Raising water ph, keeping it stable using Crushed coral, gh, kh and ph

Hey so I live in Arkansas and my tap water is pretty soft, I think it's around 7.4. I want to keep shell dwellers but I don't get how to keep the water stable when I do water changes. If I use aragonite or crushed coral or something it will buffer the water in the tank but when I go to do a water change I'll be putting new water in and it will screw up the stability of the ph. Will the fish be able to thrive and reproduce at that low ph or are there any options to keep my ph stable but also hard when I do water changes? Are there any good chemicals that I can just dose the new water before I put it in the tank to make it the same ph as the tank water? What should I do? Thanks.

Also I'm planning on getting multifasciatus and I'm wondering if I could keep Julidochromis with them? If I can'te find multifasciatus will the julies work ok with other types of shell dwellers? Would the shellies' fry survive or would the julies eat them? It's a 55 gallon so I was thinking I could do something like this with the rocks on one half for the julies and shells on the other half for the multies? And if the Julies don't work are there any other fish I can keep them with that won't eat the babies? Also considering altolamprologous until they get big.

 

Don’t be fixated too much on the pH. You want a GH of at least 12 dGH or 220 pm, the pH will follow.

Crushed coral will help to achieve that, even with water changes since it dissolves faster when the pH drops. But have some cichlid lake salt or general GH booster on hand in case you need it.

I haven’t kept Shellie’s but I think that you could keep one or a pair of Julie’s with them with territories provided for each. Some Shelly fry might get predated on.

 

So you're saying that the crushed coral will change the ph fast enough during water changes that it won't fluctuate the ph? Will I need to replace the crushed coral? Should it go in the filter or the substrate? I don't remember what my GH is but if it's not at 12 how should I get it there? I've worked something out where I'll be able to sell some baby shellies to my LFS so if the julies are going to eat a lot then I probably won't get them, but if they only eat a few I'm willing to make that sacrafice because this tank is mostly for an enjoyment tank. I do want to be able to grow the colony though, do you think the julies will eat a lot?

 

I’ve no idea how many fry may get eaten. Crushed coral dissolves gradually. You can add it to the substrate or the filter.

Or just add cichlid lake salt to your water change water. That’s all I used to do when I was keeping Tanganyikans. There are cheaper alternatives than the Seachem stuff but it’s up to you.

You’ll need to test your tap water GH. You may not need to raise it a great deal. A pH of 7.4 suggests that it might have at least moderate hardness.

 

What's the cheaper alternative? Seachem is way overpriced.

 

What's the cheaper alternative? Seachem is way overpriced.

You don’t have any location details. I used Aquasonic Rift Lake Conditioning Salts but that’s an Australian brand. You’ll have to search what’s available in your country. It doesn’t have to be specifically for the African Rift Lakes. It can be just a general GH booster.

 

Ok sounds good, I'm in the U.S. so...
What about KH? I'm still confused on how the Ph. GH, and KH are all connected or which ones I need to change.

So I'm starting a 55 gallon shell dweller tank (trying to) but my water is about 7.4 ph. I've read that adding crushed coral can help raise the ph but will it be enough? Is there a limit to how much crushed coral can change? I heard 1 pound for 10 gallons but how long will that effect the water and when will I need to change it? Is there a point where crushed coral won't change the water anymore? So like if i dump in more and more it won't change it more? I'm so confused about all of this. I also don't understand gh and kh. I've been keeping fish since I was in 5th grade and had a 125 gallon and I've never worried about any of this but it seems important.

 

I may be wrong but I think crushed coral will only buffer pH to 8.2.

 

Oh ok I'll check up on that. Thx

What's the difference between crushed coral and coral sand? Which is better? More effective as a buffer? Etc.

 

You'll need to test your KH, it might be fine as is. GH booster doesn't usually affect it unless it contains carbonates.

 

Ah ok that makes sense