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So I decided im going to do an electric yellow colony. My question is how I should go about getting there tank set up. The store Im getting the fish from keeps them in just normal fresh water. So would it be better to get them first and then slowly raise their PH in their tank with them in it already? Or should I get the tank params set to where I want them first and then adjust them to the new tank slowly? My other question being do they need the high PH and rift lake salt? Im assuming they have been raised in freshwater this whole time. And they seem to be doing really good. As well as ive seen alot of people keeping them in normal fresh water tanks with no problems.

I acquired a full size adult electric yellow as a result of buying a used tank and getting the fish with it. It is in soft regular water. So I dunno, I think it might be fine if raised in soft water.

Well I want them to breed. So I don't know if they will in normal water. Im assuming they would have to be able to, if they commercial breed them.

If the lfs has them in normal ph, you can only assume that they were bred in normal ph. I'd leave it for a while and see how they go. As long as they are bright yellow all should be okay.





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Just one more tank........

what PH is "normal" water exactly?

Prolly best to stick with your tap it will make your life alot easier. Especielly if its the same water line as the store your buying at. Means they have been allready acclimated to your water and will make it that much easier to adjust to your tank. These fish are pretty hardy, safetly say the hardiest of the MBuna bunch. Shouldnt have issues with them breeding either. 1 male to 3 females and your sure to have holding females in no time.

I think PH is overatted when it comes to cichlids. As long as the water is not extremely soft in the six range i think normal water params will be fine. I have been keeping Mbuna for almost 5 years now & have kept them in both a high PH over 8 and a more "normal" PH around 7.4. In both cases the fish spawned on a regular basis. I say keeping the water params stable is far more important. BTW, I think Yellow Labs would spawn in toilet water as long as it was warm enough.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates-
I happen to have become a philosopher

Not correct! ph does matter, and is not over rated! There are however, variences to the facts.

Never assume anything! Just because you find some fish at the lfs in a ph that is different of their natural ph in the wild, does not mean they have been living in that ph, nor been breed in that ph. It just means the tap water in the store is that ph. As very few stores take the time to modify their water to meet requirements of all the fish they have for sale. Mostly, all fish in your lfs have been imported. Only a handful are ever from local breeders. By importing, I am meaning from a different location in the country, mostly fish farms. The fish farms import the wild colonies from the other countries. While the ph at the fish farms may be the same ph as the store is, it is not for sure. And most fish farms keep and raise fish that will do best in their own local water types, hardness and ph.

There are many fish that will adapt to live in different phs but this does not mean they are comfortable in them, nor does it mean they will breed in a different ph. Many of the more common fish found in the lfs have been bred in a different ph than they are are found in the wild. And over the course of several years or more, the fish has actually adapted to be comfortable in this new ph. And will breed comfortably in the new environment. In many cases however, there are still problems with this difference. Such as smaller spawn counts, lopsided fry sex ratios, shorter or longer egg hatching times, etc. While hardness plays an important role in the hatching numbers of the eggs of some species, the ph plays more of a role in the getting them to spawn in the first place.

In the end, you just have to try them, and see how they do. Just take your time aclimating them. As too drastic of a change in ph, if done quickly can cause severe ph burns to the fish, resulting in death most of the time.

Some fish actually require a ph change to trigger them to spawn. These are mostly annual spawners. As the change in ph is sign of the change in seasons to them. Such as the rainy seasons and such.

With this in mind, you should never assume anything about your lfs, ph, hardness, etc. The lfs is there to make money. And they will order and sell anything the customers are willing to buy. So they may take some wild fish from very soft water and low ph water, place them in their tanks of hard water with a ph of 8.0, and sell them to you. Only to have your get the rare beautiful fish home, and it dies in a couple of weeks, as it could not fully addapt to your water parameters. It happens all the time.

Never assume anything, and always ask questions about fish you are not sure of!

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There is always a bigger fish...

the higher Ph will ofcourse be better for MBuna or any rift lake. Stability IMO is far more important. As I stated the fish will be fine in a lower PH and there should be no issues as long as the PH is stable. The fish will spawn, they will live as long, and they will look just as good. Most of the breeders that the average person get their fish from do not concern themselves with the PH and these fish have been for many generations raised in lower PH. Now if you're talking pure specimens directly from the lake then thats a differnt story. In Theory you want PH to be at the higher levels, however it's obvious that rift lake cichlids can thrive at a lower as many people have acomplished this without issue. Also I have never heard of Mbuna having major issues due to PH, unless it was due to instability, Stability is the key. I am no water quality expert but I have not loss an Mbuna fish to water params ever. Agression, yes. So while there will be fish that are more sensitive to PH, I do not believe that Electic Yellows are one of them.

With that said, if you want to do the natural envionment then you can raise your PH by adding crushed coral to the filter and using a buffer for the desired PH. This will work but definitely not necesary IMO.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
Socrates-
I happen to have become a philosopher