're not even 2'' yet.

They're nice and fat now too.. I've tried to feed them 3-4 times a day since I've had them.. will stop that now that they aren't skinny anymore.

 

[Ferris]

Juvenile cichlids are fantastic, especially Africans. I sometimes think its a shame they have to grow up.

Look forward to the pics/vid.

 

[vancouver]

Heres a video of the 2 fish..

If it's dark, hopefully you can open it in windows media player and make it brighter!

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVS5F0JHqyo