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I bought an Oscar and JD. She said something like 7.8 to 8.0.

I wash mine in hot water while scrubbing it with a brush to get any dirt/gunk off. That's all I do, and I've never had problems.

Eric

What's the best way to prepare/sterilze/treat a piece of driftwood for use. It's not found but actually bought at a LFS, so I'm wondering what I would have to do first before I drop it in the tank?

The Golden Dojo is right - at least according to Staek & Link which has reading from the lake. pH is 7.7 to 8.6 though. dH 7 to 9.5 (provided I did my math right...dH is electrical conductivity/30 I think).

Now Lake Tanganyika is pH 8.6-9.5 and dH of 19-21...

Eric

if this is true then why are we told to keep them in hard water. seems a bit silly to me to tell people to use limestone and things of that nature to up the ph and dh when it is not needed.


chris

But the highest recorded dH in Malawi is 10, and 7-9 is more common. I go buy what that lake's actual pH and hardness is in real life rather than by what I read in books.

most malawin cichlids like their ph between 7.0-8.5 and a dh between 10-20. at least that is what all the books i have say.



chris

Lake Malawi cichlids don't like hard water, the natural haardness is as low as 6* dH.

Yeah, C/A's do like alkaline water. And Bolivian Rams actually prefer their water to be slightly alkaline, too. The optimum pH range for breeding them is 7.1-7.6!

[span class="edited"][Edited by TheGoldenDojo 2004-07-06 16:52][/span]

Cool. So I shouldnt worry about the PH too much.
And a couple pieces of driftwood wouldnt hurt either.

Who uses driftwood in their CA/SA aquariums?

If you do, for what reasons?
1. It looks natural, great for landscaping, my fish love it.

or

2. It helps to buffer high PH levels.


The reason I ask is I'm concerned with the PH level in my tank. I tested the water from the LFS where I bought my fish, which is between (7.4-7.6). My tap water is (7.8-8.0) closer to 8.0 but stable. I think 8.0 is rather high for keeping CA/SA cichlids. Should I be concerned?

I hear the tannins in driftwood will lower the PH. My question is: at some point in time will the driftwood stop leaching tannins, then will my PH rise again?

Also how much of it would I need for the tank I have?

Dragon - Could they have meant Central American cichlids? In general, CA cichlids like higher pH 7.5-8ish. Some SA cichlids do fine in pH above 7 like Cockatoo Apistos, Bolivian rams, Apistogramma Borelli.

Africans like hard water, Centrals and SA's can easily adapt to a range of conditions.. I was told my water is way too hard for oscars but mine is doing very well.

The Amazon Nut...

You think I would know by now not to listen to them LFS people.

Dragon, I think you were thinking of African rift lake cichlids which like liquid rock!

SA rivers are known for low pH, low conductivity, very pure waters.

I thought most SA Cichlids are supposed to like higher pH of 7.8 - 8.0? I was adding baking soda to my tank to bring the pH up a little with my 7.0 from tap.

My tapwater ph is about 8 or 8.1.. My CA, SA, and african cichlids are all fine in it. Only a small piece of driftwood but plans to add more, why ? Part of South American habitat is bogwood AND it looks good, AND the fish love it !

The Amazon Nut...

My water is about the same as yours, and the driftwood does help keep the pH down. It's also necessary for my clown pleco who cleans/munches it, so it's always releasing tannins. It doesn't drop my pH too much (between 7.4-7.8 depending on how high the water company ups the pH - sometimes up to 8.8). I'm guessing in a week or two your pH might be in the low 7s. I have 4 pretty good hunks of the stuff.

Eric