pH levels?

[Weiszkevin]

Have a 20 gal tank with 3 baby cichlids in it and I'm and just curios what everyone's opinion of the ph level should be at. The water temp is about 72 in am and 76 in the evening if that matters.

 

[garfy]

What type of cichlids are you talking about?

 

[Convict2161]

What type of cichlids are you talking about?

+1 what are we talking about? What breed of Cichlid's are you keeping in your 20g? Why I the temp different from morning to evening? Is this something that you are trying to achieve for reason?

 

[garfy]

The fluctuation in temp suggests either no heater present or a heater which is not man enough for the task it has been assigned.
The reason I ask which type of cichlid I'd that cichlids come from around the world and live in a variety of ph levels.More information will help determine which ph you need.

 

[Weiszkevin]

I got them in the assorted African cichlids tank One is yellow with pink eyes. One is yellow and the other is black and white with bigger eyes. And I don't have a heater right now also I live in a trailer so it's hard to keep the temp the same.

 

[Convict2161]

I got them in the assorted African cichlids tank One is yellow with pink eyes. One is yellow and the other is black and white with bigger eyes. And I don't have a heater right now also I live in a trailer so it's hard to keep the temp the same.

Do you have pics? And your gonna need a heater. Also what size tank again? 20g? What type of filter? How many fish in the tank? How big are they?

 

[Weiszkevin]

Yea the pics in profile they are 2 in each and it's a under gravel filter

 

[garfy]

You may find that an under gravel filter isn't suitable for cichlids as they like to dig and this will expose your filter plates rendering the system extremely inefficient.Just a thought.

 

[Convict2161]

I got them in the assorted African cichlids tank One is yellow with pink eyes. One is yellow and the other is black and white with bigger eyes. And I don't have a heater right now also I live in a trailer so it's hard to keep the temp the same.

I'm trying to figure out something. I saw the orange one and the yellow one. And you say you have a black and white one right? Does it have stripes? I'm wondering if there from different lakes or even different parts of the world. Those "mixed tanks" have got me a few times! I ended up with Malawi Cichlids and then south American Cichlid's, ended up with a few frontosa's and convict's that I had to re home. And even then I still have some tropheus moorii's still in my tank. This was all in a "mixed tank" now almost a year later I know better.

Also I agree with the garfy an under gravel filter isn't gonna do much. Get yourself a good HOB (hang on back) filter like a aquaclear or a marineland. And your gonna want a heater, you wanna keep temps stable as well just like your pH stability is key here. Also you may want a bigger tank. Those fish will grown to be 4-5".