Newbie needs help with water hardness

1

1TankWonder

New Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
5
0
0
#1
Hi All

I'm new to cichlids (and to this forum) so please bear with me...

I'm having trouble getting my GH to "proper" levels for Africans (I'm hoping to get a pair of shell dwellers...the tank is currently cycling). My tap water is quite soft (alkalinity and GH near 0, pH 7.2). On the advice of my LFS, I used Seachem Malawi Victoria Buffer, which raised alkalinity to 120ppm, GH to 50ppm, and pH to 8.0. My problem is that I can't seem to get the GH any higher than 50. I've done some tests, and adding more Seachem product doesn't seem to do anything. Another LFS said to add plain aquarium salt, but that didn't work either.

Am I doing something wrong? Do I need to get a different product?  Aaack! Any advice would certainly be appreciated!!     ???
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#3
#3

Im not quite clear as what you mean by alkalinity? Im assuming that your are refering to carbonate hardness, KH (also refered to as temporary hardness) rather than a pH greater than 7.0! Raising kH is rather easy. Getting some rocks like limestone will help. You can also filter through marble chips or other calciferous material. Total hardness (GH) is a combination of temporary and permanent hardness. The fraction of total hardness which cannot be removed by boiling is called permanent hardness. Permanent hardness is caused by calcium sulphate. Permanent hardness can therefore be determined by subtracting the figure for temporary hardness from the figure of total hardness. Therefore increasing KH can increase GH. Im not one for using chemicals for raise KH/GH.
 

1

1TankWonder

New Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
5
0
0
#5
Thanks to all for the advice...

I'll try to find some type of calciferous material to put in the tank (I agree with your philosophy, RONRCA...the fewer chemicals, the better...).

Thanks again!  ;D
 

S

sharkbait

Small Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
32
0
0
#7
I would recommend using some sort of trace elements, such as Kent's Cichlid Chemistry or Seachem's Cichlid Lake Salt in conjunction with the buffer.  This will add the necessary minerals to your water to get the hardness up.  I would suggest using a five gallon bucket to determine how much of the trace elements are needed to obtain a dGH of 10[sup]o[/sup] When you have the water in your tank at the appropriate hardness then add the buffer, again using a five gallon bucket to determine how much of the buffer to use to bring the pH up to the desired level.  Adding crushed shells, limestone or marble chips, or crushed coral gravel to the filter system or using it as your substrate will also help to buffer the water.  Also, when doing water changes, due to your soft water, I would suggest that you treat the water before adding to the aquarium, using the measurements you obtained using the five gallon bucket. Sounds like an awful lot of work, I know, but if you want to keep healthy Africans, I believe it's necessary.  You can keep them in the water conditions you have now, but they won't be nearly as colorful or active as they could be, and it is highly doubtful that they would ever spawn for you.

One other thing, in rereading your post, I notice that your tank is still cycling.  This most likely accounts for your flunctuating pH levels.  I wouldn't worry about getting the water chemistry just right until you are ready to add the fish.
 

1

1TankWonder

New Fish
#8
Oct 22, 2002
5
0
0
#8
Thanks so much for your advice, Sharkbait! I've added the crushed coral to my existing substrate...hopefully this will help a bit for the long-term life of the tank. The tank finished it's initial cycling today (woo hoo!) so I'll be able try your 5 gal bucket idea tomorrow...Hopefully this will solve my water issues. Thanks again!
 

R

ryanp15

Superstar Fish
#9
Oct 22, 2002
1,130
0
0
37
Kentucky
#9
[shadow=Red,direction,width]Ronrca- I agree with you. Keeping a tank as natural as possible is the best ways to go.

Sharkbait- You really do know your cichlids!

     

     Ryan ;D[/shadow]
 

S

sharkbait

Small Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
32
0
0
#11
I never did understand the laser light thing.  I saw in Petsmart, where they were selling a laser pointer as a toy for your fish!  What the..... ???  Gimme a break::)

MMF.....One other thing that I forgot to point out in my previous post.....the trace elements will raise the general or total hardness (GH) of your water and the buffer will raise the carbonate hardness (KH).  In an ideal situation these should be equal, i.e if you have 10[sup]o[/sup] dGH then you should also have 10[sup]o[/sup] dKH.
 

R

ryanp15

Superstar Fish
#13
Oct 22, 2002
1,130
0
0
37
Kentucky
#13
[glow=Black,strength,width]When the oneliners thing was up people were talking about them on there. Was it you? They sound awful. What did you do with it Shane?


     Ryan ;D[/glow]
 

R

ryanp15

Superstar Fish
#20
Oct 22, 2002
1,130
0
0
37
Kentucky
#20
Shane- I wan't criticizing you at all. I'm sure you didn't know. I was just saying it was probably like that. Your not bad to your fish. I know better. Yeah if there were no fish it would probably look really cool just shining in there.


    Ryan ;D
 

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