African Cichlids originate from the Great Rift Lakes – Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria in East Africa. These lakes have Water Chemistry that is atypical for the Freshwater Aquarium Hobby.
pH range 7.4 – 8.6
kH range 10 – 14 dH
gH range 9 – 18
Temperature 24 – 28°C
Buffering Your Water
This means altering your water chemistry to the desired parameters.
Step 1 is to test your water supply, you may be lucky and find that some parameters are suitable. However more often than not, there will be some correction required to match the water chemistry of the Rift Lakes.
This can be done “naturally” using the likes of coral, limestone, dolomite or aragonite. However with the frequent water changes required for a heavily stocked tank, this may not be enough to stabilize your water chemistry.
To correct the parameters of my water supply, I add the following to my water before it is pumped into the tanks. To determine the correct quantities for your supply, you will need to incrementally add measured quantities to the water and retest the water parameters.
-Baking Soda (to raise the pH and kH)
-Epsom Salt (to raise the gH)
-You can also add Salt (NaCl), which is naturally present in the Rift Lakes.
Water Changes
The bane of every fish keepers life! Unfortunately a necessary evil to keep your fish healthy and happy. The main reason to do water changes is to dilute any contaminants that build up in the tank water such as ammonia and nitrate. (see the Filtration Page for more information on ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and the nitrogen cycle.)
African Cichlid keepers tend to overstock and over-filter their tanks in order to reduce aggression between fish. One side effect of high stocking levels is that the food input to tank volume ratio is higher than a low stocking level. This means water changes are required more frequently or a greater percentage of the tank volume.
I typically change 50% of my tank water per week, sometimes more in fry tanks with high food input.
Water Supply
There are multiple water sources you could be using for your water changes:
- Mains supply – this is convenient, but may require chlorine removal and you may be charged per litre for water usage in your area.
- Rainwater collection – potentially not reliable depending on your location, but may be useful to supplement your supply where possible. Key benefit over mains supply is no chlorine!
- Water from a stream, spring or bore.
Chlorine Removal
This is often a hot topic of debate among hobbyists!
I would like to strongly emphasize the fact that there is always a risk of varying chlorine levels in a mains water supply. Please take this advice with consideration and if in doubt, test your water for chlorine before putting it in with your precious fish!
Aeration/Evaporation – one method to remove chlorine from your water supply is simply to let it sit in a drum or container outside until the chlorine has evaporated. This can be assisted by aerating the water with an air pump and air stone.
Water Conditioners – API Stress Coat and Seachem Prime are popular commercially available products which can remove chlorine from your water supply. These are easy to use and cost effective for a few fish tanks.
However if you have a serious aquarium addiction, you may be looking for a cheaper solution. I use a Sodium Thiosulfate crystals for my chlorine removal, these are readily available and very cheap. The following link has detailed information of the method and quantities. Proceed at your own risk and read all the instructions carefully!
http://www.jonahsaquarium.com/JonahSite/dechlor.htm
