African Cichlid Water Parameters: pH, GH, and KH (everything you need to know!)

In this video I discuss water parameters for Lake Malawi Cichlids, specifically high pH, GH, and KH. I walk through why these parameters are different for African Cichlids compared to most other freshwater fish, what these parameters mean, how to obtain them, how to test/measure them, and how to adjust them.
Time Stamps:
0:41 - Lake Malawi Parameters
1:33 - Do you need to raise pH, GH, and KH?
2:15 - What is pH?
3:00 - What is KH? (carbonate hardness)
3:23 - What is GH? (general hardness)
4:02 - What you can use to raise pH, KH, and GH
7:15 - How to test pH, KH, and GH
9:35 - How to test High pH using API Test Kit
10:40 - How to test KH using API Test Kit
13:26 - How to test GH using API Test Kit
15:12 - How to adjust pH, KH, and GH
16:07 - How to dose Seachem Lake Malawi Buffer
18:00 - How to dose Seachem Cichlid Lake Salt
I hope you find this video to be helpful! If you did please give it a like, and let me know what you thought in the comments down below.
If you're enjoying my content, don't forget to subscribe to my channel! You might also like to check out some of the playlists I have on my channel for more content about my setup and Lake Malawi Cichlids.
Happy fish keeping! :)
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[@jamesjamesnet]

Super helpful tips, thank you Katy.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you James 😊

[@AAE-cg1il]

I have watched a dozen videos on dosing with buffer. All left me scratching my head. This one was the clearest break down and had the actual application information I needed. Thank you kindly……

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's awesome to hear :)

[@tomcrossan8263]

Great information and easy to follow. If I have to do numerous water tests and these testing solutions are not cheap in Australia (nothing in the Aquarium world is cheap here) I cut the water from 5ml to 2.5ml and half the drops. Or if using Test Strips I cut them up the middle and get two Strips. Plus remember that some added chemicals will lower the tank Redox levels which I believe is just as important as the PH. The cheapest part of this hobby are the fish.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you 😊 And that's a great idea about halving it!

[@michaeleber4752]

There is one thing I think you skipped when talking about pH. When a temperature went from 75-77 the percentage of change is VERY small. When a pH goes from 7 - 8 if goes up by a factor of about 100! A massive change. pH changes must be done slowly like your calcium based stone and additives which buffer and change very slowly.

[@pranavnv9675]

Beautiful fishes😍

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you 😊

[@80s_monsterkid28]

Another awesome video by, Kaity! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!! I appreciate it :)

[@muhammadinadghazwan4675]

Well done Kaity Thanks for sharing informations

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much :)

[@carlosmunozlivelovelaugh5171]

Love the way the two tone substrate looks in your tank!

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!

[@rambo410]

I live in Arizona in the USA. The water here in Phoneix is great. I do a 80 percent water change in both my african cichlid and tropical tanks every week. I don't even measure the water conditioner just do drops here and there same with salt. And my fish are super healthy and active. So lucky to have good water. Other states I lived in it was terrible.

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's great!! It always helps when the tap water matches what the fish need, it makes it way less stressful

[@WolverineXXX21]

❤️ u kaity you make me love my fish even more and want to take better care of them!!!!!

[@Kaityscichlids]

That is so amazing to hear 😭😭❤️ Thank you for commenting that!!

[@AlgaeWhisperer]

Kaity thanks so much for taking the time & effort to record and of coarse for sharing this video, it's easy to follow and very informative ! I've watched many of your videos & enjoyed them all, but this is the first time i've left a comment. I'm currently just at beginning stages to re-enter fish keeping/aquarium hobby & setting up a 340L tank for some sort of Cichlid community. I recently purchased an API test kit and found i'll need either an aquascape plan or buffer my tap water for best Malawi or Tanganyika set up cheers from toronto canada

[@Ressurrectinn]

I would recommend switching to test strips instead of the liquid test kits. Much faster and accurate. Saves time and I test more often

[@Kaityscichlids]

What brand do you use for the strips? I tried some recently but I struggled to get consistent results from them

[@onehitterquitter2130]

@@Kaityscichlids Check aquarium coop

[@michaelfagan5229]

THANK YOU Kaity!!! I was only halfway through this video and it had already taught me WAY more than all the stuff I read and other videos. This is a MUST watch for anyone wanting a safe and healthy environment for African Cichlids.

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's so awesome to hear!! Thank you Michael 😄

[@denhamanderson4456]

Hi Kaity, great info! Any chnace you could share your desired parameters for the Tanganyikan tank?

