# coral to harden water? hardess measure? size of tank? compatibility?



## keziahamber (Jul 18, 2010)

Someone selling cichlids told me to put a piece of coral in the water to harden the water? 
My water hardness was measured at petsmart to be 150 (ppm I assume) but some people measure in DHK (which I converted somewhere on the internet to be 8.4) There was another hardness measurement called GPG?

Also, I see alot of different info out there on what size tank to keep cichlids in. I have a 35 gallon tank. I was told two things. One fish per gallon of water, and One fish per inch of tank. 

Do cichlids generally get along with eachother, or do I need to be careful which kinds I put together? Anything else you can tell a newcomer? I'm going to be reading more on the forums.


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## tommy111 (Aug 10, 2011)

You must keep in mind that most african cichlids grow to about 4" some much larger except for the shell dwellers and dwarf cichlids.SOUTH americans even larger. So if you have mbunas or peacocks you could put about 5 to 6 in a 30 gallon and even then you must select the least agressive tipe and add base rock and plenty of hiding places.


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## ApplestoApples (Jan 28, 2012)

It is impossible to generalize cichlids, like saying they like hard water.Do your research on the type you want and then worry about stuff like this, then buy your cichlids.


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