lambo Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Hi all. I'm finally getting around to doing a tank thread. At the moment I have about 18 Tropheus Duboisi, 3 Tropheus Moori Moliro and 2 Black Calvus. I'm aiming for a moliro dominant tank so most of the T.dubs will have to find a new home in the near future. The rocks are from a local river and took quite a while to source, but now I have them, they were well worth the wait. The sand is also local and needed a lot of washing to get the plant material out but looks awesome. I hate washing sand! I chucked in a few bunches of narrow leaf java for a bit of colour. I haven't decided if I'm going to get rid of them yet or if I'll get some more. My water parameters are, PH is just over 8 Phosphates are 0 Nitrites are 0 Ammonia is between 0 and 0.25 Nitrates are between 5 and10 The ammonia and nitrates are higher than I'd like, so I've reduced the amount of food and have increased my water changes from 100l once a week to100l twice a week. As our water conditions aren't optimal for lake tangs, I'm adding Seachem Tang buffer and Seachem cichlid lake salt with each water change to try and get conditions closer. But I just can't seem to get the PH any higher. Fitration is an aqua one aquis 1200 which is holding up ok at the moment, but will either get a bigger one or add a second one. Just need to get a new impellor shaft for my spare filter. I also put in a small wave maker to help with water movement. There are 4 x t5 juwel lights in the hood for the lighting. Thanks for looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Sweet tank, looks really good, love the aquascape. I'm interested in ya buffer routine. How much of the seachem cichlid salt do you use per water change. I use a homemade buffer, bicarb and epsom salts and my ph sits around 8 kh of 12. I'm on rain water so not the best for tangs. I have been thinking about trying some of the seachem stuff but at $26 for 250g i'm thinking its gonna be to expensive to maintain and the bi carb seems to be keeping pretty stable. I am interested to see if the cichlid salt with all the trace elements will help to improve the colour of my dubs which is why i want to know how much you go through per water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Have to agree, that looks pretty sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambo Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Yhanks guys. Yeah, the seachem stuff can be a bit expensive. I pretty much just follow the instructions really. Whats the recipe you use, I might have to give it a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Nice looking tank, but if you're getting detectable ammonia then your filter isn't "holding up ok", the bioload has exceeded its ability to convert ammonia into nitrate. I'd look at getting that new filter asap. I love the sand and rocks, jealous of the big rocky rivers down there! (you can keep the snow and earthquakes though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeusterae Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Nice tank!!! :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 It depends what your ph is as far as quantities go. My ph outta the tap is 6.8-7 so i use 2tsp of epsom salt and 3/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) per 15L and that turns my water to a ph 8 and kh 12 and gh 20. Have been using it for about a year now and it seems pretty stable. Best bet is to fill a bucket of water and try different quantities till you get it right. Leave it for a couple of days and re test the bucket to see if it has stayed the same. From what info i have found on the net the bicarb won't get you much higher than that ph wise even if you add more and i don't know if it as stable as the seachem stuff. I have noticed the kh will drop to 11 sometimes but my ph never drops under 8. Bicarb and epsom salts you can get from the supermarket and its cheap, bout $5 for both. Just make sure the bicarb has nothing else added to it. How long does your seachem cichlid salt last you? would you get 10 water changes out of a 250g bottle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.