New Here And Questions About Ph ABout Cichlids

[Cichlidstarter]

Let me start by saing this is a great website for help and referance.

My question for cichlids is that can you just increase the ph of your tank with you're fish still in or will they be shocked and die off?

[valerie]

If you need to increase your ph(africans?) you can add some crushed coral to your filter or you can add baking soda. Crushed coral won't raise it fast enough to hurt the fish but if you use baking soda you have to add a bit then test,add some then test, and you can't change you ph too much in one day.

Why are you raising your ph? Whats your ph,kh gh now?

[Cichlidstarter]

I've read in FishNMusic thread to add argonite(don't know the spelling) sand to rasie the Ph and they said that works. Also I heard Baking Soda works, but it fluctuates a lot. I am raising it for some Neolamprologus helianthus. Which I've heard are similar to Brichardi, and will be in a species only tank which will be eiter in a 40 gallon, a 37 gallon, or a 20 gallon long. My Ph is Probably around 7.1 and Gh and Kh is undetermined because I need another test kit to test for them, my last reading was awhile ago and I have misplaced the records the records. If I could find argonite sand or crushed coral, what would be a good amount to put in any of the tank? Oh, by the way anyone know any information on these fish?


Thanks everybody for the help on my tanks.

[valerie]

I have never used crushed coral or any of those substrates but I have heard people using only a cup or so in their filter, if they dont' have it as the substrate.

Here are some articles about cichlid chemistry http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/chemistry_list.php

[SayersWeb]

When breeding Africans I added crushed coral to the gravel. I didn't want to have to add a supplement (like baking soda) every time I did a water change.

You can add it to the filter as long as you have room in them for it (canister). I used to put it in the wet/dry filters.