African Cichlids: General Discussion => New tank set up

AfricanCichlids.net

Members

Help

Home

Home » African Cichlids » General Discussion » New tank set up

Show: Today's Messages :: Show Polls :: Message Navigator

E-mail to friend

New tank set up [message #9671]

Sat, 10 May 2008 17:32

mttomb2000

Messages: 9
Registered: May 2008

Junior Member

Hey guys,

I have been poking in here occasionally and reading some of the topics. I am in the processes of setting up a cichlid tank and thought you guys could give me some pointers. This is actually my second African cichlid tank. My last one I had to sell because we moved and I had no room for it. It was a 55 gallon. My wife bought me a tank at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. It is a 44 gallon oceanic. It was fully set up with a stand for $90. I think this is a little small for Africans but I would call it boarder line. Anyway, what I have done is to try and set it up like my last setup. I never checked the ph of my last tank but my fish thrived. They had babies which grew to be pretty good size before I sold my setup. I checked the ph of my current tank and it is at about 7.4. So my question is, what ph tester do you guys recommend? I just have a thing in the tank where you have to match up the color to get the ph. My wife would tell you that my color matching skills are less than perfect. It seems like it should be more than 7.4 to me. I have crushed coral for my substrate, there are several large pieces of lava rock, and I put roughly 1 teaspoon of instant ocean in per gallon of water. 7.4 seems low to me. Do you think more lava rock will help? I have some that I can put in. I would rather not get to where I have to put ph increaser and decreaser in. Currently I have 2 red-tail botias and 2 synodontis catfish in the tank. They have been in the tank for about a week and seem to be doing well. I don't see much of them unless I turn off the lights and drop some food in away from the pile of rocks. They like to hide. How long do I need to wait to put in some cichlids? How many can I put into a 44 gallon tank? Thanks in advance for any incite you guys can give.

Report message to a moderator

Re: New tank set up [message #9699]

Sat, 17 May 2008 11:00

mttomb2000

Messages: 9
Registered: May 2008

Junior Member

Talkative bunch. I went out and got a better test kit. The one that I had said 7.4. I got one that you put the drops in the test tube of water and it is about 8.2. So all is well. Eight cichlids in the water for a week now and they seem happy enough.

Report message to a moderator

Re: New tank set up [message #9722]

Sun, 18 May 2008 13:36

Malawi Mother

Messages: 1305
Registered: February 2007
Location: Phoenix AZ

Senior Member

I wouldn't worry so much about your pH at this point. You need be concerned with the ammonia and nitrites for setting up a new tank. Ammonia in the beginning can kill fish. Yes it is true that african cichlids are the hardiest fish you can buy at the store and can suffer longer with ammonia issues then tetra or gold fish but the facts are, steady constant ammonia breaks down the fish and they start developing respirtory problems as well as a bunch of other issues. Your tank should be completely cycled before adding good show fish. Please go to the Tanks, Filtrations, etc section and start reading there.

http://members.cox.net/rpagan2/cichlid%20signiture.JPG

Please come visit me at www.atozthatsme.com

Report message to a moderator

Previous Topic:	Cichlid Identity
Next Topic:	55 gal & 46 bow front

Goto Forum:

-=] Back to Top [=-

[ Generate printable PDF ] [ Syndicate this forum (XML) ] [

]

Current Time: Sun Jul 6 05:15:35 EDT 2008

.:: Contact :: Home ::.