Raising The Ph

[AdAndrews]

I want to set up a multi shell dweller tank in a 60litre, but dont want to have coral sand or coral rock on show, however i do have some coral rock, will it be ok to smash this up a little and place about 5cm cubed bits underneath and around one of the rocks i am using to 1) hold it in place when they dig, and 2) raise the ph, or will it be a problem becuase of smashing it, im fairly new to all this so dont really know that much about raising the ph using rocks, is it a case of the rock slowly disolving over time?, if this is the case surely i wont be able to smah it up becuase it will dissapear in a short while.
i will put some in my filter aswell, although, not much due to lack of space.

thanks

Adam

 

[AdAndrews]

anybody?

 

[AdAndrews]

 

[doktor doris]

Limestone, or holey rock acts as a buffer by dissolving, very slightly, when the water is acidic.

It doesn't dissolve enough to be readily observable, and certainly not enough to make a 5cm square block dissapear!

The other advantage is that the dissolved material increase the hardness of the water, which is highly desirable for rift lake cichlids.

Look at -

http/www.sydneycichlid.com/aquarium-hardness.htm

To understand the processeas which take place.

WHy do you not want your limestone to be visible?
I think it makes a tank both natural looking, and beautiful.

Look at my mbuna and utaka tank at -

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMiqI6Afdw

It is stuffed with ocean rock, and I think it looks both attractive and jolly natural.

doris

 

[AdAndrews]

Limestone, or holey rock acts as a buffer by dissolving, very slightly, when the water is acidic.

It doesn't dissolve enough to be readily observable, and certainly not enough to make a 5cm square block dissapear!

The other advantage is that the dissolved material increase the hardness of the water, which is highly desirable for rift lake cichlids.

Look at -

[URL="http/www.sydneycichlid.com/aquarium-hardness.htm"]http/www.sydneycichlid.com/aquarium-hardness.htm[/URL]

To understand the processeas which take place.

WHy do you not want your limestone to be visible?
I think it makes a tank both natural looking, and beautiful.

Look at my mbuna and utaka tank at -

[URL="http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMiqI6Afdw"]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOMiqI6Afdw[/URL]

It is stuffed with ocean rock, and I think it looks both attractive and jolly natural.

doris

thanks doris, i have already got some rock and i plan to buy play sand so want to stay with that theme vs. coral sand and rock as its cheaper

cheers

edit: just looked at your tank, it looks ace! what size is it and what fish do you have in it or used to?

thanks

 

[doktor doris]

Ill explain later mate.

I have to go for an operation.

doris

 

[AdAndrews]

Ill explain later mate.

I have to go for an operation.

doris

good luck

 

[doktor doris]

Hmm, they cancelled it.

It wasn't the NHS mucking about as usual, I just need more ultrasound scans first.
It sounds worse than it is!

It's only Achiles tendonitis, it just means I cannot walk on some days.

Anyhoo, back to your question.

My tank is a 125 litre Juwel Rio, I believe, it is a bit small for the fish I have but I will be getting a larger one shortly.
I have replaced the supplied filter powerhead(which pumped a tiny 200 litres per hour for a beefier 1000 lph unit)

The tank contains 25kilos of ocean rock (which cost a niggardly 20 pounds and 10 pounds p&p, I believe that was jolly inexpensive. It nearly killed the postman carrying it up to my flat!)
the same bloke isn't selling anymore, but another bloke is selling the same thing for 25quid, and 10 p&p here- Item number: 170357934588

The substrate is 8 kilos of small, black gravel made by Roman Gravel and bought from pets at home for 12 quid.
8 kilos didn't look much but by the time I had put my rock in tank 8ks easily covered my tank floor to a decent depth
(Make sure you put the rock on the tank base and position the substrate round it, as the cichlids dig and if the rock is on the gravel the falling rock could kill fish and/or crack the tank.
Don't bother with that egg-crate nonsense, as long as it is firmly placed a tank can handle loads of weight inside)

More for aesthetics than the fish I have a bubble wall at the rear of the tank, it is made by joining 2 rubber bubble strips in a heath robinson manner. These are the sort of thing I used-
Item number: 220391423264. They can be joined just by slicing the rear off one and inserting the front pipe of the next inside, after sliding a few cm of airline on it first to ensure a good fit.

