Any information on sechem American cichlid salt, my tap ph is 7.5 ish But is very soft I’ve been using African Cichlidae sand to keep my hardness up or else my ph will shift too quick my tank is over stocked but over filter and I keep up with 2 water changes 40 -50 percent a week. It’s got my kg and gh up to medium levels but is also raising/ keeping my ph at a stable 8 is there a better way to raise my hardness without effecting my ph? I hate using sand and would rather use gravel but can’t afford to go without the buffer.
HelpASAP
- Thread starter Hunter1974
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I use rainwater, and all I've ever used is just handfulls of coral fingers and oyster grit in the filters.
You could use crushed coral instead of sand, that would be more like gravel
If you affect kh you will effect pH.
To raise gh without effecting kh you need to use a specific calcium or magnesium salt with little to no carbonates or bicarbonates. The carbonates and bicarbonates are what increase the kh. Typically in the higher pH ranges increasing kh and gh together will do little to the overall pH there for most people looking to keep their gh kh up use crushed coral and or limestone.
You are making me think back to my salt water days prior to me getting a calcium reactor...lol. Nowadays I live on a well and it's hard water with a moderatly high ph 14+dkh and 8 to 8.4 pH. I do put some crushed coral in bags or mixed in the substrate to help with keeping pH stable in certain tanks in between waterchanges. But that's all the thought I put into it right now for the most part. Other then the fact that I can't keep alot of plants I'd like to keep without doing chemistry to keep them from melting do to the high ph/kh.
Try putting a small bag of crushed coral in the filter or mixing some in your substrate and see how that does. If it's not enough add some more. Keep testing and pay attention to see where or how much you need to maintain stability. Putting a bag in your filter or a place of water movement will lead to greater effect.
To raise gh without effecting kh you need to use a specific calcium or magnesium salt with little to no carbonates or bicarbonates. The carbonates and bicarbonates are what increase the kh. Typically in the higher pH ranges increasing kh and gh together will do little to the overall pH there for most people looking to keep their gh kh up use crushed coral and or limestone.
You are making me think back to my salt water days prior to me getting a calcium reactor...lol. Nowadays I live on a well and it's hard water with a moderatly high ph 14+dkh and 8 to 8.4 pH. I do put some crushed coral in bags or mixed in the substrate to help with keeping pH stable in certain tanks in between waterchanges. But that's all the thought I put into it right now for the most part. Other then the fact that I can't keep alot of plants I'd like to keep without doing chemistry to keep them from melting do to the high ph/kh.
Try putting a small bag of crushed coral in the filter or mixing some in your substrate and see how that does. If it's not enough add some more. Keep testing and pay attention to see where or how much you need to maintain stability. Putting a bag in your filter or a place of water movement will lead to greater effect.
Agree with the above.
I have made calcium reactors, by changing and using aragonite sand (crushed coral) as media in fluidized beds.
The one below is a DIY about 4 ft tall, and 8" in diameter, and uses about 4lbs of aragonite sand.
To maintain buffering capacity, I would add a couple spoonfuls of new aragonite when alkalinity fell in any noticeable way.
although most commercial fluidized beds are closed top (pressurized), I made it open top for ease of adding new regularly needed media and cleaning.
The open top also helped ease maintanence, during power outages, because back siphon would inevitably occur and plug up the inflow(even with a check valve).
By using natural aragonite, it only came into play (dissolved into the water column) when alkalinity dropped, but remained at an equilibrium most of the time.
Crushed oyster shell would work just as well, and probably cheaper.
I would test alkalinity daily ( because I worked in a lab, I had easy access, and checked my aquarium water during breaks)
Today, in my sumps, I just place sea shells collected from the beach under effluent to the sump.
If you are afraid of wide fluctuations during water changes, baking soda can be added at the time to water change water for a quick buffer.
Curious what fish you are keeping?
I have made calcium reactors, by changing and using aragonite sand (crushed coral) as media in fluidized beds.
The one below is a DIY about 4 ft tall, and 8" in diameter, and uses about 4lbs of aragonite sand.
To maintain buffering capacity, I would add a couple spoonfuls of new aragonite when alkalinity fell in any noticeable way.
although most commercial fluidized beds are closed top (pressurized), I made it open top for ease of adding new regularly needed media and cleaning.
The open top also helped ease maintanence, during power outages, because back siphon would inevitably occur and plug up the inflow(even with a check valve).
By using natural aragonite, it only came into play (dissolved into the water column) when alkalinity dropped, but remained at an equilibrium most of the time.
Crushed oyster shell would work just as well, and probably cheaper.
I would test alkalinity daily ( because I worked in a lab, I had easy access, and checked my aquarium water during breaks)
Today, in my sumps, I just place sea shells collected from the beach under effluent to the sump.
If you are afraid of wide fluctuations during water changes, baking soda can be added at the time to water change water for a quick buffer.
Curious what fish you are keeping?
How much should I roughly use for a 75 gal, because as of now without the cichlid sand my good water grins acidic within a few days because of my over stock, also how should I go about removing the cichlid sand and placing aragonite, will the swap cause a huge shift in the water?
Oscars and severums do best in soft, neutral to low pH water, your water straight from the tap is perfect for them.
The green terror is also adaptable to your soft water
But yes, the Herichthys, convict and JD do prefer harder water.
I do not keep Central and N Americans in the same tank for that reason.
By raising hardness for the middle Americans, you may be jeopardizing the health of the S Americans, because severums, and oscars become prone to HLLE and bloat in hard water.
Below is data from where severums and oscars are collected.
Now below, is data from where central Americans like JDs and Texas are collected.
The green terror is also adaptable to your soft water
But yes, the Herichthys, convict and JD do prefer harder water.
I do not keep Central and N Americans in the same tank for that reason.
By raising hardness for the middle Americans, you may be jeopardizing the health of the S Americans, because severums, and oscars become prone to HLLE and bloat in hard water.
Below is data from where severums and oscars are collected.
Now below, is data from where central Americans like JDs and Texas are collected.
Okay but with my current tank stock the water will shif in ph of its too soft , even with over filtering and 2-3 water changes a week, I knew that about oscars but if I raise the hardness to moderate nothing crazy hard the ph holds well trough the week by the time I do my water changes the ph is still a solid 7.5 7.8, so what should I do to marine good water in an overstocked tank with soft water fish
Also here’s my readings from today after a water change yesterday, see what I was saying about it not being too hard even using the cichlid sand, so could I use crushed coral and still my fish be okay at that level ?