Africa Cichlids & pH Utopia

Mr.Todd

I am trying to recreate their natural environment as much as possible, i.e. avoid pH buffers and salt additives....

So I am still debating on a substrate for my African tank... I am considering crushed coral or this Eco-Complete substrate:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113555

For all you African Cichlid owners what have you used with success? Will I still need to add chemical buffers and salts in the end anyway?

THANKS!

Enzo

go to the rocky mountains ( i think they go quite far into the usa ) ive been there tons seeing i live 4 hrs away from the great canadian rockeys apart from the most amzing veiws and animals they had perfectly chrystal clear mountain water rivers and streams clean enough to drink from and they were filled with amazing rocks that looked like patterns of clown fish and chrystlas growing in them i actually found a 30 pound rock completly chrystalized but the rocks in the pic actually do look like the ones in the mountains so i recomend going there if u can but remember it is illegal to remove anything from a federal or provicial park so dont get caught oh and yes the rocks when cleaned do work for an aquarium i have some in mine

herefishy

Many fish are now bred outside of their original waters. While many, including myself, try our best to re-create natural biotopes for our fish, many times it is unneccessary and harms the fish in the end.
Some of my breeding colonies, specifically my Victorian cichlids, are not readily available on the market and are wild-caught. These fish do demand that I re-create their original environment. High pH and relatively hard water similar to their home waters is the recipe here. However, as these fish become more readily available, through breeders, their tolerances and requirements change more to that of the conditions in which they are spawned and raised.
I have found that most African cichlids will do well in a system where the pH is neutral (7.0) or a little higher. Many of my Malawian species do very well and also reproduce in these parameters. I do add a little aquarium salt and have coral, or a commercial cichlid, substrate. I also filter over coral, especially for the Tanganyikans.
More important, I believe, is that one provide enough hiding places for refuge for the females and less dominant occupants of the community.