Raising pH + Hardness

[radwar]

I am newbie in having Cichlids. I had Cichlids for around 6 months now and I wanted to add more to my tank. When I went to the store to get some, the store person said that my water is too soft and the pH is low. So my question are what should I do to raise the pH. I was suggested to get crushed coral as the substrate, right now I have colorful stones. Also does Lace rocks help? I need some pointers as to what I need to do change it. I had a fresh water aquarium for 7 years with the regular fresh water fish and then converted it to a cichlid one, so I have all the stones and ornaments from my older tank..

Thanks for the pointers.

[mfdrookie516]

What is your ph? What fish do you have?

[radwar]

Originally Posted by mfdrookie516

What is your ph? What fish do you have?

I have african cichlids. The pH is ~ 7.2

[mfdrookie516]

i personally wouldnt mess with it. Obviously, depending on what lake theyre from, the ph would be a little higher naturally, but when you start messing with ph, youre headed for problems. You could add crushed coral which would buffer it on up to the 8.0 range, but if you do more than a 20% pwc, which if yours are like mine a 50% is needed every week, then you have to treat the water before putting it in the tank so that you dont cause a big drop in ph, killing the fish. my tanks all run at 7.8, which is the same as my tap. IMO, its best to leave it be. Anything between 6.5-9 is fine as long as it is stable

[radwar]

Originally Posted by mfdrookie516

i personally wouldnt mess with it. Obviously, depending on what lake theyre from, the ph would be a little higher naturally, but when you start messing with ph, youre headed for problems. You could add crushed coral which would buffer it on up to the 8.0 range, but if you do more than a 20% pwc, which if yours are like mine a 50% is needed every week, then you have to treat the water before putting it in the tank so that you dont cause a big drop in ph, killing the fish. my tanks all run at 7.8, which is the same as my tap. IMO, its best to leave it be. Anything between 6.5-9 is fine as long as it is stable

I wanted to get some fish from the local fish store where the water is hard and has a higher pH but as soon as I bring those in they tend to hyperventilate and get into shock. I want to avoid that and hence trying to do this.

[meegosh]

I second that rookie. A less than ideal pH that is stable is better than a perfect pH reading that swings daily. I'd leave it be and just take time acclimating the fish when you first add them.

[mfdrookie516]

The best thing to do in that situation is to drip acclimate them. If you put them in a bucket and slowly let an air line drip water from your main tank over the course of about an hour or so, it gives them time to acclimate to your water parameters. Otherwise, just letting them acclimate to the temp can still shock them.

[radwar]

Originally Posted by mfdrookie516

The best thing to do in that situation is to drip acclimate them. If you put them in a bucket and slowly let an air line drip water from your main tank over the course of about an hour or so, it gives them time to acclimate to your water parameters. Otherwise, just letting them acclimate to the temp can still shock them.

Cool. I did not know you could do this to reduce the shock. So once the bucket is full ~1-2 hours, it is fine to add the fish to the main tank or should I wait?

[mfdrookie516]

Yeah, good rule of thumb is about 4-5x the amount of water you start with. So assuming you have 1 gallon of water in the bag you bring them home in (i know, just work with me here for easy math), then you want to aim for 4-5 gallons of tank water to be added to the bucket. Of course your going to be working with maybe a quart, but it was easier for me to do the math that way And btw, dont add that water to the tank, lfs water is generally nasty nasty and you dont want it in your tank. Also, just to throw something else at you, its best to have another tank to qt the fish for a few weeks to make sure that you dont introduce any parasites in to your tank and existing fish. Just a few things to think about there

[radwar]

Thanks for all the responses.