"Alan Silver"
wrote in
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In article , Indiana
Jones writes
I will leave the plant comments to others (though in general one
problem keeping plants with africans is that plants tend not to
appreciate ph 8 and up, nor hard water)

Just been looking at Tropica's web site, and there seem to be a decent
variety of plants that will do well in my tank conditions. Mostly slow
growers, but that doesn't worry me too much.

So, anyone know how to harden the
water whilst still having decent rocks ?
snip

NOTE: once you have decided how much of the ingredients to use with
water
changes, *slowly* (over the course of a few days or a week) increase
the PH and hardness of the tank. Not too fast.. dont want to shock
them.

I would probably mess about with this before adding any fish to the
tank. ill it with water and spend some time tinkering until I got it
right. Only then would I add fish.

FWIW with local water of Ph7, Gh ~nil Kh ~nil, i settled on a formula
of Epsom Salts = 2tsp per 4 gal, instant ocean = .75tsp per 4 gal,
baing soda 1.5tsp per 4 gal.

Thanx, useful starting point.

Having said all that, after a few months of doing the prescribed
treatment I decided it wasnt worth the hassle. Now I just have my
crushed coral in there, keeps the PH at 8, and it only mildy hardens
the water.

This actually sounds like what I want. I would much prefer an approach
that involves letting the rocks do the water conditioning.

I was wondering about granite. Do you know if that would help ? I'm
really not sure which rocks will harden, which might soften and which
would leave the water alone. I have a friend who deals in stone, so I
could probably get chunks of granite, marble, Yorkshire stone, you name
it.

Granite is very inert (also very heavy), and while it won't harm your tank,
it certainly wont help it either. Limestone is basically the only way to go
as far as raising Ph and hardness. If you get a small bottle of HCL (got
mine from a Geology professor at school), you can test rocks.. if they
fizz.. they are calciferous (they will harden the water). Vinegar works for
this as well, but will only give you a positive result if the rocks are VERY
calciferous (or whatever the word is).

Rocks to avoid: Mica, anything micaceous, anything with metal.

I think you will rely on the crushed coral in the end to do the trick....
all the little pieces have infinitely more surface are than any large rock
decorations will. Putting crushed coral, or crushed oyster shells (cheaper)
in your filters will help too.

Good luck.



Hope any of this helps.

Sure does. Thanx very much

--
Alan Silver