New 125g cichlid build!

[Andy Sager]

gotta get ph up somehow right? lol the pattern of the gold nugget makes himseem more like 1 solid mass. hard to see definition

Well you have a little bit of a situation with your Ph. While the pleco can handle Ph as high as the upper 7s, they prefer more acidic water. Your Mbunas should be kept at the upper 7s to even higher. I suggest that whatever your Ph is now with the fish doing okay, don't change it. Chasing water parameters is a full time job and often causes more problems than a stable environment that doesn't quite match " perfect".

 

[huma-huma]

Well you have a little bit of a situation with your Ph. While the pleco can handle Ph as high as the upper 7s, they prefer more acidic water. Your Mbunas should be kept at the upper 7s to even higher. I suggest that whatever your Ph is now with the fish doing okay, don't change it. Chasing water parameters is a full time job and often causes more problems than a stable environment that doesn't quite match " perfect".

Absolutely agree and we aren't chasing numbers in that regards. We usually sit down in front of the tank each night for 20-30 min and watch. Everyone is great and happy. The tank seems to be fairly stable so the last thing I want is to chase a number and throw the tank out of whack.

 

[huma-huma]

Update:
Not much honestly. Added more rock work to provide more hides for everyone. Added 7 more cichlids to finish out the stock list.
One thing worthy of mention, it seems our well water is around 20ppm trates right put of the tap, so long term here we will be looking at an RO unit.