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by **mollyfry** » 2007-04-02 14:27

As you know I would really like to change to cichlids, but i need a little advice on how to raise my ph levels. I have been reading that they need around 8.5 if I remember rightly lol. My ph is 7.5, so it doesnt need to be raised by much, but am unsure what to do. I have got bogwood in the tank for my plec, im sure i read somewhere here that the bogwood can lower the ph, so taking that out shouldnt be a problem, unless the plec really needs it.

Hope someone has some advice on what i can do to raise the ph levels, all suggestions appreciated......... :mellow:

by **Mick e. t.** » 2007-04-02 18:27

<a href='http://allfishforums.com/index.php?showtopic=1111' target='_blank'>Water chemistry</a>: It is a lot of reading but it will put you on the right road. One other point, have you made your mind up as to what cichlids you want to keep? Reason for asking is that not all cichlids require such a high pH. One other point I think needs a mention is that the difference between a pH of 7.5 and 8.5 is vast, something over 100 times greater, not 1, as you might think. Will help you as much as I can but need to know what cichlids. :tup:

by **KittyKat** » 2007-04-02 18:29

Hi Ruth!

Yes, the pleco absolutely needs the bogwood because he will suck at it to get nutrients out of it, so you must not remove it! And yes, it will lower the pH.

You can raise the pH by adding crushed corals or shells to the substrate, or even better, to the filter (depending on the type of filter you have). Note that if the corals or shells are crushed too fine, the fishes' gills can be irritated by the fine particals.

You can also use buffers to change the pH, although personally I would not use them as you would constantly have to keep buying more to keep up the pH and also, depending on the ingredients, they can have a bad long term effect on the fish.

Any questions, just ask!

by **sharkdude** » 2007-04-03 13:43

if your going for malawi's the rock used to decorate will raise the pH as its calcerous (spelling)
yeah and 7.5 to 8.5 is a difference of one in number but in alkilinity it's 100 each 0.1 cahnge is 10 times greater.

by **Mick e. t.** » 2007-04-10 00:05

Sorry Ruth, I been a little remiss, should of got back to this one sooner. There is one thing that most folk forget when buying in new fish. This is, that if you are buying fish from a LFS within your area then with in reason your water pH will be the same as theirs, if in doubt ask. If the LFS is out of your water supply area then definitely ask them what their pH level is. Having said that you will find that the majority of LFS will always try to maintain a pH of 7.00 as the majority of fish they sell can all be kept at this level in the short term. What I am saying here is, don't go rushing into raising your pH level, find out find out if you need to first. I am not saying don't raise it, for if you are going to keep any cichlids that require a high pH then bring it up slowly. Personally I do maintain a pH of 8.2 for my Malawi's, Tangs and the one specie of Vic I keep, but like you my tap water has a pH of 7.5 and (not from my experience, but from others), all species from the affore named lakes will live and breed at that level of pH. (7.5).

by **mollyfry** » 2007-04-16 20:42

Sorry i took a while to get back, the cichlids we have beem looking at are the dwarf ones.......

Thanks for the advice on asking the lfs about the level of their ph though, i would never have thought of asking anything like that........

We are still keeping a check on the water at the mo, but all levels appear to be good, the fish are all happy and healthy, so hopefully when we change we wont have any issues.........

by **sharkdude** » 2007-04-17 17:28

what kind of dwarf? how bigs the tank? your probally better off with one species in a harem (6 or more). And different species like different water quality blue rams for example like soft acidic water whereas kribs like harder neutral to 7.5 pH

by **niko001** » 2007-04-27 05:55

mollyfry wrote: As you know I would really like to change to cichlids, but i need a little advice on how to raise my ph levels. I have been reading that they need around 8.5 if I remember rightly lol. My ph is 7.5, so it doesnt need to be raised by much, but am unsure what to do. I have got bogwood in the tank for my plec, im sure i read somewhere here that the bogwood can lower the ph, so taking that out shouldnt be a problem, unless the plec really needs it.

Hope someone has some advice on what i can do to raise the ph levels, all suggestions appreciated......... :mellow:

If you want to setup a malawi tank I would remove the bogwood as it releases tannins which are acidic and thus reacts with the ph and would lower the ph. I would add as others had suggested some calcerous rocks which leach out calcium into the water and help to maintain high ph. Limestone is one good source. I always place rocks which leach calcium and in the trickle filter I put some limestone slabs to make sure that there is a constant supply. Hope everything works well.

Another thing is that Malawis tend to adapt even to neutral ph levels.

by **valemont** » 2018-05-21 20:11

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