Limestone in my tank

[samctex]

I just purchased a 55 gallon aquarium for my wife for Christmas. I also picked up and washed 8 pieces of limestone. I wanted to create something in the tank with the limestone as areas for the fish to swim through and play with. I read that limestone will make the water very hard. Is this a good idea? They look really cool but I don't want to jeopardize the fish that we put in there. We have no decided yet on what fish to put in. Thanks for any help.

B)

 

[De Plano]

I would check on this, but I am pretty sure that African lake cichlids live in very hard water. They are beautiful fish, but a lot can be pretty aggresive. I would ask in the African Cichlids forum if you do not get any other answers here.

BTW there are African Lake Cichlids and some that live in the rivers in Africa, so I would check what the paramaters are for whatever species you are thinking about.

BUT, I just reread your post and I can not tell you what the affects of limestone in the tank are

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Limestone does affect the water. It will raise the PH and/or keep it higher. The effect of limestone is slow, as it dissolves at a very gradual pace. I would not be hesitant to use small amounts in any aquarium, but I would only use larger amounts in tanks for fish requiring more alkaline water, like cichlids from the African Rift Lakes. African rivers are actually more acid, and produce fish that are actually more like new world ones.