# confuse on preparing water for lake malawi cichlid



## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

hello everyone! 

I am planning to set up a new tank soon. lake malawi cichlid would be my choice because they are very fun to watch. we all know that malawi cichlid will love to have a high PH and hard water and thats where all of my confusions are. I will list down all of my questions and maybe some of you can help me out. I'm really excited to get my new malawi tank up and running. thank you very much guys!

My tap water has low PH, KH and GH, the readings are PH 6.2, KH 78ppm, and GH 120 which are too low for malawi cichlid.I have read the article of Marc Elieson on the library part of this site. i have decided to use his recipe(epsom, salt and marine salt) to raise PH, KH and GH.

1) how much recipe should i add on my tap water to reach the right water level for malawi cichlid?

2) how long will the recipe last? do i have to give another dose after a certain amount of time?

3) lets just say i got my PH 8.0, KH 120ppm and GH 190ppm up after using the recipe. how should i prepare and perform my water change without making the PH swing or fluctuate.?

4) lets just say i got my PH 8.0, KH 120ppm and GH 190ppm up after using the recipe. Will there a problem if i want to add some rocks like limestone or crushed coral? Will that raise the water level even more?

Thank you very much :-? :fish: :dancing:


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## fancy diver (Mar 21, 2009)

Do not rely on your buffer only. Go get carib sea eco complete african cichlid sand. the substrate is the most important thing for your ph, and i would def add limestone or lace rock as well. I add a dash of buffer in each 5 gallons of replacement water. w/ the substrate should take care of the rest, I rarely check ph and it is always good and high


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

yes, limestone will be my decor for my tank and also some crushed coral will be place under the sand. uhm..... opcorn: I'm new to this hobby... your instruction is very clear but for a newbie like me its still confusing


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

step by step instruction please :lol:


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## fancy diver (Mar 21, 2009)

Its ok I was there once too. crushed coral will work well. What Im trying to say is that if you properly cycle the water (at least 2 weeks adding bio-spira)and add fish slowly with the substrate you wont have to worry about ph, only when putting in new water(buffer)


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

actually thats what im planning to do. i will cycle my tank first and place my crushed corals and limestone rocks in the tank, when the ph goes up and the water is hard enough thats the time im going to get my malawi cichlid. my problem is more on how to make the PH and hardness stable since my tap water is soft and has low ph. im worried about the water change because i havent tried that yet. if i fill the tank with the my tap water, i might get PH swing. how to prevent this? how should i prepare and perform my water change without changing the PH?. again im new to this hobby and a detailed instruction will help me a lot. thanks!


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

anyone?


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

You would probably want to prepare a container of conditioned water to replace the water you remove. The size of the change will dictate the size of container. If I had to go to that trouble I would probably get out of the hobby.


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

You add the mixture to any new water you add. If you change 25 gallons of water you mix up enough for 25 gallons of water. It may not be the 1 tsp per 5 gallons as the recipe says so you might need to adjust that. I use 1 tsp per 10 gallons of water. I mix it in a cup and add slowly while filling the tank.


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

mthigpen_02 said:


> You add the mixture to any new water you add. If you change 25 gallons of water you mix up enough for 25 gallons of water. It may not be the 1 tsp per 5 gallons as the recipe says so you might need to adjust that. I use 1 tsp per 10 gallons of water. I mix it in a cup and add slowly while filling the tank.


Thanks! ok ill do that..... so how do you adjust it?how would you know that you have the right dosage?


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

You have to keep testing is the only way I know. When I started I used 1 per 5 but my ph was 8.4 so I kept reducing the amount till I got it to 8.0.


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

after preparing the water with the recipe, how long do you have to wait before you to measure the water level?


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## not so master reefer (Mar 25, 2009)

mthigpen_02 said:


> You have to keep testing is the only way I know. When I started I used 1 per 5 but my ph was 8.4 so I kept reducing the amount till I got it to 8.0.


what kind of test kit are you using?


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## mthigpen_02 (Dec 29, 2008)

I use the API Master Test kits but as long as it is a liquid and not test strips it should work I think. Now the complex part. If you are changing water chemistry with fish in the water it needs to be done slowly. Large swings in ph is more harmful than a constant high or low ph. Easiest way is put some of your crushed coral and limestone in a container with 5 gallons of water and expierment till you get the numbers right. If you have fish only increase the numbers slowly over several days.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

1st. get a large 8 gallon trashcan(make sure it is clean), fill with 5 gallons of water. Mark with a permanent marker, the water level(or scratch the plastic) Add 1tsp baking soda, 1 tsp reef salt, 1 tbsp epsom salt. Check water and repeat. If readings are too high, use a little less of each.. If too low, add more. Figure on changing 1/2 tank water weekly. If you have a 55 gallon, this is about 20 gallons, depending on Substrate and rock. Siphon into trashcan 4 times to the 5 gallon mark. Make a mark somewhere on the back of your tank (I used tape at first, but now can eyeball it). I use a python, siphon down to my mark and fill up with the right amount of Prime (dechlorinator) , and my cichlid buffer, and water from the tap adjusted to slightly cooler than my tank. My water is very similar to yours. Hope this helps!


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

not so master reefer said:


> 1) how much recipe should i add on my tap water to reach the right water level for malawi cichlid
> 
> 
> > ?
> ...


 Shouldn't, considering the buffering capacity of carbonate is around 8.3

You can add limestone or crushed coral to help buffer up the water, but you really don't have to have such a high pH or as much hardness.


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