shroo Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Hi All. I'm looking at setting up a big cichlid tank. We're on tank water (concrete) and it is reall soft (2º DH) and very alkaline (8.8 pH). Ideally I want an easy / cheap way to raise the hardness, but not the pH. Everything I've found on the net so far seems to raise both... May also consider setting up the tank for fish species that get on well with soft / high pH and not have to modify before water changes.. Any ideas? Would be interested to here any advice. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Best would be to find fish that are suitable to the water, if the water requires more than coral sand or peat to change it it starts getting hard on you when doing water changes and the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Doesnt epsom salt raise the hardness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim r Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 What kind of cichlid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shroo Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 was thinking demasoni. what sort of fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Magnesium Sulphate (Epsom Salts), Potassium Sulphate and Calcium Chloride all work well to raise the hardness without raising pH by much. With such a high pH and low DH it means there's very little acid content in the water. If after adding these salts the pH goes up, I'd add both Sodium Bicarbonate and Sulphuric Acid to the water to both balance the pH and add some pH buffering. All this will need to be done in a separate drum with aeration to help mix up the additives and re-oxygenate the water. Leave it for a few days before use. I use this system and have done for 10+ years. Use a 2:1 ratio of Magnesium Sulphate over the other 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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