Safely increasing pH

[CraigMac]

I have african cichlids and am just upgrading to an fx5 filter. I thought when I set it up I will use one basket for crushed coral to raise the pH. I have zero experience with raising pH so I have a bunch of questions.

Will this be enough to increase the pH in a 90 gallon tank? Will it gradually increase pH or be dramatic? Do I have to periodically change out the crushed coral, does it "expire" or "go bad"?

Anything else I need to know or any advice?

Thanks!!

 

[RussellC]

I don't have and have never had cichlids, but my initial question would be... what's your pH now? What is the pH of the tapwater?

It's possible you don't need to alter the pH at all.

A stable pH even if outside the range a particular fish prefers is often better than a pH that fluctuates.

Good luck!

 

[Mrc8858]

I don't have and have never had cichlids, but my initial question would be... what's your pH now? What is the pH of the tapwater?

It's possible you don't need to alter the pH at all.

A stable pH even if outside the range a particular fish prefers is often better than a pH that fluctuates.

Good luck!

+1 unless dealing with wild caughts or young from wild caught then more then likely they have been kept in a lower PH then there native lakes from birth so keeping it stable is the most important thing

 

[CraigMac]

That's my debate. My ph is stable, at 7.4. So, they are ok and would be ok keeping it there. However, if I could safely raise it and keep it stable then I'd like to keep it more where it should be for African cichlids. That's why I want to ask a lot of questions first. If I add crushed coral to my filter, will it raise it and keep it steady or will it raise but then gradually lower until coral is replaced?

Just researching for now, I may end up keeping it as is.

 

[Jacobsal91]

The crushed coral will never 'go bad' but use it at your main substrate and let it cycle if its a new tank. That should be enough to naturally raise
The ph. API makes a supplement called 'proper ph' and 'ph up' to chemically raise it and it works well its just a preferance because some people disagree with chemically altering water parameters.

 

[CraigMac]

Id rather not use chemicals, I'm scared of them!! And I already have the tank established with sand substrate. If I just added crushed coral to one of the media baskets in my fx5 would that be enough to raise the ph, or would it require a lot more coral?

 

[Phranque]

What do your fish have to say?? Do they eat well, are they active, are their colors nice & bright? Do they appear stressed, are their fins clamped, do they appear to be gasping?? If they look & act like healthy fish, then I wouldn't worry about attempting to artificially alter the environment.... You can create far more problems by trying to fix something that ain't broke.

 

[CraigMac]

My fish are perfectly healthy, my only gripe is their colors aren't the most vibrant. I just switched their food to NLS so I'm hoping that will help. The only other thing I could think to do is increase the ph. Again, I'm not sold I the idea, just weighing the pluses and minuses. I know a lot of folks I here with African cichlids use crushed coral to increase the ph do weighing the idea.

 

[Soccerfish]

i use aragonite sand in my tanks except for my baby tank. My ph stays about 8.2 8.4

 

[Jacobsal91]

My fish are perfectly healthy, my only gripe is their colors aren't the most vibrant. I just switched their food to NLS so I'm hoping that will help. The only other thing I could think to do is increase the ph. Again, I'm not sold I the idea, just weighing the pluses and minuses. I know a lot of folks I here with African cichlids use crushed coral to increase the ph do weighing the idea.

Any calcuim based substrate will work perfectly fine. I use a sand substrate its black and white sand. The black is just regular sand and the white part of the sand is crushed up seashells and coral. U can place in media basket if you have the room in your filter, and/or use it as your main substrate. Some people buy full coral skelatons as a display item, if its a genuine skelaton than it will also work. Sea shells are also calcium based and will work as well. But coral seems to work a bit more efficently in my opinion.

 

[BillD]

If you alter pH, with coral, it will do so very slowly, if at all. Every time you do a water change you will have a fluctuation in pH, which isn't an issue, although the fluctuation in Total Dissolved Solids might be. I would go with what comes from the tap, as already suggested.

 

[Phranque]

Well, from the general consensus, if you give it a try, start off with small amounts at a time and give it a week or two before determining if you need to increase the amount..... if you're going to put it in your canister, I'd recommend rinsing it well and place it in a mesh bag, then lay that in your canister basket. You wouldn't want any loose bits of that getting up into the impeller of your new filter...

 

[CraigMac]

So for those saying keep the pH stable and don't alter pH.......so then you wouldn't add anything to the tank that could alter the pH? If you had the chance to get holey rock for dirt cheap, you wouldn't add it to your tank because it would alter the pH? Or same thing with coral rocks?

 

[Malawi Freak]

I would add natural buffers since they aren't like pouring in a powder that instantly changes the ph. Rocks and coral will take hours to days to make any changes.

 

[CraigMac]

So if I add some crushed coral to a media basket in my fx5 and maybe a few coral rocks or holey rock, that will safely and slowly increase the pH? And then will it remain at a stable but higher pH? Is there any ongoing work I would have to do to keep the pH up? Any potential negative impact?

 

[Malawi Freak]

The only thing I would be concerned of is your water source. If you're trying to raise ph you will be raising it every time you do a pwc.

 

[CraigMac]

My water source is a stable 7.4.
Would I be better off leaving it alone or adding crushed coral and coral rocks to bump it up above 8?

 

[garfy]

Leave it where it is.Stable is much better than a constant battle to maintain a higher ph.

 

[rotorhead22]

Aragonite or an Aragonite mix will help stabilize your pH at about 8.2. You can add Holey rock as well. Getting a high KH and GH is important (11-22 deg, 200 -400 ppm, respectively for African Cichlids).

 

[kay-bee19]

Very carefully, sodium carbonate (~1 teaspoon per 50-75gal then adjust) can be used to increase pH and sodium bicarbonate to buffer it.

As other's have mentioned it is not necessary with most captive bred rift lake cichlids.

I've been using the above to attain pH in the 8.4-8.6 range for my mbuna's and 8.8 pH for my frontosa's for perhaps a year or more but haven't really noticed any difference coloration or spawning-wise compared to the years of not using (with pH being in the 7.7-8.1 range).