Ooo Ooo! A guy at Big Al's told me the easiest way to raise ph and water hardness is to add baking soda to the water. About 1/2 teaspoon per 10 gallons i think he said. I have a malawi cichlid tank, and i added a teaspoon and a half for my 33 gallons. The ph went straight to 8.0 and the water hardness went up, however it is not where i want it yet, but pretty close.
I have crushed coral in my gravel and it only raised the ph of the water up to 7.4, then it stopped. It probebly takes quite a while to work. Baking soda is easy and fast.
That's what he had been using for his malawi tanks, and since i am buying my fish from him, i figured it was ok. I don't know if the baking soda would affect a fish that hadn't been kept in it before though. Not really sure.