Re: [GSAS-Member] Water buffering

[John Ruhland <john@drruhland.com>]

I have a 5-gallon bucket full of what I thought was crushed seashells, 
but
a GSAS member said he thought was the Aragamax (I think that's what he 
said).
I'd be happy to trade it for something.
John




On Jan 14, 2006, at 2:20 PM, Holly wrote:

I am pretty clueless about buffering water and I'm hoping you guys can
enlighten me.  I want to get a consistently high pH for my Tanganyikan
shellies.  If I buy play sand from the hardware store it'll probably be
silica.  So if I then add a baggie of crushed coral to my filter box 
will
that keep the pH up in my entire tank until the next water change a week
later?

Also, I have some rift salt to add to the new water during water 
changes.
Do I need to let the fresh water sit in buckets with the mix to 
sufficiently
harden it or can I just add the it to the water being siphoned in?  I'm
really not big on lifting buckets of heavy water so I'd like to keep my
water changes easy by sticking with the Python.  Should I filter the 
water
through the coral as it enters?

I looked into getting some Aragamax or cichlid sand but the stuff seems 
to
be ridiculously expensive... Like $40.  So I'm thinking a $5 bag of play
sand and some other material with buffering capability elsewhere in the 
tank
would be better.  I want a very fine sand since the shellies are small 
and
move sand around in their mouths a lot.

When it comes to Malawi fish, how do I keep the pH a little lower than
Tanganyikan water?  And the same goes for lowering pH...  Will a bit of 
peat
have the same results when trying to get acidic water?


Thanks,
Holly
_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member



 
 
Dr. John F. Ruhland
The Natural Health Medical Clinic
4002 - 25th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98108
206-723-4891
www.drruhland.com


_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member