Increasing water hardness

[malfunction]

I never thought I’d say I miss London water. None of this was necessary when I liquid rock pouring out of my taps.

 

[Avel1896]

Cheers - will take a look at this one too

Very interesting brand. All powders are "intermixable"

 

[itiwhetu]

With African Cichlids I have always used a fine lime chip base and have never had to bother about hardness issues. Lime chip is very cheap from your garden center it will solve all your worries about hardness.

 

[Avel1896]

setting up one as an all male peacock tank

Which "peacock" ? There are numerous and grow gross !

 

[Avel1896]

You won't need to increase hardness this much as there are amazonian fishes that live in pH 5.5 to 7.5 for a hardness of 15°GH maximum.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Actually if you want to reduce all the hassle and cost, just keep South American and Asian fish that are suitable for soft water especially when you need to make large water changes.

There are plenty of South American and Asian fish for you to choose from Cichlids, Tetras, Rasboras, Danios, Barbs, Corydoras, Loaches, etc...

I can also recommend some species to you if you want.

 

[malfunction]

Actually if you want to reduce all the hassle and cost, just keep South American and Asian fish that are suitable for soft water especially when you need to make large water changes.

There are plenty of South American and Asian fish for you to choose from Cichlids, Tetras, Rasboras, Danios, Barbs, Corydoras, Loaches, etc...

I can also recommend some species to you if you want.

Thanks, but I’ve kept South and Central American’s for close to 10 years (there was a period where I couldn’t set up a new tank without putting a geophagus in it!) I’ve currently got a similar setup (with new world cichlids, barbs, tetras and cories) but really want to go all African on my new tank if possible. Depends how easily I can maintain the right water parameters though.

 

[malfunction]

With African Cichlids I have always used a fine lime chip base and have never had to bother about hardness issues. Lime chip is very cheap from your garden center it will solve all your worries about hardness.

…did you need to worry about fluctuations when you did water changes? Lime sounds like a nice and easy fix, but I am leaning towards the caribsea sand

 

[malfunction]

Which "peacock" ? There are numerous and grow gross !
I’m not sure which species combination I’ll go for yet - I wanted to understand how easy it was to raise and maintain the hardness before going too far. I do quite like some of the jacobfreibergi colour morphs though

 

[malfunction]

You won't need to increase hardness this much as there are amazonian fishes that live in pH 5.5 to 7.5 for a hardness of 15°GH maximum.

Gotcha…I reckon it’d be difficult to keep African cichlids healthy in those conditions though

 

[itiwhetu]

…did you need to worry about fluctuations when you did water changes? Lime sounds like a nice and easy fix, but I am leaning towards the caribsea sand

I do 25% water changes weekly and have never had issues with fluctuating hardness or pH. African Cichlids come from lakes that are lime fed.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Thanks, but I’ve kept South and Central American’s for close to 10 years (there was a period where I couldn’t set up a new tank without putting a geophagus in it!) I’ve currently got a similar setup (with new world cichlids, barbs, tetras and cories) but really want to go all African on my new tank if possible. Depends how easily I can maintain the right water parameters though.

I think the challenges will be when you need to make large water changes.
You will probably need to get a large water storage drum/barrel/tank or tub to store your water if you want to premix the water before using it.

But if you don't make large water change, then it will be ok as what itiwhetu mentioned.

 

[OliveFish05]

I have heard of using Calcium Carbonate to raise GH, but don’t have any experience with it or know much about it, i just read it online somewhere

 

[Colin_T]

Calcium chloride and Magnesium chloride are used to increase the GH (general hardness). These are the 2 main minerals that get measured by a GH test kit.

Calcium carbonate/ bicarbonate and magnesium carbonate/ bicarbonate are used to increase the KH (carbonate hardness). Carbonates and bicarbonates are minerals that get measured by KH test kits.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Byron mentioned certain minerals being essential for fish. Last year I purchased a reverse osmosis water filter and, naturally, being very excited ( and naive ) about the thing I decided that my soft water fish would thrive in near zero mineral conditions. I did this for such a length of time that I saw all the negative effects this had on my fish. So take it from me , fish have very specific needs for the most part and tinkering with those needs in ignorance will bring a tear to your eye.