Keep ph levels high

[zin]

Im interested in starting a cichlid tank but im curious as to the best way to keep ph levels up and raise ph for water i add.

[Raithan Ellis]

Baking soda (pH/kH), epsom salt (GH), SeaChem Alkaline Buffer (pH/kH), SeaChem Equilibrium (GH)... there are many options for raising hardness and pH, some more suitable for certain purposes than others.

Also, dependant upon what species of cichlids you intend to keep, most South American/Central American species prefer softer acidic water. So I presume that you are considering Africans?

Regards,
Raithan O. Ellis

[Tyler718]

Originally posted by zin
Im interested in starting a cichlid tank but im curious as to the best way to keep ph levels up and raise ph for water i add.

I also assume that you are wanting to keep Africans. For my African set up I put some crushed coral in a mesh bag in the canister filter. It continually maintains my ph at 8. A friend of mine just uses the crushed coral as the substrate.

The advantage of this over chemicals and baking soda is that it doesn't completely deletes itself with water changes. The advantage is that it is farly keep.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[JSchmidt]

The $60,000 question: what are your parameters now? Many of us have water that is quite hard and/or alkaline, making it a snap to keep cichlids.

Even if you water is relatively acidic and soft, adding inexpensive, commonly found compounds (e.g., the baking soda and epsom salts mentioned by Raithan Ellis) can often modify your water cheaply and effectively. Sometimes, just a strategic choice of substrate materials (e.g, crushed coral, aragonite sand) can be enough, too.

We really need to know what your tap water's pH, KH and GH is after sitting out overnight. Then we can give you some very specific suggestions.

Jim

[zin]

tap water sitting overnight is 7.6ph( maybe off chart or old kit, buying new ones soon 6kh 10-11gh

yes im thinking about africans sorry about not posting that

does curshed coral also raise hardness?

[Kanstar]

yes, crushed coral works but up to a point. I use dolomite (it's used for saltwater aquariums) and it keeps the at a nice 8, I recommend that if you can fork out the cash.