Ph Help

[lyomat21]

soo i am setting up a Mbuna cichlid tank, and i no i need the ph in the 7.8-8.6 range.. right now my tank is at about 7.4-7.6 (no fish in it yet) how can i raise the ph to that level and not have to worrry about constintly maintaining it??
trying to stay away from having 5 inches of crushed coral at the botttom of my tank.


any help would be nice.
thanks matt(forgive spelling errors)

 

[lyomat21]

any help guys?

 

[Truck]

adding some limestone will help.

 

[lyomat21]

adding some limestone will help.

thanks where could i get that any lfs?

 

[Truck]

adding some limestone will help.

thanks where could i get that any lfs?

ask your LFS to get some

 

[lyomat21]

adding some limestone will help.

thanks where could i get that any lfs?

ask your LFS to get some

will do

 

[buckiejim2]

soo i am setting up a Mbuna cichlid tank, and i no i need the ph in the 7.8-8.6 range.. right now my tank is at about 7.4-7.6 (no fish in it yet) how can i raise the ph to that level and not have to worrry about constintly maintaining it??
trying to stay away from having 5 inches of crushed coral at the botttom of my tank.


any help would be nice.
thanks matt(forgive spelling errors)

Hi Matt.

There is no need to maintain a ph as high as 7.8 - 8.6. Anything above ph 8 will be very difficult to maintain. As long as you get a ph above 7.4 dont worry. You can also add cleaned shells as they will raise ph. Pieces of coral also are good but stay away from bits with sharp edges.
BJ

 

[lyomat21]

thanks alot for the help ill get some shells

 

[Mystil]

I would not worry too much. Only if you are getting wild caught mbuna should you really be worrying as most mbuna which are tank bred are not too fussy.

I had the same problem....all I did was add tuffa rock and also coral sand (with a layer of normal sand over the top- which I have regretted ever since).

I dont bother with chemicals in my tank any more. No dechlorinator or anything and my fish are breeding so I must be doing something right.

 

[lalo99]

soo i am setting up a Mbuna cichlid tank, and i no i need the ph in the 7.8-8.6 range.. right now my tank is at about 7.4-7.6 (no fish in it yet) how can i raise the ph to that level and not have to worrry about constintly maintaining it??
trying to stay away from having 5 inches of crushed coral at the botttom of my tank.


any help would be nice.
thanks matt(forgive spelling errors)

Your ph is fine for mbuna right out of the tap. If you want to get the ph a little higher try using crushed coral in your filters. It will help buffer the water, as well as, add more surface are for biological filteration. Putting it in the filter will allow more water to flow over it. This will help keep the ph stable. You should also test the KH and GH out of your tap.