30g african tank possibly
- Thread starter ryanj612
- Start date
Since this has been ignored I'll give you my two cents.
Africans do better in higher pH water than 7.0 but there is ways to deal with that. Do a little research in buffering water with substrate or with putting stuff in your filter to raise the pH.
If you don't want to deal with that, you can probably still keep Africans so long as you can maintain a constant pH all the time. Less than optimal pH/hardness at a constant level is BETTER than a pH/hardness that dips and rises with waterchanges, etc.
Now regarding the tank size....
You'll probably want to stick with a single species of African for a tank that small. I know Malawians so that is where I'll give you info. Your best bet is to select one of the following species to put in there:
Pseudotropheus demasoni
Pseudotropheus saulosi
Labidochromis caeruleus
These three species have colorful males AND females - and shouldn't outgrow that tank if you don't go overboard with numbers of each. Do a little research and reading on the different species to see which you'd like to work with.
Now the only Tanganyikans that I can safely recommend are the shelldwellers. Again you'll need to do some searching and reading on the different species.
This should get you going in the right direction. Take your time, do the tank right from the start.
Africans do better in higher pH water than 7.0 but there is ways to deal with that. Do a little research in buffering water with substrate or with putting stuff in your filter to raise the pH.
If you don't want to deal with that, you can probably still keep Africans so long as you can maintain a constant pH all the time. Less than optimal pH/hardness at a constant level is BETTER than a pH/hardness that dips and rises with waterchanges, etc.
Now regarding the tank size....
You'll probably want to stick with a single species of African for a tank that small. I know Malawians so that is where I'll give you info. Your best bet is to select one of the following species to put in there:
Pseudotropheus demasoni
Pseudotropheus saulosi
Labidochromis caeruleus
These three species have colorful males AND females - and shouldn't outgrow that tank if you don't go overboard with numbers of each. Do a little research and reading on the different species to see which you'd like to work with.
Now the only Tanganyikans that I can safely recommend are the shelldwellers. Again you'll need to do some searching and reading on the different species.
This should get you going in the right direction. Take your time, do the tank right from the start.
thank you why_spyder for all of your help. ill do a little more research and see if my lfs has any of the species of african cichlid that you listed in your post. i would really like to have a african cichlid tank that works well. as for the ph of my water i dont know exactly what it is but it is between 6.5 and 7.5 i think. ill do a test on my tank water to make sure.
Yes you could pull it off but like what they have said keep the ph around 7.8 or higher for color and health reasons
Tap water is usually pH 7.0 Industrial. 7.0 is recommended for healthy drinking water. My well water is at 8.4 from tap because it's from a limestone well. Which keeps it at that. But most city water is kept at pH of 7.0.
If you can't establish a constant pH form the tap, use a buffer, pH to be exact.
Two ways (that I know of);
1) (for African tanks that like high pH) use Limestone for your decor, i.e. caves, hiding spots, aquascaping, and such.
2) Use a pH Buffer chemical like, API's "Buffer Max; African Cichlid"- Maintains pH Between 7.8 -8.8.
I keep a 75g also, but my Tap is coming out at 7, so I use a combination of both my reasons. I have enough Limestone in the tank that when I use the buffer for water changes, I only mix in 10% of what the instructions suggest.
just my $.02...
Two ways (that I know of);
1) (for African tanks that like high pH) use Limestone for your decor, i.e. caves, hiding spots, aquascaping, and such.
2) Use a pH Buffer chemical like, API's "Buffer Max; African Cichlid"- Maintains pH Between 7.8 -8.8.
I keep a 75g also, but my Tap is coming out at 7, so I use a combination of both my reasons. I have enough Limestone in the tank that when I use the buffer for water changes, I only mix in 10% of what the instructions suggest.
just my $.02...
i have kept malawis and i recomend putting coral sand in with ocean rock
that should get your ph to around 7.8 - 8 that is what i find is a good ph it brings there colour out and keeps them healthy
here is a link to a large fish list of malawis there is loads of fish spices on this link including new world cichlids stick to malawis
any fish that doesnt get abouve 5" should be or right
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquarium/fish_list.html
if your getting malawis i wouldnt get any less than 12 they tend to kill each other ( atleast ive found )
that should get your ph to around 7.8 - 8 that is what i find is a good ph it brings there colour out and keeps them healthy
here is a link to a large fish list of malawis there is loads of fish spices on this link including new world cichlids stick to malawis
any fish that doesnt get abouve 5" should be or right
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquarium/fish_list.html
if your getting malawis i wouldnt get any less than 12 they tend to kill each other ( atleast ive found )