Good bottom feeder/cleaners for a cichlid tank

[tcarswell]

My PH is 8.3 out of the faucet. That is part of the reason this is an African cichlid tank

 

[greenearthlawns]

If you have fairly neutral, soft water, and don't buffer, then Clown loaches could work. I have a featherfin Syno. and he is awesome. Any of the smaller Synos. will work. Heck, you can even do a larger sp. Syno. if the tank is getting upgraded down the road. Just be cautious of small Julies. and larger cats.

I've been considering getting some clown loaches for my malawi tank but can they handle a very brackish water?

 

[tcarswell]

I've been considering getting some clown loaches for my malawi tank but can they handle a very brackish water?

Are malawi tanks supposed to have salt in them ???

 

[greenearthlawns]

Yes they are a brackish water type A very helpful lady at my lfs helped us out when our fish were not showing good color she sais the salt level makes a big difference and by the looks of her display tank she knew what she was talking about! she told us to buy a hydrometer ( i think thats what its called) and we measure how much salt is in the tank we keep it at a 10 which is what she was doing with her tank also she recommended using the "instant ocean" salt type of salt rather than rift lake salt which we had tried and it wasn't raising the salt level.... its cheaper too!

just make sure the level does'nt go higher than a 10 on the hydrometer...

 

[krichardson]

The lakes that these fish come from are not brackish so they dont require any sea salt.There are mineral salts and trace elements that can bought and added to the water,I have never heard of a hydrometer being used in African cichlid tanks.

 

[Muske]

Loaches do not like salts.

 

[tcarswell]

so is this neccesary ? I have never heard of it we have nice hard water for them 8.3 at faucet as well. Shouldn't that be enough ? What do I need to add ?

 

[lateraldisposition]

it's not nessacery to have salts some varieties I've heard need it I've been keeping them around ten years without

 

[krichardson]

You can do without the salt,I was going to say that the medium to high ph is most important but most of the Africans that are sold in the stores are bred in ponds in Florida,very few of them are wild caught.

 

[greenearthlawns]

I have heard from many people and read in books that the african cichlids are from brackish water but I know it's not necessary to have it, like I said I did it for better coloring and it seems to have made a difference...I found this online, its a good guide for water chemestry for different types of cichlids
Water Chemistry of the African Great Lakes

Chemical ConstituentL. VictoriaL. MalawiL. TanganyikaElectrical conductivity
(µS = µmho)91-145210-220606-620Total solids
(mg/L)76-118—460Sum of cations
(meq/L)1.04-1.212.457.30-7.46Sum of anions
(meq/L)1.08-1.772.5-2.597.25-7.71pH
8.0-8.88.5-8.68.66-9.06*Na (sodium)
(mg/L)10.4-13.521.057-63.6K (potassium)
(mg/L)3.7-4.26.418.0-35.5Ca (calcium)
(mg/L)5-1516.4-19.89.2-17.6Mg (magnesium)
(mg/L)1.59-84.7-8.839.2-43.3HCO3 + CO3 (bicarbonate,
carbonate) (meq/L)0.25-1.532.36-2.586.02-6.81Cl (chloride)
(mg/L)3.9-7.03.57-4.320.9-36.6SO4 (sulfate) (mg/L)
(using ion-exchange resins)2.35.57.2-15.3SiO2 (dissolved silica)
(mg/L)3-201.1-40.3-6.6NO3 · N (nitrate-nitrogen)
(µg/L)11-29—below detection
limitPO4 · P (phosphate)
(µg/L)3-13<7-307Total P (phosphorus)
(µg/L)47-67&#8212;[21 (doubtful)]