Raising KH and lowering GH for cichlids

[Coco pebbles]

Hi everybody, I am new to this website and to setting up aquariums and I need some help. I'm currently setting up my first 75 gallon tank that I will be putting a blood parrot cichlid, a golden Severum and a couple other cichlids into. I don't have any fish in it right now because I'm using pure ammonia to cycle it.

The ph is at 7.2, GH at about 8 dGH and the KH is at 80ppm.
I'm keeping the ammonia at about 2ppm for now and the temperature is in the upper 80s to promote bacteria growth. I'll turn it down to about 82 when I put the fish in.
My goal is to get the ph down to 6.8, the GH to 4dGH and the KH up to 140ppm.

I'm using a large top fin canister filter. There aren't any decorations in the tank yet and I'm using sand as my substrate.
I won't be done cycling the tank for at least another 10 days, but I wanted to start planning ahead to solve this problems.

What are your recommendations to reach these requirements?

 

[SherLar]

Why do you feel that you need to change your water parameters? Both Severum and Blood Parrots will do fine with the parameters yo already have.

 

[Coco pebbles]

Sorry I was tired last night and typed that on my phone, my ph is at 8.2 which is way too high.

 

[SherLar]

Driftwood in your tank will lower PH a bit over time. Peat or oak leaves (you can usually get both in the Herpetology section of pet stores) in your filter will help lower PH, but will stain your water. You're better off choosing your livestock based on your water parameters, rather than trying to change your parameters to match the fish you want. It's difficult to alter PH and keep it stable; it will usually buffer back to the original PH. You can buy RO water at many LFS for a few cents per gallon, which should have a neutral PH (7). You can also buy an RO unit for home use for a couple hundred bucks, if you want to do it yourself.