View Full Version : How can I make our water harder?
Jeremy S
12-15-2002, 6:07 PM
I would like to put some shell dwelling Cichlids in a ten-gallon aquarium that I have sitting in our basement but our tap water has a pH of about 7.2 and the KH is 5. Is there anything that I could add to the tank to make the pH and KH go up? Thanks.
O-man21
12-15-2002, 6:09 PM
I'm not sure, but limestone might work
I've had success in adding crushed coral to the filter. I just add about a half cup of crushed coral into a nylon stocking and place it in my filters. It will gradually up the pH and KH of the water and is very low maintenance, just replace it once a month.
Jeremy S
12-15-2002, 6:46 PM
If I added crushed coral to my filter wouldn’t the pH would drop every time I did a water change?
It would for a brief period, but the coral would quickly bring it back up.
A quick fix for this would be to drop a nylon full of crushed coral into the bucket you use for water changes and let it sit for an hour or two before adding the water to the tank.
Jeremy S
12-15-2002, 6:54 PM
Are you sure it works that fast? I thought it took a couple of days for it to raise the hardness.
bobbdd
12-15-2002, 7:10 PM
crushed coral does take a while to adjust the water parameters.
Use epsom salt to raise GH and baking soda to raise KH and Ph.
Test the amounts need to get your water where you want it by using a 5 gallon bucket,
Go slow adding it to your tanks, so it doesn't jolt the fish.
I did this with my African tanks and it worked great!
You may want to consider using aragonite (crushed coral) for your substrate. May of the shellies like to move their shells around and bury all but the openings, so they would be happiest with sand or the smaller of the crushed coral substrates (they come in different grain sizes).. and since you need to buffer your water.. it would solve two problems in one shot.
I keep africans and use only the aragonite/crushed coral as the substrate.. I don't see any bounces in the ph etc like you can see with other additives. My tap was 7.2 and the aragonite takes it nicely to 8.3 and keeps it there.
HTH