Water hardness

[who7nos]

I have just changed the water source for my cichlids and the water may be too soft. Any tips on testing and hardening water?

[GTR73]

I'm guessing you're using rainwater?

Get yourself a water Hardness Test Kit - AOA (forum sponsor) sells them. Test the levels first.
Rainwater will be soft. If you're using bore water, it'll likely be hard but can depend how much and what type rock the water flows thru underground. So you'll need to test to see where you stand.

If your hardness is low, place a filter bag of crushed coral or shell grit (or use a stocking) in your filter. Do another test but this should "buffer" the water, ie. harden it.

Coincidently, I'm gonna place a bag of crushed coral in all my canister filters this weekend to keep my tanks buffered to hard water. Previously I used Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) to raise my PH and hardness, but can be a bit tricky how much to use and constantly testing the water.

But crushed coral or shells will raise your water's PH and hardness and keep it at a steady level.
 :wink: