Changing ph and hardness

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niner9

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Feb 2, 2002
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How would you go about raising ph and hardness? I have an electric blue hap in a tank all by himself. I was thinking of putting him in my bigger tank and putting my pearl gouramis in the one he's in until I get my big tank built, because one of my angels sort of picks on one of them. Oscar andy advised me not to do this because of water differences between the fish and the hap might pick on the angels which I understand.

Up until now both tanks have had the exact same water ph 7.6 medium hard. So how would I go about raising ph and hardness in the tank the haps in. Would it really make any difference in how happy/healthy he is. I am not going to dump a bunch of chemicals in to change it, so is there something I can add to raise it and keep it stable. Thanks in advance. And sorry for the long windedness. niner

P.S. All fish seem healthy and happy. The only thing I noticed was the electric blue lost his intense blue about a week after I brought him home. Fed him a few small white clouds and giving him regular feedings of Gammarus along with his flake and he has been getting his color back steady ever since. He was only little about 1.5" when I got him, so I attributed the color loss to his small size. He has grown a little over an inch in about 2 months as I mentioned he is getting his color back so I thought all was fine. Do you think it could be the ph and hardness that cause color loss? Again sorry for the long windedness:cool:
 
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JSchmidt

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Do you know anything about the parameters of the water your hap was in before you brought him home? Might not be that different...

If you want to gradually raise pH and hardness, just put some crushed coral in a filter bag or nylon stocking, tie it closed, and stick it in your filter. It will slowly bring up KH and pH. (pH should max out at about 8 or so.)

HTH,
Jim
 
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niner9

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I have no idea what the water parameters were wear I bought it. I would assume it would be close to mine, I get my water from a well but the town water has the same parameters. Do you think there would be any benefit to altering my water? I always thought stable parameters were better. if I got it up to 8 wouldn't it fluctuate every time i did a water change? I don't mean to bombard you with questions it's just I'm not sure about this whole messing with parameters thing, would like to know some more of the pros and cons it all. Thanks niner
 
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Reiner

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The lake were the fish comes from has a pH between 7.4 & 8.2 depending on location. So your 7.6 is just fine for him. According to you the fish is about 2.5 inches by now. Which makes it still a juvinile and he should not be a intense blue yet anyways. If you bought him in an intense blue he was probably treaded with color hormones and that might be a reason why he lost his color and is now slowly gaining it back naturaly with age. When he reaches 4 inches he should show adult coloration.
 
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JSchmidt

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Lot's of things can influence a cichlid's color besides hormones. I'd be more likely to think of lighting, tankmates (usually a dominant male in the presence of females shows the best colors), water temperature, stress... and doubtless other things as well.

Most sources peg the pH of all the Rift lakes closer to 8.0 or above (see e.g., http://malawicichlids.com/mw01011.htm) but I don't think a pH of 7.6 would be a problem unless it was dramatically different from what the fish is used to.

I've not seen much about haps being treated with hormones -- I'd be surprised if it was very common.

Unless you regularly change a really large proportion of your water (e.g., 75%) the increase in pH and KH from using crushed coral won't be so dramatically different that water changes will stress your fish.

HTH,
Jim
 
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