New to keeping Cichlids, help with a few Q's

[Oddball]

The well should have been tested before allowing it to be used for human consumption. Check the report for dissolved oxygen levels.

The recommended minimum dissolved O2 requirements are:

Cold water fish - 6mg/liter (70% saturation)
Tropical FW - 5mg/l (80% saturation)
Trop marine - 5.5mg/l (75% saturation)

You'll also need to check salinity, metals, pH, ammonia, and biological levels and determine if the levels are compatible with the species you wish to maintain. The well should be checked seasonally for the first 2-3 years to determine average levels (you WILL see seasonal differences).

 

[Otherone]

As for another Q - PH buffers aren't nessassary IMO unless your well waters PH value is really low or way too high and then you better get real good at testing your water's ph. Buffers improperly used can cause huge ph swings which are harmful to fish - Stability is key.

As for That Fish/Pet Place - every African Cichlid I own I bought from them locally.

 

[Otherone]

Double dippin' - my Bad.

As for Live Plants IMO it would be a waste of money - esp. w/ Mbuna they will eat them. Plants w/ Haps and Peacocks usually get uprooted from their digging of nests. This destroys the root stock and transplant shocks the leaves. On the upside plants are cheap, a good food source for mbuna, add color and texture for about a month.

 

[secuono]

You'll also need to check salinity, metals, and biological levels and determine if the levels are compatible with the species you wish to maintain.

How do I check those??

I have Angels, rainbow shark, opaline gourami, dojo loaches, oto, betta, left over Platy, P.J. Pleco.
They do great with w/e comes from my tap now.

 

[Oddball]

You'll also need to check salinity, metals, and biological levels and determine if the levels are compatible with the species you wish to maintain.

How do I check those??

I have Angels, rainbow shark, opaline gourami, dojo loaches, oto, betta, left over Platy, P.J. Pleco.
They do great with w/e comes from my tap now.

These values are on the well report. As to compatability, researching the fish species tolerance ranges is needed. An example would be:

Angels - prefer soft neutral-to-acid water with little-to-no dissolved salts and zero metals.

Platy - prefer hard neutral-to-alkaline water with dissolved sodium or calcium chloride salts and can tolerate some metals.

...and you continue to check the requirements of the other species you wish to keep.

As to biologicals, these readings are necessary to give an indication of what may cause problems once the groundwater temp is raised to tropical levels. Things like fungi and slime molds can cause serious issues for the tank and household in general.


The african cichlids you want to keep would mainly be: prefer hard alkaline water (pH 7.8+) with dissolved calcium chloride salts and coastal species may tolerate dissolved metals more easily than open water species.