I know everyone's opinion here is that a stable Ph is better than a "correct" Ph, but how low is too low for African Cichlids? My tap water has a solid Ph of 6, and that just seems a bit low. Of course the guy at my LFS sold me some calcium salts to up the Ph, but I'm not sure if I should add my fish this week. I've got a fairly large tank (100+ gallons), but I wouldn't mind dropping a few bucks a month and anally checking my Ph all the time since if it would mean healthier fish. I don't really want to take too many risks because nice cichlids are NOT CHEAP in Japan and I've got two beauts on reserve at a fish shop that I'm going to pick up this week. What should I do?
How low is too low (for Ph levels)?
- Thread starter Evilhead
- Start date
This is my 2 cents worth.
To say that 6.0 is to low for africans to live would not be true. However, I have heard many reports that say there cichlids are just not as active and other wise 'healthy acting' when kept in such conditions. (when I say healthy acting, I meen in terms of behavior, not terms of actual health) I have also heard that over a period of a long time that a PH under 7 can cause harm to rift lake cichlids, altho I have not experinced this first hand (water is 7.3 here).
If it were my tank, I would do two things:
1-Use a buffer like crushed coral or argonite (sp?) for a substrate to raise PH and KH. You may have to play with it some to see how much this will actualy raise your PH in your tank and see how much you would need. The benifit of useing this as compared to other chemical methods to buffer your water, like the buffer salts you would add each week for a water change, is that it lasts for a long time, and that would be one less item to worry about. However, when doing water changes, it would be best to do more frequent small water changes as compared to less frequent larger ones. This will help keep any PH swings to a minimum.
2- You have already invested in a large tank, invest in some good testing equipment. I would get a digital PH reader. These are quick to use, and allows you to keep a constant eye on the PH with no trouble to you. You may even want to get some software like Aquarix to help keep records of the PH just to be aware of any changes, and any trends of the PH over time. I have an el-cheapo PH tester made by Milwaukee that I love. (El-cheapo meening that it wasnt expensive, $35.) They are a huge time save when testing multiple tanks, or for taking quick daily readings on one tank.
Again, this is only what I would do. Many will say do not mess with the water at all, but by using the buffer substrate to do so would be much simpler, and much more consistant in the long run.
BTW-What are you putting in it?
To say that 6.0 is to low for africans to live would not be true. However, I have heard many reports that say there cichlids are just not as active and other wise 'healthy acting' when kept in such conditions. (when I say healthy acting, I meen in terms of behavior, not terms of actual health) I have also heard that over a period of a long time that a PH under 7 can cause harm to rift lake cichlids, altho I have not experinced this first hand (water is 7.3 here).
If it were my tank, I would do two things:
1-Use a buffer like crushed coral or argonite (sp?) for a substrate to raise PH and KH. You may have to play with it some to see how much this will actualy raise your PH in your tank and see how much you would need. The benifit of useing this as compared to other chemical methods to buffer your water, like the buffer salts you would add each week for a water change, is that it lasts for a long time, and that would be one less item to worry about. However, when doing water changes, it would be best to do more frequent small water changes as compared to less frequent larger ones. This will help keep any PH swings to a minimum.
2- You have already invested in a large tank, invest in some good testing equipment. I would get a digital PH reader. These are quick to use, and allows you to keep a constant eye on the PH with no trouble to you. You may even want to get some software like Aquarix to help keep records of the PH just to be aware of any changes, and any trends of the PH over time. I have an el-cheapo PH tester made by Milwaukee that I love. (El-cheapo meening that it wasnt expensive, $35.) They are a huge time save when testing multiple tanks, or for taking quick daily readings on one tank.
Again, this is only what I would do. Many will say do not mess with the water at all, but by using the buffer substrate to do so would be much simpler, and much more consistant in the long run.
BTW-What are you putting in it?
Thanks for the advice! I added a bit of the Ph raising calcium salts in there to give the Ph a bit of a boost and I added a crushed coral substrate which has rasted the Ph to about 7. I basically just poured it over my existing substrate (regular gravel). Should I stir this up to maintain my bacteria, or will it be fine on top? I like the look of the light coral substrate and I'd rather not mix it up too much if that's possible, although of course if you think it would stress the fish I would definitely mix it together.