I need some advice on what to add to the tap water here in Idaho to bring up the pH.
One great thing for Aficans is that my tap water has a GH and KH of 8 dGH/dKH respectively. The pH is 7.6 which is pretty close, but I am a nerd when comes to the fish so I would prefer a pH of 8.0 or so.
Now, the interesting thing is that I have been doing water changes with RO water from Wal-Mart and then adding SeaChem buffer and salt. When I test the new water I get the same results for GH and KH. So why the pH different?
I remember Bob's talk early this year about water chemistry but it has been a long time. If memory serves, adding 'buffer' will only bring the pH up to a point and then you're just making the water thicker.
So do I need to maybe add a little more Cichlid 'salt', or will that just change the hardness?
One great thing for Aficans is that my tap water has a GH and KH of 8 dGH/dKH respectively. The pH is 7.6 which is pretty close, but I am a nerd when comes to the fish so I would prefer a pH of 8.0 or so.
Now, the interesting thing is that I have been doing water changes with RO water from Wal-Mart and then adding SeaChem buffer and salt. When I test the new water I get the same results for GH and KH. So why the pH different?
I remember Bob's talk early this year about water chemistry but it has been a long time. If memory serves, adding 'buffer' will only bring the pH up to a point and then you're just making the water thicker.
So do I need to maybe add a little more Cichlid 'salt', or will that just change the hardness?