# Raising the pH for a cichlid tank?



## Guest

I am planning on getting some cichlids in the near distant future, for the some of you who don't know yet. My pH in my current 30 gallon is 7.2. With the cichlids I am looking into I need a pH of 7.8-8.6. How exactly do I raise my pH? 
I am looking into having some Texas Holey Rock, if I can get any, or lava rock at the lfs. My substrate will either be the eco-complete cichlid substrate or having a crushed coral substrate. Will those alone help to raise my pH or will I need to do something else?

Almost forgot that I will have driftwood in the tank as well... as far as I know, unless someone tells me not to.


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## greggolf

ha, i dont kno much about cichlids, but i know this part, lol. Ok well to get your pH around high 7-8 you wanna get Limestone rock, or crushed coral substrate, i have both and the white brings out the color in the cichlids. o also helps if you toss a hand full of crushed coral in the filter.


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## emc7

Which cichlids? Most Malawi fish with be fine in 7.2 if the water is hard. The crushed coral with definitely increase hardness, so will holey rock. The key is to never let pH drop below 7.0 and to keep it stable. Driftwood can lower pH, but its a small effect, and not all driftwood will. Test your hardness, if its less than 200 TDS add cichlid salts (the eco-complete, might take care of this, I don't know).
The easiest way to hold the pH stable and alkaline to is use Seachem's alkaline regulator as directed. If you want higher pH (necessary if want tanginikans), Seachem's Malawi and Tanginikan bufffers work, but you need the cichlid salts for the hardness. If your water is too soft (< 100 TDS), the pH won't be stable.


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## Guest

emc7 said:


> Which cichlids? Most Malawi fish with be fine in 7.2 if the water is hard. The crushed coral with definitely increase hardness, so will holey rock. The key is to never let pH drop below 7.0 and to keep it stable. Driftwood can lower pH, but its a small effect, and not all driftwood will. Test your hardness, if its less than 200 TDS add cichlid salts (the eco-complete, might take care of this, I don't know).
> The easiest way to hold the pH stable and alkaline to is use Seachem's alkaline regulator as directed. If you want higher pH (necessary if want tanginikans), Seachem's Malawi and Tanginikan bufffers work, but you need the cichlid salts for the hardness. If your water is too soft (< 100 TDS), the pH won't be stable.



As far as I know I have hard water. I'm going to look for limestone and all the other stuff I mentioned once I have the money, but how often do I need to change the substrate and rock work to keep the pH high? 
Or do I have to change it at all?


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## Guest

As said above, the crushed coral and the eco cichlid substrate will both harden the water and increase the pH a bit. Crushed coral is really messy and even after you wash it tons of time it still has alot of dust in it. If you can get the Eco cichlid sand and like the color (black/white) I'd suggest this or use some inert sand.

Using regular (inert) sand, holey rock and some CC in the filter will work.

I have the Eco sand as well as some crushed coral in a media bag in my canister filter and my pH hovers around 8. I change out the CC once every 5-6 months.

You shouldn't have to change the substrate. I don't know if there is a time frame where they lose their buffering qualities. You should be fine with whatever you choose for atleast a few years.


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## emc7

You shouldn't ever have to change the substrate, it just slowly dissolves, so you may need to add more sometime. The most annoying thing about crushed coral as compared to gravel is its tendency to break into smaller pieces that get into you power filters and clog the impellers. Try it with just the crushed coral and limestone. Whether you will still need to add buffers will depend on your tap water.


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## lohachata

one of the best things to keep your PH up is dolomite.dolomite is limestone.look in your yellow pages for "landscape supplies"....call them and ask if they have #10 or smaller crushed limestone..i get it here in cleveland for less than $20 a ton.if they have it go to k-mart or wal-mart and get a couple of those 20 gallon tubs with the rope handles.throw them and a shovel in the car and go get your gravel.it will maintain your ph at around 8.4 forever...i have been using this stuff for more than 30 years..
or if you want to go really cheap,go to your local feed store and buy crushed oyster shell.


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## lohachata

another thing that you can do is run down to your LFS and buy a bunch of chemicals to elevate your PH.it is the fastest and most sophisticated way to achieve ones desired PH...and you won't have to go through all that trouble of rinsing gravel.


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## Guest

lohachata said:


> another thing that you can do is run down to your LFS and buy a bunch of chemicals to elevate your PH.it is the fastest and most sophisticated way to achieve ones desired PH...and you won't have to go through all that trouble of rinsing gravel.


Eh.... I don't want to mess with any chemicals if I don't have to. Usually with chemicals they will only higher the pH for a certain amount of time. I would much rather do it naturally. Thanks though!


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## emc7

> higher the pH for a certain amount of time


 This is true, once you start with the chemicals, you need to monitor pH and hardness. I suggest an electronic pen that does both pH and TDS. Its much faster than drops in test tubes.


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## Jojo

I have African cichlids, and naturally my ph is 7.8 I think, it might be 7.6 though. But testing the tank the ph comes up to 8.2

All I use is Texas holey rock, and a little bit of crushed coral mixed with the gravel.


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## lohachata

like i originally said..for the past 35 years that i have been keeping africans i have used dolomite as a substrate.it is the least expensive and most readily available of all of the gravels.it will maintain your PH at approximately 8.4;which is almost perfect for most of the africans.even the fish from tanganyika and victoria do quite well in it.
so you can go to the LFS and blow your money on crushed coral or even the dolomite that they sell.or if you don't mind a little work you can go to the local landscaper supply and get it.
i just threw in the part about chemicals because some folks do not believe that god knew what he was doing..


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## jones57742

Ap:

Texas "holey rock" will work.

I am fortunate in that several limestone quarries are currently being mined in the vicinity of San Angelo (West Texas) [the mining is occurring in mountains of Edwards Plateau limestone].

I employ RO water for most of my WC's, these holey rocks contain minerals other than calcium and I place them in my sump in order to preclude the Gh from decreasing below 5 and the Kh below 3 as well as maintaining the Ph near 7.

TR


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## gemjunkie

Don't do anything, don't run out and buy a bunch of expensive stuff you really do NOT need. If your water is near neutral or slightly above, your fish will be FINE. Fish are much more appriciative of clean STABLE conditions and good food than EXACT water conditions. All you will do by adding a bunch of stuff is stress the fish further every time you change water and the water conditions change a bunch. 

Yes, I know what I'm talking about, I have everything from pseudotropheus to frontosa to plecos to wild bettas and everything is thriving and spawning for me. 

Consistency is FAR more important that 'hard' or 'soft' water....


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## Clerk

Gem is right. These fish do come from an area with a higher pH, but they can easily adjust. If you are only using conditioned water from the tap, your water will constantly be stable, with the same conditions and pH every time.

When relying on minerals dissolving (rocks, dolomite,, Limestone) or adding chemicals, each time you do a water change you remove particles and/or chemicals. Changing your pH drastically depending on how much you remove.

pH is logarithmic, a pH change from 6.6 to 8.6 is 100 times more alkaline, so a change from 7.2 to 8.__ would be at least a 10x difference.

Your fish will live much longer, and do much better in stable conditions.


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## Guest

I'm definitely not looking into chemicals at all. I was just asking if anything naturally like limestone will raise the pH and keep it at a stable rate. All I am planning to do is do regular water changes and once again I don't want to add any chemicals because it would just be too much of a mess, and me being very clumsy, is a spell for disaster. 
I'm planning on getting texas holey rock, the eco-complete substrate, and that's about it. 
Thanks for all the help.


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