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Lemon Cichlid - Soft water

3K views 16 replies 3 participants last post by  rrcoolj 
#1 ·
I can NOT stop thinking bout my Cichlids I don't have any more now since we moved....and I've had my eyes for a longggg time on Lemon Cichlid tank.....

All sounds fine ...except for the part where my tap is: pH 6.8 KH 1 > All my other tanks after set up with sand, rock etc have leveled themselves out at KH 4-5 (between the 4 tanks) and pH 7.2-7.5

Which still ain't ideal for them guys BUT I'd need a bunchhhh rock for the set up anyway, would you Cichlid Experts think this would help harden the water up far enough for them guys and then maybe add crushed coral to the filter to be replaced every so often to give off calcium?:-?

I can't stop thinking bout it, so any ideas how to have some in the house again while under soft water attack would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
You could add crushed coral as a substrait to. Yes limestone and lace rock have helped my tanks.
 
#3 ·
Hmmm never thought about using it as substrate..wonder how that would turn out (as far as looks).

You said limestone helped your water - What source water did you start from and how far did it up it?
 
#4 ·
You can use special cichlid buffers in modertaion to raise the PH. I put crushed coral(live rock) in my aquaclear and I use a african cichlid buffer too once a month or once every other month and it keeps my mbuna tank at a steady 8.2.

Buffers and other aquarium conditiners often have a bad rep. It is much easier and much safer to raise the PH than lower it. using a buffer is fine but use it in modertaion. When I was first setting up my tank I used y buffer once a week but once I had the Ph to where I like it, I started using it monthly.
 
#5 ·
See...you're talking to someone here who's had yrs and yrs of experience and plenty neatly planted tanks and healthy fish (pictures under my aquariums here to the left) BUT I have never had no exp with any sort of chems (not meds not fets not buffers).
I do understand its easier to up the hardness rather then the other way around. But I have yet to read up on "Buffers" and understand just how all this works.
I really do wanna get all my ducks in a row before attempting getting another bigger tank and set it up with cichlids and tempering with the water. So any/ all info you can give me on this would be highly appreciated.

Maybe I should have added this question to the OP: But what would you guys find a nice size for a small group of Lemons?
 
#6 ·
As in tank size? A pair will do fine in a 20 so a group of 4 would do fine in a 30 or preferable 40. Thier not all that aggressive. Species tank im assuming?
 
#7 ·
Yea I was thinking 45-55g somewhere along that line.....Species tank....lol take it you seen my old set ups...yea I think its just better this way. I will set up community tanks right now with various Tetras since I wasn't able to keep them before, but in general I just pref species tanks, that way I can set up it exactly for THEIR needs and no one else.

I really gotta start digging in tomorrow reading up on the water tempering matter and see what's the best way to go bout this....
 
#8 · (Edited)
Look at the build thread under ( dyi) that says 180 gallon You have replyed to it. look at the sub there it is a crushed coral. hope that gives you an idea. lol I wouldnt use a buffer eather. Just my opinion.
I have never used limestone, others have that i know and it all depends how much you put in your tank. Start out small amounts then add as needed. I used lace rock in mine, dont remeber the exact but 7.2 Up to 8.0 Now its steady at 8.2 has been for awhile with no flexing. I should of refraised the last post. sorry
 
#9 ·
Angle079 me and you are on the same page. I am a sucker for a good species or biotope tank. That way everybody is happy requirement wise and there are no if,ands, or buts lol. I think it will look very good when done. Add lots of rocks of coarse and plants if you want. I love the look of lemon cichlids(assuming your talking about leleupi). They have that carnivore apperence im a sucker for.
 
#10 ·
@Mollies...true hadn't even thought bout your tanks, thanks for the reminder:-D

@ rrcoolj My bet I should have posted the scientific name as well, I'm sorry, the one's I have in mind are Neolamprologus leleupi aka Lemon Cichlid.
Yea I'm trying to set up a 55g & 45g community of Tetra's right now for the first time...now I'm second guessing it all and wonder if I should not have simply stuck with Species tank like before :-?

