Post by mikevxr on Jul 9, 2018 4:32:39 GMT -5
Several things to cover - based in Scotland I can only really comment on my own personal observations and experiences, so apologies in advance.
My tap water comes out at ph 6.3 , when I first started with African cichlids around 30 years ago I kept Malawis and apart from tap water conditioner I did not add anything else to my water supply. About 4 years ago I switched from Malawis to Tropheus as I was looking for a challenge and my previous expereince with Tropheus around 25 years was a failure. I initially had my first colony of Bemba (12 fish -1 female and 11 males) for about 9 months before breeding started - in tap water with a ph 6.3 to 6.5. However I then started adding Lake salts to raise my ph to 8 and noticed far better colouring in my fish and activity. I then purchased another group of Tropheus this time Ikola and had them in an identical tank (300 litres) with same filters but instead of using Lake salts I used 1 spoonful of Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) along with 1 spoonful of Epsom salts per 40 litres - this brings my water upto Ph 8 alongside a fairly high level of hardness. It was very much trial and error to get the correct amounts as everyone's water parameters are different. I ran both tanks alongside each other and noticed no difference in colouration of fish or breeding activity to the naked eye.
With Tropheus whilst they will survive and breed in ph 6.3/6.5 water they do not show their true colours - I aim for ph 8/8.4 as they can and do tolerate a higher ph in Lake Tanganyika but I like to make my life simple especially during water change time. An average water change is 30-40% per week -water drawn off 24 hours in advance treated with conditioner (Seachem Prime) and Lake salts/bicarbonate of soda added then left for 24 hours beside tank to allow water to come up to room temperature - I find the change in temp and fresh water effect seems to encourage breeding activity in my own fish. Recently I have experimented with larger water changes of over 50% using preconditioned water with the addition of a heater to match aquarium temp - to be honest it doesn't seem to make much difference to my fish although it's probably better for them changing a larger volume of water I don't notice any increased colour or breeding activity.
When it comes to sand etc - I use coral sand and coral rock - in MY expereince checking water parameters on a tank where ph is 6.5 there is NO magical increase in ph value and whilst I'm sure there are people out there that will argue with me on this it is my own opinion from observations and expereince with standard coral sand and rock. Surely if it dissolved and increased ph then would our coral reefs etc not have disappeared by now? Just my own opinion based on what I can readily pick up at local aquarium retailer. Anyway I think the point I'm trying to make is that there is no magic /easy solution just trial and error. Until you find what works best for you - a good testing kit is a start then find a suitable sized watercontainer add bicarbonate of soda and Epsom salts usually in equal measure until you find the desired ph etc after that you then know how much to use so each week it's the same amount -simple !
As I said earlier keep it smple , I don't use expensive equipment - the best bit of kit is your eyes (observation) after time you get to notice if a fish of fishes is not behaving normally - 5 mins at feeding time is all it takes in my opinion. Hope this helps or indeed encourages dialogue .
My tap water comes out at ph 6.3 , when I first started with African cichlids around 30 years ago I kept Malawis and apart from tap water conditioner I did not add anything else to my water supply. About 4 years ago I switched from Malawis to Tropheus as I was looking for a challenge and my previous expereince with Tropheus around 25 years was a failure. I initially had my first colony of Bemba (12 fish -1 female and 11 males) for about 9 months before breeding started - in tap water with a ph 6.3 to 6.5. However I then started adding Lake salts to raise my ph to 8 and noticed far better colouring in my fish and activity. I then purchased another group of Tropheus this time Ikola and had them in an identical tank (300 litres) with same filters but instead of using Lake salts I used 1 spoonful of Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) along with 1 spoonful of Epsom salts per 40 litres - this brings my water upto Ph 8 alongside a fairly high level of hardness. It was very much trial and error to get the correct amounts as everyone's water parameters are different. I ran both tanks alongside each other and noticed no difference in colouration of fish or breeding activity to the naked eye.
With Tropheus whilst they will survive and breed in ph 6.3/6.5 water they do not show their true colours - I aim for ph 8/8.4 as they can and do tolerate a higher ph in Lake Tanganyika but I like to make my life simple especially during water change time. An average water change is 30-40% per week -water drawn off 24 hours in advance treated with conditioner (Seachem Prime) and Lake salts/bicarbonate of soda added then left for 24 hours beside tank to allow water to come up to room temperature - I find the change in temp and fresh water effect seems to encourage breeding activity in my own fish. Recently I have experimented with larger water changes of over 50% using preconditioned water with the addition of a heater to match aquarium temp - to be honest it doesn't seem to make much difference to my fish although it's probably better for them changing a larger volume of water I don't notice any increased colour or breeding activity.
When it comes to sand etc - I use coral sand and coral rock - in MY expereince checking water parameters on a tank where ph is 6.5 there is NO magical increase in ph value and whilst I'm sure there are people out there that will argue with me on this it is my own opinion from observations and expereince with standard coral sand and rock. Surely if it dissolved and increased ph then would our coral reefs etc not have disappeared by now? Just my own opinion based on what I can readily pick up at local aquarium retailer. Anyway I think the point I'm trying to make is that there is no magic /easy solution just trial and error. Until you find what works best for you - a good testing kit is a start then find a suitable sized watercontainer add bicarbonate of soda and Epsom salts usually in equal measure until you find the desired ph etc after that you then know how much to use so each week it's the same amount -simple !
As I said earlier keep it smple , I don't use expensive equipment - the best bit of kit is your eyes (observation) after time you get to notice if a fish of fishes is not behaving normally - 5 mins at feeding time is all it takes in my opinion. Hope this helps or indeed encourages dialogue .