The fish are;-

1 haplochromis, or nimboochromis venustus, which cost 6 quid
3 Metriaclima estherae, or orange zebra, which cost 6 quid each.
8 metriaclima hajomaylandi, which cost 40 quid including p&p as I bought them from ebay.

The hajomaylandia are quite pretty, if you look them up online they don't look that great but the colours seem much better IRL.

I shall be adding some yellow labs and some other's shortly, as I have good filtration and I keep a very close eye on my stats (as I can't walk anywhere else!) I will go up to about 20 mbuna in this tank, as I said I will be getting a 3 or 4 hundred litre in the next few weeks.

I think that covers it all, but any questions please ask.

I have been courteous haven't I ;-)

doris

 

[AdAndrews]

thanks doris, thats great, becuase i was considering getting a fluval 125l for some tanganyikan cichlids, but in the end didnt deem it fair to put what i wanted in a 80cm tank, those metriaclima hajomaylandi look great online and if they look better in real life then i better go to my lfs and see if i can spot any, i just wish i could fit a bigger tank in my house, but theres not really the space in the right place, anyways its probably just greed kicking in now, i mean i have 3 tanks, i must be bonkers getting another

thanks again
Adam

 

[doktor doris]

The other thing I do to raise pH and hardness is add a bit of cichlid salt mixture.

I make it myself, the recipe can be found here-


Rift Lake Buffer Recipe — Cichlid Salt
by Marc Elieson

Not everyone is blessed with "hard" and/or alkaline tap water. Recognizing this, several manufacturers, including SeaChem and Kent, have developed buffering salts in an effort to simulate rift lake water parameters. These serve to harden the water as well as provide "critical" trace elements. These commercial buffers and salts can get quite expensive if you have a large tank, or multiple tanks for that matter.

Instead of investing in these, there is a popular home remedy that works just as well. All the ingredients can be acquired at your local grocery store: Epsom salt, Salt, Baking Soda. Common bicarbonate of soda is effective at raising the pH, not to mention it’s very inexpensive. Epsom salts (i.e., magnesium sulfate) can be used to harden the water, raising the GH. And then you could also add salt to increase the general hardness of your water. I recommend using non-iodized table salt; however, others use Potassium Chloride or even Instant Ocean®. You can read more about the differences between these salts in my article on Aquarium Salts. For a few dollars, you can mix up enough Rift Lake Buffer to last you a year or more.

Condition of Water* pH GH KH
Hard Water from Tap 8.2 15 12
Hard Water from Tap w/ Buffer 8.2 34 22
R.O. Water 6.6 1 1
R.O. Water w/ Buffer 7.6 32 8
* All water was treated with Dechlorinator prior to testing

The amount of Baking Soda and Epsom Salt that you will need varies from household to household and depends upon the tap water. Start by adding 1 teaspoon of Baking Soda to five gallons of dechlorinated water and see how much this raises your pH. Then adjust your dosage so as to attain a desired level (somewhere in the neighborhood of 8.2-8.6). Repeat this procedure for Epsom Salt, starting out with ½ teaspoon. Try to achieve a GH between 15 and 25 dgh. Then add 1 teaspoon of salt.



RIFT LAKE BUFFER RECIPE
Ingredients
Epsom Salt
Marine Salt
Baking Soda
Instructions
For every 5 US Gallons of water, add 1-tablespoon Epsom salt, 1-teaspoon baking soda, and 1-teaspoon marine salt.


(recipe and article taken from http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php)

 

[AdAndrews]

thanks, i should be fine though shouldnt i? i have ph 7.8 and i am using some ocean rock, about 1kg and then some in the filter