Best Way To Raise Ph

[FishFingers]

Hi Folks,

My tap water is neutral and I need to get it to 7.8 or so and I'm thinking of starting a cichlid tank with yellow labs and so on.

The LFS advised me to use ground up rock as a substrate and to use rocks. Yes I know he has to sell them to me.

My water is very soft too. Whats the right way to harden it?

I'd appreciate any advice.

 

[physicsdude]

Hi- I have a ten gallon african tank right now. I dont use anything to buffer the water. But with me, I bought fish that cmae from a lfs that uses no rocks or substrate or chemicals to raise or lower their ph. So, it seems pretty natural for my guys. However, if you bought ur fish from tanks that do buffer their water, you would want to raise the ph. Best ways are to use holey rock or a substrate. When I was first setting up my tank, I was'nt sure on what to do, but I found this really good website detailing all the areas that he takes care of for his africans. here's the link:

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/afcichlids_setup.html

For rocks, I sue a bunch of common rocks I found along a canal lock, 1 piece of white-green marble, and a slab of obsidian. Africans love rocks. All that's in the website though.

 

[FishFingers]

Thanks very much. Xlnt site.

 

[gu2high]

Buy a Texas limestone honeycomb Rock from ebay and use Floride crusched coral as substrate, you can raise pH to 8.

 

[7Enigma]

Do you know your water's KH? Baking soda is a great easy way to raise the pH. And since you add it with water changes, it stays constant all the time. I don't know how easy to get to 7.8, but you could at least get 1/2 way there with some baking soda.

I prefer it over crushed coral or other rock that dissolves slowly. At each water change, the KH will fluctuate from the removal of the dissolved carbonate, and this will ping pong back and forth. Probably isn't harmful to the fish, but I like things consistent.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I prefer using the crushed coral. It doesn't have to be dosed at each water change and is a slow natural method. Not instant like baking soda. Just put a bag of it into your filter. It reaches equilibrium at 7.8.

 

[Stephen]

Some people use a combination of epsom salts, rock salt and baking soda to create a buffer recipe for cichlids from the Rift lakes. You might want to go that route.