Glossary

Glossary of African Cichlids Terms.

Acid - Indicative of a pH below 7 or a chemical that lowers pH.

Air Pump – A pump that provide a constant supply of air to the water.

Algae - A plant like organisms that grow underwater usually produced by too much light, too much phosphate, and/or overfeeding.

Base - A chemical that raises pH, also known as an alkali.

Biological Filter - A filter which uses bacteria to breakdown waste in the water into substances which are less or not at all toxic.

Cichlid - are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes.

CO2 – Carbon dioxide. Used in Planted Tanks to maximize plant growth.

Hard Water – Water which has a high concentration of dissolved minerals and solids.

Live Rock – Rocks that are taken from a coral reef which contains living bacteria on them.

LFS – Local Fish Store.

Nitrate - (NO3) This is a non-toxic product of the nitrogen cycle. This is not a critical problem in freshwater tanks, reef tanks should be kept below 10 ppm.

pH - Indicates how acidic or alkaline your water is. pH Stands for "the power of Hydrogen".

Rift Lake - One of the large lakes found in East Africa. Referring to Lake Malawi (also called Lake Nyassa) or Lake Tanganyika. Lake Victoria is sometimes called a Rift Lake because it is near the others, although technically it isn't truly a rift lake.

R/O Water – Water that has been purified through the process of reverse osmosis.

Sponge Filter - A simple, but effective form of filtration. It provides mechanical and biological filtration. The filter consists of a lift tube connected to a power head that draws water thru the sponge block removing waste and growing bacteria.

Water Change – Remove a small part of the water from an aquarium (usually 10-30%) and refill with fresh water.