Live Coral and African Chichlids

[soccerstud652]

I have three African chichlids in my 5.5 gallon tank. I just tested my pH, and its at about a 7.4 I went to PetSmart and they said to get some live coral to raise the pH, since African Chichlids thrive at a pH of about 7.8. Is this a good idea?

Also, they suggested I put in some freshwater salt, about a tablespoon for my whole tank, to reduce the stress on the fish and help their color and health. Is this a good idea.

Thank you for your inputs!

 

[dogspot]

In my African tank, I have mixed in some crushed coral into my substrate. You can buy crushed coral by the pound from most fish stores, probably not Petsmart or Petco though. It's not really live coral. It's cheap stuff, like a buck a pound. I added some Texas Limestone rock into my 55 gallon... It took the PH from around 7.8 to about 8.4. The crushed coral had very little effect, but with your 5.5 gallon it may have a stronger effect. There are some good african cichlid chemical buffers out there that will do the trick also, but they tend to be pricy. Do you know what kind of Africans you have? 5.5 gallon seems small. Tanganyika or Malawi?

As far as the salt is concerned. I added some when my fish got ICH awhile back, but other than that, I don't believe its necessary... It doesn't hurt... But make absolutely sure it is aquarium salt. Table salt will poison the fish.

 

[Blucat]

Well Live Coral cannot stay alive unless in a saltwater tank.... You have a freshwater tank
It is better for the fish to adapt to t he PH than you trying to change it. Sometimes if you adjust the Ph it just swings back and forth and causes PH unstability, which can kill the fish. If your african cichlids are doing well at a ph of 7.4 then don't change it. Freshwater Aquarium salt is generally used in times of sickness. It is good to keep some handy just in case but it is n ot necessery with healthy fish.

 

[soccerstud652]

Yeah, I thought as long as the pH is stable, there is no problem. I put in a tablespoon of salt since it couldn't hurt. As for the live coral I guess I'll just bag it. Thanks for the input!

 

[RoK]

You do know that most african cichlids need a minimum of a 55 gal tank? They will not do well at all in a 5.5.

 

[krap101]

the home depot over here sells a 50 lb bag of aragnite for 5$ its "sand from the carribbean"

 

[jersysman]

It is a lot easier to raise your ph than to lower it. You could put some cichlid salt into your tank. What type of cichlid do you have in a 5.5 tank? As dogspot said, you can add some crushed coral to raise the ph. Cichlids can survive in a 7.4 ph, however, they need a much higher ph in order to thrive.

 

[Blucat]

If the ph is stable and the fish seem fine don't buy any coral or try to change ph

 

[soccerstud652]

Yeh, well they are doing fine so I am not going to screw around. My cichlids are only babies (about 1/2 inch) and I have three in my tabk. By the time they actually get bigger, I will probably have moved on to a bigger tank, as I get more advanced I am going to upgrade my tank.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Adding crushed coral to the tank will not cause pH swings. It is a very natural way to increase pH to the tank in a slow manner. It will in fact make the pH stable and have a greater buffering capacity. I would recommend that you put some crushed coral into the substrate. Normally I would say to put it into the filter, but I don't think the filtration unit on your tank is big enough for it. For your fish to thrive, they will need a higher pH. African Cichlids are much different than normal Tropical fish. Alot of tropicals will do fine at whatever pH you put them in (within reason, 6.0 or 9.0 is not within reason). Cichlids on the other hand thrive in higher levels of pH. I have noticed that since I started using crushed coral in my tank, my cichlids have become so much more active, seem happier, and are starting to show mating abilities since the pH has increased.