[@mohamedamgad8360]

nice video 😍👏 I am from Egypt Our water is the same as the water in which the African cichlid lives How lucky I am 😌 ps : before I made a mistake that I changed the water with ro water and then the African cichlid became sick and had strange skin 😔 but I fixed the issue so : water Parameters are very important for African cichlid to show its color 🤓

[@Kaityscichlids]

You're so lucky!! Oh yes, they wouldn't like ro water at all!

[@metinboruc4778]

Merhaba arkadaşlar çok bereket versin inşallah güzel bir şey

[@crystallite7600]

Hi, thanks for the break down. You did a great job and explained it in detail, you made it easy to follow.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much 😊 that's great to hear

[@markbaumgardt2868]

Hi great video I've been using Seachem lake salt and buffer close to 25 years now always kept the range up the top end as I've found when you replicate their natural environment you maintain the fishes longevity oh by the way I still have my old Hagen test tubes now for 16years still haven't broke them

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you Mark! That's great to hear you've been using it for so long with success. You are doing much better than me at test tube longevity 🤣

[@John-bx9re]

Thank you for this explanation. I was putting way to much lake salt. I am now subscribed to the KZbin channel. Thanks again.

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's great! Thank you John 😄

[@tmartin2347]

Super helpful and well explained. I'm currently setting up my first African cichlid thank and was super nervous about keeping stable water parameters, but not anymore. Keep up the good work, I love all the knowledge you share with fish hobbyist.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much Trevor 😊 That is so great to hear!

[@migzfurtos2824]

Hi Kaity! Very informative video. Can you give us a tip on how to desolve malawi lake salt faster? 😊

[@sethupathysivasamy7499]

Yet another informative vedio. GREAT. Thank you 👏👏👏👍

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much 😊

[@Davey333]

That was excellent, just what I needed to know. Thanks

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's great to hear!! 🙏

[@RANGIT920]

Very helpful explanation thanks Katie.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you :)

[@georgeskondras1513]

👍👍👍

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thanks George 😊

[@marielaavila9182]

At around 9 or 10 min mark, you mentioned temperature. Does testing at cooler temps alter the results?

[@shmatto1]

Nailed it again, thank you.

[@tinchytarantula]

Another banger brilliant video as always

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much!! 😄

[@marzbar1820]

Fantastic videos Kaity! Would love to see a detailed video on how to gauge the amount of food to give cichlids. I don’t want to over feed and affect the water quality or cause bloat, but it also worries me that I’m not feeding my fish enough! They always seem hungry lol! Any advice would be greatly appreciated 😃

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much Marz! I can definitely do a video on this. As a rule of thumb I try to feed mine enough food so that after 3-minutes it's all been eaten, and I do that twice a day. As long as you're feeding good quality pellets and they have fibre in their diet normally bloat won't be an issue

[@marzbar1820]

@@Kaityscichlids you’re amazing!!! Thank you Kaity!

[@tanganikauzacnego5415]

hello very nice tank

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much!

[@Freddy-ep4mo]

Thanks👌👌

[@jasonrussell6789]

Hi Kaity….wow…..everyday I’m learning something new. I’m slowly preparing a 105 gallon tank for Peakocks and Haps. Doing hours of research every day. Everything is gradually coming together. This video is perfect exactly what I was hoping to find thank you so much. Happy days! I notice you have now air bubbles in your tank. Is the surface agitation doing all the air you need?

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's great to hear!! I hope your tank set up goes well :) And yes, the surface agitation is enough to oxygenate the water for them

[@aquarimlovers9775]

hi kaity i am naveed from pakistan.i realy like ur all video becaz its give me alot of informition

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much 😊 That's great to hear!

[@aquarimlovers9775]

me also upload my cichlid tank videos.plz watch my videos on youtube

[@Evil_Genius_888]

I’m interested in keeping some of these cichlids in the future. Looks like my tap water should be fine without adding anything. Ph - 8.2 : gh & gh are 9.

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's great! 👌

[@sethbryant6598]

How do you keep the aggression down in that tank?

[@baseballnerd4139]

How did you take into account your rocks and sand when determining the volume of water in the tank?

[@Kaityscichlids]

No I didn't actually! The dosage guide gives you a huge range though, so it's ok to not be exact with it

[@pareshkeer5616]

Nice

[@muthafukajones4536]

Hello kaity great video! I have a ph of 8.2 kh of 4 and a gh of 10. I want to raise the Kh. Do you recommend Malawi buffer?

