Loaches Online Forum

i have a 55 gallon with 8 mixed african cichlids and 4 clown loaches and 1 sucker fish my ph is 7.2 will this work or has any one tried this with succces everything seems to be fine both are very active and seem to get along ok i didnt relize that the africans ph should be at 8.2 not 7.2......they told me in the store that they keep all of there fresh water tanks at a neutrul ph of 7.0 what do you guys think????

You will hear of people 'getting away with this', but it is not an ideal situation as the long-term requirements of both fish are very different. In my opinion, you would be better to go for one or the other, or if you want both, have two separate aquariums. Your local store may be keeping them in more neutral conditions, but remember that this is usually for the short-term.

Emma

There are different kinds of africans which require different kinds of Ph (malawi 7.8-8.2, Tangs 8.6-9.0). The hardness for africans needs to be very high though. The loaches on the other hand prefer more neutral conditions. Since the majority of africans have been bred in captivity for quite some time now, there is a little bit of play as far as tank conditions go, but stray too far or get an F0/F1 (wild caught) specimen and they won't be able to handle it. I had the same problem with my tangs. The plecos would last about 3-4 months, and then die. I wanted to believe it was the tangs just being aggressive, but it probably was the high Ph/hardness.