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African Cichilds (Tanganyika, Malawi, etc...)
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water test pre malawi setup
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Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
water test pre malawi setup
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03 Feb 2010 21:07 #1
by Terry (Terry Meegan)
Hi All,
I have cleaned out my tank, Trigon 350, ready for Malawis.
Water test this evening with nothing at all in the tank was
PH: 6.8
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10.0
Ammonia: .25
How is it looking so far?
Will the coral sand bring the ph up fairly quick?
Thanks for reading
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03 Feb 2010 21:29 #2
by JohnH (John)
You're right, the pH is rather low for Malawis and, hopefully the Coral Sand will deal with this, but your Ammonia reading will have to be carefully monitored and lowered as I think this is a cause for concern.
Or is this 'new' water with existing filtration, substrate, rocks etc? I sincerely hope your tank hasn't gone into re-cycling mode if that's the case.
I'll stand aside here and let someone with better knowledge of Rift Valley Fish to advise you better than I could.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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03 Feb 2010 21:35 #3
by Terry (Terry Meegan)
Hi John thanks for the reply
There is nothing at all in the tank at the moment, took out everything ready for the coral sand. I did clean the filters in the tank water and then did a 20% water change and treated with stress coat+.
i always seem to have a reading of ammonia @ .25 maybe slightly less as its the frst reading on my chart.
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04 Feb 2010 00:13 #4
by KenS (Ken Simpson)
I can't see coral sand making an appreciable difference to your pH. It needs to be around 7.5 at a minimum for Malawis. If you do a search on the fourm or internet you'll find a lot of advice on how to easily raise your pH/harness using baking soda and epsom salts. You also need to consider you GH and KH as well as pH. pH is easy to raise, but very difficult to lower so you're in a good position.
What sort of test kit are you using? 0.25 ppm ammonia is odd given the fact you've no stock and you cleaned the filter and did a water change. I remember when I got back into the hobby a few years ago I used an Interpet test kit that was tablet based. The lowest reading for ammonia was 0.25 which made no sense. Did you have water quality problems previously with this tank?
Regards,
Ken.
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04 Feb 2010 10:39 #5
by Terry (Terry Meegan)
Hi Ken,
I use the API Master test kit, the colour is somewhere between 0 and .25
The water in my area has been crap lately, i must test it to see how it is straight from the tap.
Hoping to get the sand in this afternoon, ill retest all shortly afterwards.
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04 Feb 2010 18:29 #6
by Frontosa (Tim kruger)
Hi,
if you put in an airstone and plenty of watersurface movement that will help you aswell to bring up the Ph.
Coral sand and Ocean rock wont make a big impact but are great as a buffer.
Regards,Tim
Midlands - in the heart of Ireland.
Keeping and breeding : Frontosa Blue Zaires , Synodontis Petricola , Tropheus Red Rainbow (Kasanga) , Tropheus Moliro . Regulary fry for sale.
Community tank with P.Kribensis and different livebearers.
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04 Feb 2010 18:50 #7
by derek (Derek Doyle)
terry
you can raise the ph almost instantly by adding breadsoda, (i tablespoon should be enough, dilute in a cup and then add) then the buffers in the coral sand will keep it at a high level.
the ammonia readings are a bigger concern and must be lowered before adding fish. was the tank in use with large fish before as this would explain the current low ph and ammonia reading. if so you can remove the ammonia with polyfilter or actived carbon. as mentioned earlier these test kits can be unreliable.
30 tanks specialise in african cichlids, angelfish and various catfish
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05 Feb 2010 13:58 #8
by Terry (Terry Meegan)
Thanks lads,
There was two large oscars in the tank ok up until recently.
It has since given the all clear on ammonia, i had tested it directly after doing a water change, whould this explain the ammonia?
Thanks for the breadsoda tip
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Forum
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Tropical Aquariums
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Cichlids
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African Cichilds (Tanganyika, Malawi, etc...)
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water test pre malawi setup
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