[Betta1]

I'm setting up a 55g African Tanganyikan myself and luckily theres a local group of breeders I can rely on. Most Tanganyikans get up to 5" at most and of the two breeders I've been to they use mostly 75g & 55g to house their cichlids. I don't know how many I'm getting yet though the inch per gallon says I can get about 10 and considering the tank is 12" deep I don't see a problem with that. Again I'll be relying on the breeder to let me know whats good and what isn't. Tap ph here is about 7.6 and thats what the breeders use for most of their tanks. I'll tell you one thing I learned about buffering, coral rock doesn't raise the ph when used as substrate, perhaps in a canister filter but it does nothing as substrate. Check out some cichlid forums and find out if you've got any local breeders. Search aquabid for sales located in your state, if you find someone selling alot of cichlids they may be a breeder, thats how I found mine.