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hrishi007
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 Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:22 pm Post subject: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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| guys,i would be making a malawi and tangayinka cichlid tank soon..i have googled a lot and found out that these cichlids need extremely high ph of over 8..how do i make my tank water alkaline for these cichlids?..a friend of mine suggested to use baking soda to increase the alkalinity in water..my question is how much to use? also ,if i use coral sand in my tank,would it make the water alkaline in any way..my tank dimesions are 48*15*18..please help me out guys... |
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garfield1967
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Location: Kolkata, West Bengal
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:37 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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| You get to buy cichlid salts for the cichlid tank which make the water alkaline. This would be the safest method though a bit expensive. You could add baking soda to increase KH. Magnesium sulphate (Epsom) would boost GH. CaCO3 would increase both GH and KH. Whichever method you use be careful not to bring about sudden changes in the water hardness. You could wait for the experts to comment b4 you do anything. |
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mitra-hyderabad
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:49 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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| This might be useful -Buffer recipe |
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Lawrenze
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:53 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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I've always used tap water for as long as I had Malawi and Tannganyikan cichlids...they even spawned in the same water, I think the Kolkata hobbyists also do the same  most of the fish that we end up getting are tank bred and don't require any alterations in water parameters except those regular WCs 
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rahulk
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 1:29 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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| agree with Lawrence |
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hems
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Joined: Oct 09, 2006
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:04 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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HI,
there is no need of so much R & D for alkaline water if not possible.
If you are going to is coral sand then there would be no problem at all....just add some lime rock in it to make ph 8+
Currently I have 36 x 18 x 15 tank which have all types of chichlids, I haven't faced any problem till date regarding water chemistry...
have a look
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headbanger_jib
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:25 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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u can use the regular water
other than that only one more thing, don't mix tangs and malawis in the same tank |
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hrishi007
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:11 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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thanks for your comments..guys..
@headbanger- i will have 2 seperate tanks for malawis and tangayinkas..
btw,one more question guys..if i use normal tap water and coral sand in my tank,would the awesome colours of the malawis and the tangs come out..or as long as the water is not alkaline,the true colours would never be seen..
lime rock would be hard to find in where i live..would plain coral sand do the job? |
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djay
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Joined: Apr 21, 2010
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:21 pm Post subject: Re: making water alkaline for cichlids.. |
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You can use the Coral Sand as substrate for Cichlid tank to maintain the pH.
For the Malawi tank I have, I use the regular borewater and it is working fine for me. |
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