Low KH - Planted Tank?

[Sumpin'fishy]

I have a well with water that tests as follows: KH 1.0 and pH 6.6. I like the idea of slightly acid water, but that low of KH calls for trouble if I inject CO2, right? I'm wanting a community tank with heavy planting (about 70%+ floor area). I need to know if I have to mix the well water with my tap water, or if I should add crushed coral to my filter? Will crushed coral even raise my KH enough to make a difference. Shouldn't I have a 4 KH or higher? My tap water is about 7.8 pHand 5.4 KH after settling in my main tank (fish only). I think the fish I'm looking to house and breed (possibly) will perform and live better in more acidic water.

Prospective fish include: Rams, Apistos, Cardinal Tetras, Corys, Ottos, and maybe Gouramis. What does everyone think? I have read several articles and posts from people like Plantbrain saying that to really do things well the first time (no algae outbreaks, great plant growth, healthy plants + fish, etc.) I need to do CO2 and have a good substrate (Flourite, Onyx). I don't want to learn the hard way on how to get a good planted tank. I learned how to keep fish the hard way:rolleyes: I have done lots of research and I'm still asking questions and forming ideas. Please help with any input. Just for info, this is going to be a 55 gal tank using 160 watts of light, with an open top and suspended canopy. All this will be surrounded by various houseplants on an 8'(L) x 2'(W) cabinet.

TIA

[The Gipper]

Greetings
I've set up an open top 120gal surrounded by house plants - I've been very happy with it so far.
I'm a little confused - you mention well water with KH 1, pH 6.6, and then you mention tap water with KH 5.4, pH XX. IS your well water your tap, or are they different?
If you have a well and city tap water (if I understand you correctly), then use the tap for your tank. Then use the CO2 to drive the pH down to around 6.7-6.8 (with KH of ~5) and hold it there. Much better way to go. You are correct about that KH of 1.0. Not only is it a very low buffering capacity, but to maintain the proper amount of CO2 (from the pH-KH-CO2 charts) you would have to shoot for a pH of 6.2-6.3, which might be too low for some of the fish you are considering.

Most people add baking soda to increase KH. If I'm correct, adding crushed coral would increase GH (measures Mg and Ca), not necessarily KH. Depending on your area and how much limestone you have in the ground, well water can be quite high in GH, so I don't think crushed coral is the way to go. KH measures carbonate.

Onyx substrate is know to raise your KH a bit without affecting GH, so one thing you could do if you are going to use the well water is to go straight Onyx sand substrate instead of the Onyx/Fluorite mix. My tap water has a KH of about 2-3. I've gone straight Onyx Sand in my 120 gal to edge the KH up closer to 4.

[Sumpin'fishy]

Thanks for the input. My tap water is from the city. My well was dug by the previous owners and is separately pumped and located in backyard. Have to get water from there or use garden hoses, etc.

I didn't mean I was going to mix flourite and onyx, I just meant that I would use one or the other. I like black substrates, so I'll probably go with onyx. I figured someone would say go with the tap water, I just was hoping for the free water:p

Oh well, I won't change as much water as often in my planted tank as I do in my FO tank (50% weekly), so it should be ok.

Any other advice, people?

[carpguy]

Crushed coral will raise KH. It raised mine from <1 to about 3 and my pH from around 6.2 to 6.9ish. I put 5 tblspns in a filter bag -- the baking soda seemed to me like it would need regular refreshing and not be as stable.

[Sumpin'fishy]

Think I should fill up my Q-tank and try playing around with the well water and Coral? I don't know till I try!;)

[carpguy]

Sump,
I'm using the crushed coral to push my KH up high enough for me to be able to add DIY CO2. I wouldn't use it if I didn't have to. :(

If you have CO2 I'd go with the harder water and let that push you back down. With a KH around 5 you should be able to be around neutral to slightly acidic with the CO2. I'd try to work out a blend of the two if you still wanted to be more acidic. If you had a regular recipe worked out for the water changes it could be fairly easy and stable. Sort of like blending in some RO.

[Sumpin'fishy]

Good point, the less I have to do = the less that can go wrong!

I just hate to have water for free that I can't use.....GRRRR:mad:
Maybe I'm just ghetto!

[carpguy]

Well, my water is free… but you should see what they're getting out of me for the apartment :( .

So sad…

Some of the fish you mentioned are pretty pro-soft-and-acidic. Were I in your humble shoes I think I'd try the blending thing. Seems ideal to have such options. :D

Some of those guys are pretty territorial as well (I'm figuring those are candidates and not picks). I've been wondering about having rams and apistos together for one of my future tank schemes -- if you go that way, let me know how it works. I have a pair of pearl gourami, which are really stunning: much more color than I'd anticipated, but they've started spawning and the territorially aggressive thing is also more than I'd anticipated. :rolleyes: Sometimes the male strikes so fast I can hear an audible zwip through the water.

[Mr.Jingles]

although Rams and Appistos come from the same river, you question wether or not they could live together? I would think that they would be fine in a 55 gallon. btw, all those fish, besides gouramis are soft-acid water dwellers. they like low ph between 5.6 and 6.5

isnt 5.6 the pH of natural untainted water? thats what my math teacher taught me. He use to teach economical sciences.

Ive looked at takashi amano tanks where hes had many different types of dwarfs together, including rams and appistos.

[Faramir]

Your teacher was wrong. The pH of pure water is 7.

[Sumpin'fishy]

My idea is that I wanted at least a couple of breeding cichlids in the tank, so it was either gonna be 2 pairs of Rams or Apistos and Rams, I don't really see any major problem. OOPS, that's usually when it happens;) Anyways, I think I'm gonna give it a try, but I'm really starting to veer away from the gourami thing, they may look nice, but I keep hearing about agression problems. I don't care for them enough to ruin a tank with. I may try to mix 75% Tap with 25% Well water, see how that turns out. Probably don't want to go much below that. Thanks for input everybody.

[Mr.Jingles]

not pure water, natural untainted water.

natural meaning found in the wild. the natural interaction with the co2 in the air and the water would cause the water to have a pH of 5.6.

i wouldnt really question him in this case, specially if he taught it.

Im no scientists, so I dont know what all the variables are included in this.

anybody with scientific proof or whatnot want to speek up?

[Fishiebusiness]

Yes co2 in the atmosphere will drop pure water's pH to 5.6 after a while of exposure. Pure water has pH of 7.0 only if it is not exposed to air.