Naturally their home is the Tanganyika shore lines, so I thought of a set up with darker sand and BUNCH rocks....I think that would be most natural with them. That said thou sand is not gonna do much for my hardness here:roll: so I gotta figure out first HOW to harden the water and then keep it hard and allow for sand :frustrated:
 
#11 ·
You could mix crushed coral and sand. It will harden your water nd give it a little bit of a sandy feelo. Or fine very fine crushed coral. Limestone is good for hardening water. So is texas holey rock and lava rock I believe.
 
#12 ·
But realistically how do I know how much (either rock or crushed coral) I'll need to achieve the needed KH & pH??? I mean its not like I can add the stuff on end, and once I get where I want it look at the rock and say stop hardening NOW if its too much rock/ coral in there and the water turn into liquid concreate, that tehn ain't good neither.....
 
#13 ·
Start small then add as needed untill your at the ph you want. Then let sit for a month with out doing any thing and see if it is stable. If you were going with rocks i wouldnt do the crushed corals. or if you were going with crushed coral dont do the rcoks. Im not saying dont add rocks, dont add lime stone ect. Your holyrock and lace rocks, and slate rocks would be ok as they dont harden the water to much.
 
#14 ·
I'd def wanna set it up with bunch large sized rocks, kinda like cave style if you know what I mean....that is a must have. for the looks, I think I'd like to see sand over crush anything...but really I need to get the water hard somehow....I read somewhere about calcium tablets for humans to be used to harden water, but I hadn't read up further on this, so I'll have to do this.

I really wanna figure out first how I can get hard water and the set up I want before I get to work on yet another tank.
 
#15 ·
cichlid buffers would probably be safer than calcium tablets.

Okay this is what I would do. When you set up the tank choose some sort of Natural buffer but just one. It can be anything from crushed coral substrate, to some sort of rock like limestone. Depending on the filter and how big it is you may even be able to stuff some rock of coral into the filter which will not only bring the Ph up but will help with biological filteration. Next I would find some sort of unatural buffer like you would buy at the pet store. Most will be in a powder form but just in case don't buy it if it's in liquid form. I reccomend a lake tanganyikan/victoria/malawi buffers. They will all bring the Ph to the proper range no matter which one you chose.

After you have set up the tank with the natural buffers, start using the secondary or unatural buffers once a week at the suggested amount. Do this for a month or two while the tank is cycling or before you put fish in the tank. After that amount of time the Ph should be where you like it and you can reduce using it to every month or every other month. Make sure you test the Ph weekly during this process to make sure everything is going smoothly and so you know when to stop. Once the water is stable add fish.

I hope this helps at all I hope everything goes well.
 
#16 ·
Well I'd wanna set up a 55g for them, that said I'd get me another Eheim Canister, instead of the bio balls I always use, I could use the crushed coral in that basket!?

For that buffer stuff: How do I then achieve having the exact mixture each time I do a w/c so I don't expose the fish to a weekly ups and downs???

For the set up itself, I'd DEF wanna run the tank until the day its stable in itself and have the parameters desired, THEN add fish, not before that (that'd be a foolish thing to do IMO).

Right now I'm sitting here rattling my brains on the other 55g to be stocked and I can NOT figure out what I want arg...
 
#17 ·
Bio balls usually have a much larger surface area. But ad ing some small rubble in addition to that will help.

The way the mixture is designed it dosen't drastically change the PH but it does it over time. So If you add it to your tank while doing a W/C its not going to suddenly raise your Ph from 7.1 to 7.2 but it will do it over a few weeks which is safe for your fish. Although like you said have everything stable before fish.

Sorry your having a hard time desciding. Im currently trying to find something to replace my firemouths. I will probably get a green terror or some Nicaraguan cichlids this weekend. Will have pics to share!
 
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