Best Way to Raise GH

Sakura8

Thank you, Nemo. :)

Byron

The cichlid sources I have suggest a GH of 12 dGH or more and a pH around 8 for Lake Victoria species. I haven't researched this sufficiently to be able to suggest differently.

Using the preparations is fine, but there are simpler methods to raise GH and pH. I do have to wonder why one would want to spend money on a product that has to be added regularly, when the substrate can handle the issue permanently. I know that in my case, with near-zero GH out of the tap, having to add Equilibrium to get the GH up to 5 dGH for the plants is expensive, and I wold certainly do this another way if one were available. I did try the crushed coral/aragonite method, but sadly it resulted in a pH close to 8 and that is simply not possible for my wild caught fish from waters with a pH of 5.

Sakura8

Byron, what books do you have on cichlids? I know David Boruchowitz has one but I'm sure there are others and I'm always on the search for more fish books. :)

I will certainly look into the crushed coral/aragonite. Thanks. :)

Byron

I have a couple but they are more than a decade old now, and I use the internet more for research on fish, as things are changing so fast now that a book is out of date by the time it is printed. There are some good cichlid sites. The ACA has one, and there are others; most include a forum so I won't link them.

The substrate is the way to do this, it worked well for me, and it lasts forever. CarribSea make a couple of sands from crushed coral and aragonite, I have their gravel that i experiemented with in the filter to raise GH but as I said the ph went through the roof so that didn't work.

Sakura8

Byron, that is the problem with books, isn't it? They're always finding new species or variants so books get outdated fast. I'll definitely check out the ACA. Thanks! :)

And I will look into the aragonite. Should I get the Cichlid specific substrate from Caribsea? The only other aragonites I've seen were packed in ocean water.

Byron

If it is made for rift lake cichlids, that's fine; it will be calcareous. Make sure it is sand; these fish as you probably know do a lot of sifting through the substrate and sand is better than gravel for this.

Sakura8

Okay. Thanks again everyone. :)