cichlid and PH advice (lots of questions :/)

[Steviedeej]

Hello eveyone i am new to this forum, so i am hoping for some help of people who know what they are doing. I have an aquaone ar850 which is 165ltrs. I have emptied the tank as i want to start a cichlid tank. So for the first question i want electric yellow cichlids (my main choice) how many is a good amount to keep in your tank. Also i wanted some other cichlids but i am not sure whats compatible with them, so any advice on that would be much apprieciated. The second issue i have is i just went to get my water tested to make sure everything is ok as i am told cichlids like higher ph. My tanks PH is currently about 6.0 which is low. I have been advised to add PH up. Is this an affective way of raising my ph and is it easy to maintain. 3rd and final question i have plenty of fake plants in my tank and plenty of caves (but not rocks) is it best to change my tank and add rocks for the cichlids. Sorry for all the questions. I have kept fish for years but fancie a change and i want to get everything right before i add any fish. ooo and i almost forgot. I still have 6 golden barbs and a friendly black red tailed shark in my tanks would they be ok with cichlids as they are very peaceful and just stick together

 

[Iceman29]

You do t want to leave any other fish with your cichlids. They may be calm and peaceful but cichlids 99% if the time, are not.

 

[Jess1ca]

Hello eveyone i am new to this forum, so i am hoping for some help of people who know what they are doing. I have an aquaone ar850 which is 165ltrs. I have emptied the tank as i want to start a cichlid tank. So for the first question i want electric yellow cichlids (my main choice) how many is a good amount to keep in your tank. Also i wanted some other cichlids but i am not sure whats compatible with them, so any advice on that would be much apprieciated. The second issue i have is i just went to get my water tested to make sure everything is ok as i am told cichlids like higher ph. My tanks PH is currently about 6.0 which is low. I have been advised to add PH up. Is this an affective way of raising my ph and is it easy to maintain. 3rd and final question i have plenty of fake plants in my tank and plenty of caves (but not rocks) is it best to change my tank and add rocks for the cichlids. Sorry for all the questions. I have kept fish for years but fancie a change and i want to get everything right before i add any fish. ooo and i almost forgot. I still have 6 golden barbs and a friendly black red tailed shark in my tanks would they be ok with cichlids as they are very peaceful and just stick together

Not too sure how many gallons that is don't use ph up, steer clear or chemical band aids. Crushed coral is a safe effective natural way of upping ph. I keep a media bag full of it in my AC hob filter for my Africans

 

[daniel1987]

Not too sure how many gallons that is don't use ph up, steer clear or chemical band aids. Crushed coral is a safe effective natural way of upping ph. I keep a media bag full of it in my AC hob filter for my Africans

+1 on the crushed coral and 165 litres is about 43 us gallons

 

[Steviedeej]

Not too sure how many gallons that is don't use ph up, steer clear or chemical band aids. Crushed coral is a safe effective natural way of upping ph. I keep a media bag full of it in my AC hob filter for my Africans

So if i put a lare of crushed coral in my 2 media trays in the top of my ar850 as its a trickle filter in the hood. This should raise the ph + if i was to do that would it need changed at any point. Thanks for the advice

 

[Jess1ca]

+1 on the crushed coral and 165 litres is about 43 us gallons

What's the footprint? 3ft? I don't like to recommend Mbuna for tanks with less than a 4ft footprint, especially labs as they get 5in. Shellie's would be great idea in that tho....

So if i put a lare of crushed coral in my 2 media trays in the top of my ar850 as its a trickle filter in the hood. This should raise the ph + if i was to do that would it need changed at any point. Thanks for the advice

You could do that, I like to keep mine in media bags that way I can change it out. It doesn't really lose effectiveness but does catch debris so I change mine out about once a month.

 

[Steviedeej]

What's the footprint? 3ft? I don't like to recommend Mbuna for tanks with less than a 4ft footprint, especially labs as they get 5in. Shellie's would be great idea in that tho....



You could do that, I like to keep mine in media bags that way I can change it out. It doesn't really lose effectiveness but does catch debris so I change mine out about once a month.

its 2.75ft by 1.4ft by 2ft if that helps at all. Is crushed coral expensive and does anyone know where i would get media bags in the uk