[@Kaityscichlids]

Hello! Yes definitely! The Malawi buffer is perfect for raising the KH 😊

[@monomansmda1410]

When I dose mine I put it in front of my wave maker sends it through the tank

[@Kaityscichlids]

That's a great idea!

[@michaela-be4le]

Sadly the word alkaline is widely miss used; ph is measured as acidic, neutral or basic. Alkalinity is the condition under which an environment or organism exists that allows for a relatively steady basic ph value. Alkalinity is therefore about gh and kh values.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Hi Michael, I think you are mixing up alkaline and alkilinity. Alkaline is the correct term to use when referring to pH, however, alkalinity refers to the hardness of the water

[@michaela-be4le]

@@Kaityscichlids Kaity it is with respect that I suggest that you research the term alkalinity. Alkaline is the condition, alkalinity is the measure of that condition. In aquatic application it is the ability of water to resist acidification.

[@Kaityscichlids]

@@michaela-be4le from my understanding alkalinity isn't the measure of whether water is alkaline or not. Like you said, alkalinity relates to the buffering capacity of the water. Which is why you could have a high pH (alkaline) water due to the GH, but have a low KH and therefore low alkalinity. That's why alkaline is synonymous with basic in terms of pH, but isn't related to alkalinity of the water. Which I think is commonly confused!

[@Freddy-ep4mo]

Hey....What do you feed your ciclilds?😊

[@andrewsheppard8974]

Hi Kaity Love the video, a question for you What lighting do you use on your tank, looking to upgrade mine and like the look of yours?

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!! 😄 The lights are AI Freshwater Prime lights. I also like the look of the Bioscape pendant lights

[@amazingaquaticsandexotics3030]

great vid

[@seanaustin8516]

❤❤🤟🤟

[@jeremytack7256]

I tested mine today and it was 20 drops on KH & GH. Is that to high? PH is 8.2

[@amazingaquaticsandexotics3030]

awesome vid

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!!

[@rukshan_dhananjaya]

Nice video🤗✌️

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much 😊

[@bernandoturner4840]

Nice Video.. water look’s great..😄

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!! 😊

[@bernandoturner4840]

@@Kaityscichlids Hi there.❤️what time is it where you are at?

[@bernandoturner4840]

@@Kaityscichlids 10:55 PM here.. All Aquariums are 1/2 Off at Petco until Aug 1st… I got A 75 gallon just in Time.. I got Small fish in it & they will not get very Large as Adults… fresh water. Next the drift wood…about $100.00 bucks the piece I Want..😄

[@Kaityscichlids]

@@bernandoturner4840 that's incredible!! You're so lucky!

[@bernandoturner4840]

@@Kaityscichlids right..😀

[@MiniManAu]

hey mate do you have the exact dimensions of your nvs lids at all that you sent nvs? i have the same light mounts too i would love to replicate these lids?

[@Kaityscichlids]

For sure!! If you reach out to NVS Aquariums Nick has the document with all of the dimensions. He has made them again for a couple of people and fixed my error which was making the gap for the FX6 inlet and outlet a bit too wide 😊

[@MiniManAu]

@@Kaityscichlids haha I see! I was thinking of getting oase BioMaster canisters instead of fluval. I’m sure the inlet sizes are the same anyway?

[@mrjeffish8113]

Hi Katie, you are so pretty i just thought i'd say that again.....pretty fish + pretty girl = pretty fishgirl!

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!! 😄

[@yinriel]

Greetings, Katy, from here in Puerto Rico, your fish tank and your fish are very beautiful. For years I have been participating in the hobby of African Cichlids and I have always had those same parameters that you speak of, but I have some friends here who say that it is not necessary to have the fish in those parameters since those parameters are for fish that are in their natural habitat and if an ammonia rise occurs, it is more dangerous to have the PH at 8.2 or 8.4 than at 7.2 or 7.4 than the fish we have in Currently now they could be in lower parameters as much as 7.2 to 7.4 likewise the KH and the GH and believe me they are very good at it, what do you think about this, thanks.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Hi Yinriel! Greetings from Australia. Thank you so much for your kind words. It is definitely possible to keep them in those parameters you mentioned. From my understanding, if they are bred in captivity it means they will be better adjusted to living in those parameters, but from an evolutionary perspective it doesn't change that they would benefit from the parameters their bodies are designed to live in. So the way I see it is that it's possible to keep them at a lower pH and in softer water, but they may not show their fullest potential :)

