Having trouble finding mexican bowl rock...

[thegrandpoohbah]

I can't find mexican bowl rock to set up my Mbuna tank. I need enough for a 33G. Could I use base rock meant for reef tanks? As long as it is dead it should be safe to use right? And it would buffer the water properly too. Opinions?

[Melody]

Have you tried the reptile suppliers for Mexican Bowl Rock? I know I've seen it in those sections before when I was buying snail bedding, but don't ask me where.

Keep in mind that I lack much experience with Cichlids, which is why I left this one for someone else to answer for a bit....lol. However, when I researched them after the kid got his, it was my understanding the its the buffering capacity and not the method of buffering that's important. I think the rocks are used because Mbuna like rocks so it serves both purposes. To that end, Texas Holy Rock & Tufa Rock should suffice, and that's what I use. Coral in its many forms should also work. Do confirm all this with those more experienced of course, the Yellow Labs are very forgiving so our success with her for years doesn't mean a whole lot.;)

If there's one thing I admire about you, its your constant effort to do things right and keep them that way. I'm sure they'll be very happy in your care.:notworthy:

[thegrandpoohbah]

I just got some base rock for free so I'm going to give it a shot. I have it soaking in some hot water now and then I'll boil each piece just to be safe.

I have been having trouble buffering my water enough for Africans so the additional calcium from the dead coral should do the trick. Now I just have to wait until my applesnail clutch finishes hatching and then move them all to another tank.

[Melody]

If its hatching as we speak, you can swirl the clutch around in water to help them along, or wet the clutch with a wet fingertip to soften the eggs.

Our water is horrible for that - I fought with it for a long time for the snails. We need to pipe in some Alberta water ;) .

I find that water movement helps a lot since it disolves it more quickly, be it in the filter, in a media bag in front of the outflow or an airstone parked under a couple of Tufa rocks. You can also buy bottles of calcium & magnesium. I don't like to rely on chemicals alone because I find that they are precarious at best, but adding a few drops for good measure after a water change can't hurt.

We certainly have successful Cichlid keepers in BC so apparently where there's a will, there's a way. :smile:

[Charles]

I don't think mexican bowl rock will buff your water. You can find those at landscape company. I believe there is one on se marine drive... Check yellow pages for name, can't remember at the moment.

If you have a hard time buffing your water, try some oyster shells in your filters. It will help a lot... Otherwise, just bag some large pieces of coral and sink them either in tank or filters...

[hp10BII]

I don't think mexican bowl rock will buff your water. You can find those at landscape company. I believe there is one on se marine drive... Check yellow pages for name, can't remember at the moment.

If you have a hard time buffing your water, try some oyster shells in your filters. It will help a lot... Otherwise, just bag some large pieces of coral and sink them either in tank or filters...

o.k. sorry, slight threadjack. Always wondered about this because I don't keep hard water cichlids, I have some goldfish but they're bulletproof so they don't count.

If you have hard water with a pH say 7.8, 8.0 and when you have to do water changes, do most hard water cichlid people age their water to get it up to the same pH and hardness levels, or just add water from the tap and let the buffers do their thing? With our oh so lovely soft, neutral water in the lower mainland, it's fine for most of my tanks but there seems to be alot of harder water cichlid fans out there.

[thegrandpoohbah]

I plan to do more frequent but smaller water changes. That way the pH swing will be minimized since I do not plan to buffer the new water first. Plus, the fish I am getting have a reputation for being fairly hardy and should tolerate it well. They are locally bred so that helps as well because they are already acclimated to our water.

[Charles]

from where I am, tap water is 7.2 ph. My tank is stable at 7.6 ph and which is fine for african. IMO, ph is overrated and if you are within the reasonable range and keep it consistant, the fish can adjust to it...

[Melody]

Consistency is the biggest concern when dealing with pH I believe. That's why I did so much better when I stopped focusing on pH and focused instead on kH and Ca (the latter for snails, I don't know if its necessary for Cichlids). As long as you're within the acceptable parameters, having rock hard conditions isn't necessary. They don't seem to benefit from it being harder/higher than the lower end of the acceptable range.

That's all generally speaking of course, since I know little about Cichlids.

[fishykisses]

i got my mexican bowl rock at Northwest Landscape on Byrne Road in Burnaby - cheap!

[Sobe]

sorry to bump/highjack this old thread.

Charles approximately how much crush coral would I need to buffer a 40g tank? If my rock and substrate doesnt have buffering characteristics?

[Melody]

I look at forum conversation like any other conversation - it evolves, people join in, one subject leads to another. That just makes it interesting. Nobody screams "OFF TOPIC!!!" if you go into another topic at a party after all ::D: .

As to buffering, if I may share in the answer, its usually trial and error. I find that a little can go a long way. Its usually best to start with less so you don't get a big jump, monitor, and add as you see fit. It often goes up for a couple of days and then settles down to where it will stay. The best coral contains aragonite, which is limestone, and far superior in its buffering capacity. Caribsea makes it.

That said, I'm sure Charles can help you more specifically as it applies to Cichlids.

[Charles]

if you choose not to use subsrate as buffer, then try having a few oyster shells in your HOB or canister filters...

But I usually use less than 2" of crushed coral sand to buffer on all my tanks...

[Sobe]

Thanks melody and charles =)
where can I get oyster shells?

I currently have pool filter sand and just using frozen prawn to cycle the tank. I was thinking of just using crushed corals on a mesh bag and then put in on my AC500 filter to raise and buffer my PH. I was at King Ed's today to check out how much they sell those dead crushed corals, it is a little pricey. Just asking how much of those I need in a bag to raise PH. I guess I'll buy small amount and then test my water.

Since I saw the picture of Aqua30's Calvus tank, I decided to set one up. I wanted to house either a black calvus or if not maybe a Julidochromis marlieri or may be both.

I've wanted to set up a african cichlid tank for a long time now. I was suppose to emty this tank and put it on storage to cut down on the number of tanks I have. BUT you guys know how it is so hard to stare at an empty tank even though it's already in the garage and packed for storage.

[Melody]

The water movement in the filter makes it disolve more quickly, so you won't need as much to do the same job. I agree that oyster shells are good too, but I had a hard time finding them (I don't drive so my reach is short). Tufa Rock is also great stuff - that really made the difference for me when I had to raise the pH/Ca for snails. Its not too expensive by comparison. I also use sea shells.:smile: