Various questions

[Jtsky]

About a month ago I changed my tank from non agressive fish (like neons and molly's) over to african cichlids. What I mean by switching is completely redoing the scenery for their tastes, and I also got a new filter. I still used my same sand and some of my bigger rocks.

I have a 55 gallon tank and am wondering how man fish it will hold? All my fish so far are under 1.5 inches and I have 10, including some kind of catfish.

I tested my water today and foung that I have a ph of 8.3, a carbon hardness of 180ppm, and a general hardness of only 17.9ppm. Is their any way I could get my gh up w/o messing up anything else? Also, I guess it did not re cycle because I did not see any spikes and my ph is pretty stable.

About food, I feed omega one flakes. It says this is the "natural protein formula". I used it because i had it leftover. When I asked the lady at the lfs about using it she said it will be fine. Will it? They also nibble on the plants I have in there and they eat algae all the time. I have put romaine lettuce in there one time, and they ate it, but I didn't freeze it. Do you really need to do that? What other vege's can I feed and how should I prepare them?

Jtsky

[SGypsyMermaid]

i would mix those flakes with a spirulina/veggie flake if the tank has mbuna.

[Jtsky]

Any info on my other questions?

Also, i'm moving the tank. How would you reccomend doing that? I'm only moving it to a different room, and them moving it back(new flooring). I have a lot of rocks and a sand substarte.

[SGypsyMermaid]

re: moving your tank--see this post: http://cichlidforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3064&highlight=bottomfalloutage

if you have access to holey limestone, you could use that to harden your water.

i am a very bad influence when it comes to stocking levels...i would add another 20 fish(but you can only do this if you have heavy filtration and are willing to do 50% water changes twice a week!).:twisted:

freezing or microwaving the veggies breaks down the cellulose walls and makes it easier for the fish to eat.

[Jtsky]

Thanks