Cichlid Tank help?

Question

Can somebody please tell me what the nitrate, hardness, alkalinity, and pH levels are sopposed to be? My nitrate is really high and so is my hardness, also my pH is acidic. How can I make my nitrate safe? Is there something I can add to the tank?

I have Gold Severums and blood parrots

Answer 1

To make the nitrate safe, eliminate it! The only way to do that is to vacuum the gravel, which will remove the decaying waste of the fish. There are no miracle chemicals that REALLY remove nitrate. What kind of Cichlids do you have? African Cichlids will want hard, alkaline water, while South American Cichlids will like soft, acidic water. We need more details to help you out.

Soop Nazi

EDIT: As Ghappy said, your fish probably don't need any alterations to the water (unless it has a pH of around 8.5+). Under that circumstance, you can add some driftwood (one or two small pieces) to the tank to NATURALLY, SLOWLY, and SAFELY lower the pH (you have South American Cichlids) to about 7.0). Email me if you have any questions.

Answer 2

The cichlids you have are highly tolerant of water parameters, and I highly recommend not messing with it. They don't 'need' any type of water, the PH levels you see in profiles are an estimation of the water in the fishes habitat, not what it needs to survive. Messing with the water can easily lead to instabilities, and unstable water is much more stressful to the fish then parameters too low or high. My male Nicaraguan cichlid, a 'soft and acid water' type fish, has lived and bred in my tap water which is slightly hard and quite high PH - he's 12 years old.

As for nitrates, you must do water changes often enough to keep on top of them. The smaller the tank vs the size and number of the fish, the more often this will have to be, but in a properly stocked tank weekly water changes of 1/4 should be enough to keep on top of it. Your fish should ideally have a tank of 50 gallons or more.

In addition, as mentioned above, keeping the tank cleaner of waste will help slow nitrate production - this generally entails vacuuming of gravel and regular cleaning of the filters of physical waste (by rinsing in de-chlorinated water to preserve the bacteria).

If you have a problem of high nitrates in your tap water then there are some products that can help. The best types are the nitrate absorbing filter medias, but they're expensive and need to be replaced regularly, so it's more of a last resort. There are also additives you can pour into the tank that neutralize the nitrate, but adding junk to the water is never the best way to do it, and it can mess with the results of your nitrates tests.

Answer 3

Plastic plants so they dont nip and destory it.
Rocks ,crushed corals ,gravel and hiding places are cichlidz favourite.

Read up
http://www.fishlore.com/Beginners.htm