Stabilizing kh

["David Nesom" <david at nesom_net>]

All,

I'm fairly new to planted aquariums (or at least those planted with care)
and I'm adding a co2 system to my 72 gal tank within the next few weeks. In
preparing for this I tested the kh and gh of the water in the tank and of
the tap water. The kh of both tap and tank water is 1 dkh and the gh of both
is 2 dkh. I would like to get the get the kh up to between 4-5 and have read
about several ways of doing this: adding baking soda was one though I really
don't like this idea since it puts too much burden on me to constantly add
it in the correct maintenance amounts. I'd inevitably mess this up :(.

What I'm more interested in is understanding the pros, cons, and amounts
needed of crushed coral, marble chips, or dolomite chips to raise the kh.
I'm really looking for a way to raise the kh and hold it at a given level
for long period of time rather than adding more things at water change time.
Any help or suggestions are appreciated.

Not certain that it's important in this case however the tank is/will be
setup as follows:

72 gal bow front
magnum 350 canister filter with biowheel 60
9 watt UV sterilizer
CO2: aqua medic regulator, aqua medic bubble counter, aqualine 500 internal
reactor, Powerhead 401
Substrate: Natural Gravel
Fertilizer: PMDD
Substrate fertilizer: Still studying and uncertain
Plants: Cryptocorynes Wendtii, Rubin Sword, Dwarf Hairgrass, Giant Sag,
Pigmy Chain Swords, Dwarf Sag, contortion vals, red Foxtail, Wisteria,
Ludwigia, Tropica swords
Fish: 4 Discus, 4 angels, 25ish tetras

That's probably a lot more information than needed? But, you never know.
Thanks in advance for any help on the kh question.

Cheers,

Dave