Stocking my Malawi tank!!

[AbbieM]

I do a water change every week and test my water before and the next morning and the pH is always stable. I have slate in the tank which I think raises the pH because it's been closer to 7.7 since I put it in

[chedgy1010]

Slate shouldnt raise ph. But definitely good looking rock. Slate and granite shouldnt affect any water parameters tho. I have slate in 3 out of 8 of my african tanks so good choice! What will raise ph are calcium carbonates(limestone, lace rocks, and texas holey rock which is limestone). What I used to do before I switch all my tanks to aragonite sand is buy a bag of crushed coral put it in a media bag and add it in all filters. Worked pretty well. Glad you do the weekly water change, people skip this crucial step and wonder why their fish get sick and die lol.

[chedgy1010]

Sandstone will raise hardness and slightly affect ph from what I've heard, but not a ton of experience with sandstone. Driftwood will lower ph so stay away from it!

[AbbieM]

I have a piece of holy rock that I added with the slate so that's probably what's made a difference to the pH, Thankyou for the advice

[AbbieM]

I also wouldn't put driftwood in any African cichlid tank, I do use it in some of planted tanks and I've found that it honestly doesn't make a lot of difference to the pH

[AbbieM]

Here's a beautiful photos of some of my peacocks, they're doing well and are very happy

[chedgy1010]

They look happy and beautiful!