hozzie

Hello

I want to set up a malawi tank. My water readings from the tap, de-chlorinated and allowed to stand are:

pH 7.6 - 8.0
KH somewhere between 100 - 180
GH 250

Are any of these going to prove detrimental to cichlids and if so how do you change them/maintain them.

The articles I have read all talk about products not available on my island. The only product available here is a water softener ! Also no idea where to get crushed oyster shells etc.

Articles are good at saying for example.... take it slowly when adding epsom salts... but what does that mean? add it over a few days? add it all in one go?.... ambigious for a complete novice (or a particularly stupid one perhaps?)

I want to do this right lol

Thanks Helene

( now with 6 tanks and a grumpy husband )

deathtroll

they should be ok for malawi cichlids

I would recommend against using any chemical to adjust the ph or anything else as the chemicals can cause big changes too quickly and are not that stable imo

if you want to raise your ph I would try to find crushed coral or some limestone
crushed coral you should be able to get in your LFS in the salt water section
limestone any home and garden supply shop should have it though I'm not sure about your area

once you have fish in the tank you don't want to change anything to fast. to change the ph with fish in the tank you want to slowly add what you are going to use to change it the same if you need to lower something don't try to do it all at once. you will want your fish to have time to adjust to the water properties

Nutter

The only thing that may be a concern is the PH. It should be between 8.0-8.4 for malawi cichlids. The fish may well be able to adapt to the lower PH though if they are aquarium bred fish.
Crushed shells are good for raising the KH & PH of the water for malawi ciclids. Decorating with limestone rocks will also have the same sort of effect but a bit slower. You can probably find crushed coral sand at your LFS that will help with the KH & PH as well. If you can only get a small amount of limestone then crush it up & use it as a media in your filter. It will disolve slowly & change the water chemistry over time. There are Rift Lake salts & buffers that your LFS may have or be able to order for you that will help with the water chemistry. You can also use Bicarbonate Soda to increase the KH & PH of the water. Go slow with the Bicarbonate Soda though as if you get it wrong you can end up with problems.
Make any changes to water chemistry slowly. As in make a tiny adjustment each week for several weeks until you get the result you are after.

In all honesty though you are probably better off trying to get the fish to adapt to the water you have straight out of the tap rather than adjusting the water chemistry to suit the fish. If they are from your LFS then they are probably quite used to a similar water to what you have or at least to considerable variations in the water they have been kept in. You will only really run into trouble with wild caught specimens that will require the water to be very close in composition to thier natural environment.

hozzie

Thank you that helps a lot

zowie717

cichlids adapt to the ph. mine runs 7.6 to 7.8. all is well in the cichlid land. when i added my crushed argonite substrate i saw a rise in the ph level, not as much as i hoped for as I was shooting to get the 8.0 ph, but they are remarkable adaptable fish and as stated above, aquarium bred fish will be fine with your level. and I suspect even some that are not also.

aquarist48

Hello Hoozie! Some good tips above. Best of luck with your Malawi tank. I'll be looking forward to some photos Here is a link concerning pH you may find helpful:

Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank

Have a good day!
Ken