ph...

[leck85]

i just bought some blue dolphin cichlids... something moori i think.. anyways, woman at store told me they keep them at 7.8 and should be kept there... i told her i kept my ph at 7.4 and she told me i shouldnt buy them.. i didnt even know which tank i was going to put them in, i just told her 7.4 so she wouldnt harrass me about getting them, but she did... so i bought 4 of them anyways and brought them home... raised my ph to 7.6 ... then i decided i would test the water in the bag to see if it was close to my 7.6... it was 7.0... so i lowered the ph in the tank to about 7.4 and slowly accumulated them to the tank, and they are doing fine... i am curious though.. if they were kept at 7.0 and were o.k... does that mean its good for them to be at 7.0.... i hope to eventually keep them with my parrot cichlids... i know parrots are ok at 7.4 as are the dolphins... so for future reference, is it wise to keep the tank at 7.4 ? or just go with 7.0 ?

im not really sure how compatible they are really... the parrots are about an inch long, while the dolphins are at about 2-3 inches... 2 parrots, 4 dolphins.. im going to be putting them in a 55g tank in about a month or 2... currently the 4 dolphins are in a 10g, and the 2 parrots are in a 10g with a severum of similar size..

any ideas on any of the crap i just asked/said ? *crazysmil

 

[leck85]

from the info ive gotten elsewhere, the ph shouldnt be a problem... they are both ok at 7 -7.4 ... but... nobody has really said much about compatibility.. i guess i will have to try it and see what happens

 

[Desi]

the ph isn't so important as maintaining stability. My pH is always around that amount; regular water changes; and I have an overstocked african tank now going on almost 4 months. Soooo don't worry so much

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Keep it stable, don't worry about it unless you have Wild or F1 fish.

 

[leck85]

then i guess 7.0 is the best idea... thats what the tap water is at anyways... adding stuff probably is kinda dangerous... some have told me that the mooris shouldnt be kept in a 55g tank... i dont know.. i think im going to do it anyways... i dont think 8'' is too big in a 55g.. there will be 4 of them reaching that length (approx)... plus the maybe 4 parrots that will get large, as will the severum.. i dont think that is bad for a 55g tank.. but i dont know for sure :X

 

[FroggyFox]

Really...what Desi said is right on. Worry about stability...not the actual pH. The less you mess with it, the healthier your fish will be overall.

Secondly...you have a 55 for all those fish?? Cyrtocara Moorii get HUGE! I'm not completely sure on compatibility between the fish you have because I've never kept them...everything I've read on the dolpins they're pretty peaceful fish... The thing with larger fish is that they need more room to swim...

 

[leck85]

the dolphins will get to be 8''.. maybe smaller or larger... i figure 4 of those and 4 parrots is ok in a 55.... it will take quite awhile for the parrots to grow i know, and ive heard that the dolphins will grow quick for awhile, then slow down a lot..

i guess i will just have to try it out and see if things are ok