[@majorbruster5916]

@@Kaityscichlids As per your last statement, you are most certainly correct. However, there is some logic in what Inriel says. Whenever you operate within the parameters laid out, you must keep your filters pristine, substrate clean and never overfeed to avoid the slightest buildup of organic matter, because in aquarium conditions the fishes will suffer from the smallest amount of ammonia or nitrite. In the lake it is a different matter. Most of the rocks I saw were covered in fish faeces because the fishes have to feed almost constantly. The moment a molecule of ammonia is excreted it is dissolved in the water but remains toxic, however, the dilution rate is of the order of millions to one so the fishes never feel the effects of their waste. Once the ammonia contacts a solid substrate it is assimilated by the nitrifying microbes which populate every exposed surface, and, as you can imagine, the surface area of the rocks combined with that of the sand acts a large filter. That's one of the reasons why wild caught fish are more sensitive to wastes than tank bred fishes. I know of more extreme cases in the UK where people keep their Malawis where the tap water is less than 1˚GH, they have to load the substrate with coral sand and their filters with either chalk or dolomite in order to achieve a pH above 7.2. Some also add soda ash at each water change. The fishes seem to do OK, and one of my friends even makes a living breeding Mbuna. So it can be done, it just needs a little bravery to overcome what appear to be obstacles to keeping the fishes you love. Cheers!

[@ernestokettle8708]

😘😍 love your voice.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you 😁

[@skite6065]

Tests are very important, but for some reason beginners neglect them.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Very true!! I also neglected them a lot when I first started out

[@jjpro20021]

Hi Kaity, quick question . I haven’t ever dosed my 75 gallon tank ever yet with Buffer or the cichlid lake salt. If needed after checking the tests results , for the first time of dosing either the cichlid buffer or the cichlid lake salt , do I dose for the whole tank volume ? Or just the amount of water that I put back in during the water change ? Thank you 😊

[@Kaityscichlids]

If it's your first time dosing the tank I would stick with the more conservative dosage which is 1tsp per 20 gallons I believe. So for your tank it would be about 3tsps. If you have a really low pH or KH/GH I would even start with just 1tsp at a time and do a test to see what change it makes to the pH just to be safe. Then as long as it's not making more than a 0.2 change, continue to the recommended daily amount of 3tsps. Then, if you're not at the pH you want, do the same thing the next day and the day after until you get to that point. Make a record of how many tsps it took you to get to the pH, and KH and GH you want for your whole tank water volume. Then from then on, when you do a water change, only dose for the % of water you changed. I hope that makes sense!

[@jjpro20021]

@@Kaityscichlids thank you 😊

[@Shashankmk]

Hi.. live near costal lines in India… sea is just half a meter away from my home. do you think the ground will be good enough for malawi african cichlids without any supplements?

[@Kaityscichlids]

I'm not too sure, it's hard to say! You would have to test it, because it would depend on what the substrate is made of and the parameters of the water you're adding in

[@jjpro20021]

KAITY!! Ok so I just tested . My PH is 7.9 in the tank Do I dose with the malawi lake salt or the buffer. To bring up my ph . 😅That’s my main concern.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Hey! Add the Malawi buffer and it'll raise your pH and KH 😊

[@jjpro20021]

@@Kaityscichlids thank you 😊

[@jjpro20021]

@@Kaityscichlids ok 😄 so I tested ! GH is 11 and KH is 5 . What should these values be ?

[@Kaityscichlids]

@@jjpro20021 your GH is good, but the KH is a bit low, you want your KH to be between 9-12. You need to add in some Malawi buffer to raise it 😊

[@jjpro20021]

@@Kaityscichlids you are a god send thank you 😊

[@jjpro20021]

Sorry to bug you again , I just tested my high range ph from my tank and it was at 8.4. I have about 20 pounds of aragonite Rock with 10 pounds of crushed aragonite sand . The water straight from the tap tests at 7.8 . What does this mean? That I don’t need to use the lake salt ? Or the buffer? Please help!

[@Kaityscichlids]

Hello! I would prioritise testing your KH and making sure it's between 10-12. If you haven't added any buffers or salts in previously, it means your aragonite rock/sand is likely doing a good job at raising the pH. The priority would be adding a buffer for your KH if your KH is below a 10

[@jjpro20021]

All this is great thank you for the help. Much appreciated 😃