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Hey guys, i'm new to the guild, but kinda cutting to the chase here, need a lot of opinions and methods on this.

In my 50 gallon, I've got 6 julidochromis dickfeldi, 5 neolamprologus multifasciatus, and 2 altolamprologus compressiceps. As some of you might know, these guys like a high pH and hard as heck water.

Hard as heck water is achieved straight out of the tap. While I'd normally modify pH by making it even harder, (this is achieved via limestone, sandstone, and/or coral/aragonite substrate, I have the substrate, but use granite as my rockwork) there is no more buffering capability in the water due to the hardness, despite the substrate. The pH stays at 7.6. I need it at 8.4+.

I bought some epsom salt and baking soda for this purpose. But I'm afraid to start adding it to modify upwards. I'd know to do it slowly, Probably over the course of 5-7 days, but after a water change, it'd drop pretty rapidly upon refilling. Normally people would modify it up in the buckets, but I don't use buckets to refill, with 125 gallons of water in my room, I use a water changing hose instead. The buckets are not really an option, this tank is pretty high up above the ground, and I'd be making a big mess in doing this without my trusty hose.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the tanganyikan cichlids, lake tanganyika is a huge lake, and shortening the science behind it, the water perimeters in this lake are spot on year round. The fish, because of this, are not very tolerant in quick changes of perimeters, or dirty water. The nitrate needs to stay below 20, and the perimeters need to be as stable as possible.

What I've been thinking is gauging it upon adding, waiting for the tank to refill so much, then adding a little bit, waiting a little longer, adding a little more, but I'm not going to start yet. I need some opinions on the matter.

Thanks for any advice on the matter

Most fish are pretty tough when it comes to water perimeters, but I was insane enough to buy a bunch of F1's, which tend to be a little less tolerant of typical city water.

I'm not a very big fan of using chemicals and the like to play with the pH in a fish tank, so I planned on modifying it up just with the coral substrate. but our water out of the tap is already hard enough to outdo an average test kit, and all the coral does is buffer the hardness which therefore buffers the pH. Issue is, the water is too hard to dissolve the coral and raise hardness, if you catch my drift, so I've modify other parts of the water to raise it.