Recommended Water Parameters

Please don't kill me for asking this, but either I'm not using the "Search" on this website correctly, or some major improvements need to be made because I typed "recommended water parameters" in the search, and NONE of the hits I got directly related to "recommended water parameters". Maybe the words "water" and "parameters" were somewhere in the thread, but after reading the first two threads, I got exhausted and didn't feel like combing through the other threads to find my answer. So, here I am asking directly:

What is the recommended GH and KH for a tank comprised primarily of Lake Malawi Peacocks/Haps, and a couple Lake Victorians? I currently keep my GH at anywhere from 210ppm to 320ppm (11-17dkh), and my KH 140ppm to 225ppm (8-12dkh). My fish seem to be doing fine in those conditions, although sometimes my fish will all look a little "dimmed out"/not as colorful. I don't know if that has anything to do with my water parameters or maybe my fish are still sorting out the pecking order within the tank? I know AC are a very moody fish, one day their colors will POP, another day you could almost swear they're female! Lol! So, I know I can't control how and when my fish will color up, but the things I can control: temperature, water cleanliness, diet, water parameters, etc, I want to make sure I'm on my game. So, any and all inputs you guys can give me would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Jonathan,

Personally, I haven't measured my hardness in quite a while, so I'm not really sure what the actual GH and KH are, but tap water in the DC area is a good hardness for Malawi fish. I do add about an extra tablespoon of Epsom salts and baking soda to my tanks for every 20 gallons of water I change. I used to go higher than that, but noticed an increase in deformities in some fry (not sure if it was really related or not).

chriscoli said:

Hi Jonathan,

Personally, I haven't measured my hardness in quite a while, so I'm not really sure what the actual GH and KH are, but tap water in the DC area is a good hardness for Malawi fish. I do add about an extra tablespoon of Epsom salts and baking soda to my tanks for every 20 gallons of water I change. I used to go higher than that, but noticed an increase in deformities in some fry (not sure if it was really related or not).

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Hey there Christine,

Thanks for posting! Yes, I heard the same thing, the tap in DMV is decent for Malawi. But what I'm having a hard time finding, is WHAT IS the reccommended GH and KH for Malawis? I've scrubbed all the forums (maybe that's my first mistake, lol) and "their" recommended parameters are all over the place! I thought I would at least find a pattern or a popular number after going to enough forums, but it's been all sporadic. Should I email Seachem directly since they make buffers and salts specifically to adjust GH and KH for African Cichlids?

I would go with the info here:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/water_chemistry.php

I typically go with the higher side of things when it comes to PH and find I get better coloring.

manbern said:

Hey there Christine,

Thanks for posting! Yes, I heard the same thing, the tap in DMV is decent for Malawi. But what I'm having a hard time finding, is WHAT IS the reccommended GH and KH for Malawis? I've scrubbed all the forums (maybe that's my first mistake, lol) and "their" recommended parameters are all over the place! I thought I would at least find a pattern or a popular number after going to enough forums, but it's been all sporadic. Should I email Seachem directly since they make buffers and salts specifically to adjust GH and KH for African Cichlids?

Click to expand...

I know I've seen the numbers around but can't recall where right now, but keep in mind that it's not just one number.....there's a range depending on (I assume) time of year and location in the lake.

I have a GH and KH kit but rarely use it.
I mainly test for PH to make sure it stays around 8.0
Ammo = 0
Nitrites = 0
Nitrates = 40 (constantly trying to lower it)

I am north of Baltimore.
Dont own any kits for water.
Have bred anything from Discus to Tangs with only using Safe.
Clean water, good food, and happy fish.
I like to keep it simple.

So I contacted Seachem directly and this is what they said:

"Thank you for your email. Many Lake Malawi cichlids are raised and maintained in water with a far different chemistry than is found in their natural environment. However, for ideal health, we would recommend a KH value from 8 to 10 dKH and a GH above 10, an easy task if you are using the Malawi Buffer and Cichlid Lake Salt."

This should be trustworthy information right? What do you guys think?

Sounds reasonable to me.