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how do i make this stuff, i have a tirty and want to have shellies, the ph is 6.7, what are the ingrediatns and how much of it do i need , i konw it varies but around

-would it be alot easier to buy commercial buffers

Crushed coral and shells will help raise the buffer and raise the ph. Check your LFS for substrate that contains coral and shells specifically for cichlid tanks.

Using rocks that will raise the ph will also help, and will provide a nice aquascape . Limestone will leech into the water to help raise the ph.
As for "homemade"...Plain Baking powder will help as well. Dissolve a teaspoon or two into some water and add a small ammount at a time. I use a syringe from the vet to place 2-3ml in at a time.

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babelfish means baking soda, never add baking powder to your tank. Otherwise, she's 100% correct.

Limestone will raise your ph & it's quite cheap aswell.


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If you don't mind spending a fair amount of extra money, some companies now manufacture special Rift Lake mineral additives. How good or effective these are I can't say, but they exist, and it may be worth checking up on them.


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coral & shells, or limestone..... do you have to measure the amount of c/s/l for a desired ph?

90g- anguilla rostrata,6 silver dollars,2 pictus catfish 60 g- anguilla rostrata 29g-4 blk skirt&4 serpia tetras, 6 harliquin resbora, 3kuhli loach 20g- 2 mountian minnows, 2 zebra danio& dojo loach , a corn snake and 2 monster dogs

Thats almost impossible to be accurate on, as differing corals and stones will dissolve and leech minerals off at different rates,shells will also have differing densities of composition and the useful calcites within them can be bound by layers of enamels and excretive laminates, they will be subject to differing rates of decomposition ,subject to current, pressure, temperature and existing water chemistry. The best way to start is in an uninhabited tank with a bit of trial and error,until you get a reasonable overview of the average effect, or alternatively add it little by little over an extended period of time until you get the desired readings.

Last edited by longhairedgit at 08-Oct-2005 07:50

First of all I think I would just get some kind of commercial product (I like Seachem a lot because IME with them they are all excellent products and their customer support is fantastic), but anyway let's see what we can come up with. A commercial product would be WAY easier but I guess if you run a LOT of big tanks or live in Siberia and have very soft water, or maybe if you just like DIY chemistry stuff you might want to experiment with it. You DO need to know the basic chemical composition of your tap water and have some kind of basic knowledge of chemistry before you start fiddling with any additives, otherwise you're just playing with fire. If you don't have either of these, stop reading now and don't mess with your water chemistry. At minimum you'll want to know your pH, KH and GH. It's best to start with a water analysis from your local water treatment plant and go from there.

based on the chemical composition of commercial cichlid buffers and analysis that I've seen of the rift lakes it would be fairly easy to DIY with the following easy-to-get chemicals (note this is if you're starting with tap water, not distilled or RO/DI, they are basically "stripped" and will probably be lacking in other minerals - in that case I would buy a commercial buffer for sure):

CaCO3 - Calcium Carbonate - Can be bought from a pharmacy usually as a supplement for human consumption (source of Ca, raises GH, KH)
KCl - Potassium Chloride - Sold as salt substitute in grocery stores (Nu-Salt) and also as an alternative to NaCl (plain old salt) for water softeners (source of K)
MgSO4 + 7H2O - Magnesium sulfate heptahydrate - Epsom salt, you can get it anywhere (source of Mg, increases GH)
NaHCO3 - Baking soda (source of Na, raises KH)

You can get all of those really easily for about $10-15 total.

Once you get that far, then comes the fun part. You'll need to do some calculations and figure out what you need to add to your tap water to reach the targeted hardness, pH and levels of Ca, Mg and K. Take a look at commercial products that give chemical composition and analysis and try to copy them, you'll probably want to look water chemistry for the rift lake you're going for up as well. It's not really *that* hard especially with online calculators and stuff that plant people use to figure out what to fertilize their plants with. You'll also want good test kits for pH and hardness, and to test batches of water WITHOUT fish first. Don't just dump random chemicals in your tank. That might sound obvious but a lot of people do.

It's not exactly easy but it can be done with a bit of work. Is it really worth it? Depends on the circumstances. I guess you could save a few bucks and if you're a real nerd (like me) it might be fun to mess with but for most people I think DIY cichlid salt would just be a big unnecessary hassle. If you couldn't follow my post, DIY water chemistry isn't for you.

You can stuff limestone etc. in your tank for sure, but my problem with that is what happens when you do water changes. Say your tank has a pH of 8+, your tap water has a pH of 6.7. In some emergency you might need to do a 50% water change (maybe even more) on the tank without any warning whatsoever. If you know anything about chemistry at all, you can see where this is going. You'll want to have treated water on hand at all times that matches the pH and hardness of the tank. You could run a reservoir (I would say at least equal to the volume of the tank) in a rubbermaid tub with a filter/pump and some limestone, aragonite, whatever, but I think that's just an unnecesary hassle that most people don't want. Also, using rocks or shells to alter your water chemistry that much isn't very reliable or predictable. You'll be testing your reservoir and tank constantly, once you get into a routine with buffering salts you won't need to test nearly as often. You'll have much more control with a buffering salt.

Really, cichlid buffers aren't that expensive. Spend $20 at your LFS, follow the package directions and you're set.

EDIT: BTW, I wouldn't just use baking soda. It will just raise your pH and KH with no effect on GH and you'll be low on Mg, Ca and K. Maybe OK if you're just going for a slight increase in pH and KH but it's not a good way to alter water chemistry for hard water fish.

Last edited by trystianity at 08-Oct-2005 09:59

Hi,
Interesting comments Tryst.
Personally, I would do both, so to speak.
I would purchase either crushed dolomite, or crushed
limestone and use it 100% as the substrate for the tank.
Either is available from most pet stores,
especially those that deal in saltwater tanks. Crushed
oyster shells and crushed coral is mostly CaCO3 and as
you mention, lack the other primary elements (Mg,K, etc.).

Normal water changes are going to be in the 10-20% range
or a little more and if the substrate is dolomite or limestone it will easily return the water
chemistry to "normal" and the fish will not be stressed.

IF one is doing a major overhaul and changing out 50% or
more, THEN, I think I would invest in the commercial
product. I really hate to keep purchasing stuff when
it can be done naturally.

Frank


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