Substrate in cichlid tank

[Teknofilechik]

The pH in my cichlid tank is lower than I'd like, and I was thinking about swapping out the gravel for crushed coral or shells. I have two questions.
First, my cichlid likes to move around the substrate in the tank to his liking. He shifted ALL the gravel out from under his caves and put it in the front of the tank (you can see the glass under the rocks). Is crushed coral or shells dangerous to him if it has jagged edges?
Second, how do I properly introduce new substrate to the tank? Will it disrupt the cycle or shock the fish if I put it in right away?

 

[Fishguy2727]

One- the more effective way to increase KH/pH is to add crushed coral to the filter just like it is carbon. You may also want to use a commercial buffer or baking soda.

Two- the ideal substrate for them is sand. It is much more natural and cleaner. I only use and recommend Estes' Ultra Reef (it will not alter the pH or KH).

What is the pH? You may not need to do anything.

 

[Teknofilechik]

The pH on both tanks is 7.2, but I'd prefer it be closer to 7.8. I'd like to avoid baking soda to avoid any pH swings that could kill my boys. Also, my tap water is about 7.2. I keep water changes below 20% so adding new tap water to the tank wouldn't be a big shock.
How would I go about vacuuming sand?

 

[Fishguy2727]

The sand I recommend doesn't need vacuuming. Everything sits on top so if the flow doesn't keep it moving it will be in piles that you can easily vacuum by holding the gravel vac above the debris, but you should not have to vacuum the sand itself.

Honestly messing with it may not be worth it. If you don't want to use buffers just put some crushed coral in the filter.

Multiple small water changes are not the same as a large water change. You may find it hard to keep your water quality up with such small water changes. Water quality is much more important than pH. They will be better long term with larger water changes with a pH of 7.2 than messing with the pH.

 

[Teknofilechik]

I've personally never had much of a problem with water quality until I went on vacation. (Ma must have overfed them and not changed the water because the nitrates were high and the gravel was dirty. Still doing water changes to fix it.) If the pH is fine I think I'll just throw in some coral in the filter. My last question, how difficult would it be to place a powerhead to circulate water and not disturb the substrate? I've never used sand before.

 

[Fishguy2727]

What is the nitrate concentration? It should not be over 20ppm before a water change. Even if that hasn't been an issue yet time alone can allow for a subtle increase in nitrate, add growing fish and most likely it will not be adequate in the future.

 

[Teknofilechik]

There's only 2 fish in the 29gal and one in the 10gal, no new additions planned for the next year until I move. The nitrates spiked up to about 50ppm and they're down to 30. Next change should drop it farther I'm doing changes every day.

 

[kenny69]

The pH in my cichlid tank is lower than I'd like, and I was thinking about swapping out the gravel for crushed coral or shells. I have two questions.
First, my cichlid likes to move around the substrate in the tank to his liking. He shifted ALL the gravel out from under his caves and put it in the front of the tank (you can see the glass under the rocks). Is crushed coral or shells dangerous to him if it has jagged edges?
Second, how do I properly introduce new substrate to the tank? Will it disrupt the cycle or shock the fish if I put it in right away?

I use crushed coral and coral sand combined and have no probs, the fish are fine. I also have pure aragonite in one basket in my filter and use African rift lake conditioner and kh generator both added at pwc time and my water has a kh of 10 or more and ph of 8.0 and is stable. The higher kh keeps the ph nice and stable, so easy maintain.

 

[Dobbin]

I have ocean rock and coral sand and all my cichlids love it

 

[carey]

Hmm i just use a crushed coral/sand/shell mix and my Ph is solid at 8.2. never added a buffer or anything. Go me! LOl

 

[kenny69]

Hmm i just use a crushed coral/sand/shell mix and my Ph is solid at 8.2. never added a buffer or anything. Go me! LOl

I only add the kh gen because the Sydney water supply has absolutely no mineral content at all and is quite soft. it's good practice to have a kh of 10 or so to help buffer the ph.