Cloudy Water

A good starter plant will depend on your light conditions. Some good low light plants are anubias barteri and cryptocornes.

If your LFS has a established planted tank, ask them if you can have some water from their tank. If you're on good terms with them, should not be a big deal. Of course--this isn't advised for shopping at a big box stores, just a M&P place.
 
I currently use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals proper pH to control my pH levels. According to their website, proper pH is a phosphate buffer that when used in hard water could cause "hazy" water... maybe this is my "smoking gun."
 
Yep--I think that would be called the Murphy's Law of Un-intended results. Very few additives will have just the desired effect on your system.
 
So then the next question would be, how do I go about softening my hard water? Do the softener pillows work?

I know my pH is high if I dont condition it, and although I haven't done any hardness tests lately, I'm going to assume I have some pretty hard water, too. So the big picture question would be, how do I go about lowering pH to around 7.0 and soften the water at the same time, all while maintaining my clear water... :p

I don't ask for much, do I!?
 
Easiest might be to look into using a mixture of reverse osmosis water and your tap. RO is available at most stores (check the label, I get mine from Walmart in one gallon jugs). RO is pure water, neutral pH, so mixing it in with hard water dilutes the hardness, and lowers the pH.

The addition of CO2 (if you have plants) cna help, as will adding driftwood or using peat--but these last two will also cause a tea stain. The water isn't cloudy, but it has a slight yellow coloration.

However, I think before I messed with any of that, I'd start doing daily small water changes to remove the cloudiness. Use just your tapwater, treated for chlorine/chloramines, and nothing else. The fish you have listed should be pretty hardy and adapt to the higher pH just fine. Much easier than any of the above. Unless you want to breed (which the list of fish you have precludes), a stable pH is always better than a specific one that brings with it a PITN for you, and possible jumps for the fish.
 
Originally posted by wetmanNY


Is your KH very high, and have you added phosphate pH adjusters? Sometimes the two can keep extremely fine particles from settling out. Can you test the "KH" a.k.a. "carbonate hardness" and give us the result in numbers?
Click to expand...

Get a number for your "KH" before you add anything or make any high-tech purchases...
 
Here are the results of a recent water test:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
pH: 7.5
GH: ~143 ppm
KH: ~233 ppm


Also, I tested a sample of my tapwater:

Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
pH: 8.2
GH: ~179 ppm
KH: ~143 ppm
 
Sounds like a reasonable explanation to me... I'll stop using Proper pH, but what SHOULD I use to adjust my pH levels? Isn't my tapwaters natural level of 8.2 a little high for the fish I have (a gourami, clown loaches and a rainbow shark?).

Just want to, again, thank everyone for the help they've given me! Its been a great learning experience!
 
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