liquid except for the ph, watched him doing it right in front of me, wasnt at petsmart, it was at caesar's tropical fish in santarosa. the place was recommended on this site by people, best in the area it seems.
omg dude lol you're local. I'm from Santa Rosa too, ceasars is the best place for community fish and supplies, then for cichlids there's Fish Pros in cotati. If you need anything like cuts of plants, seeded filter media etc. just hit me up