I believe I may have copper in my tap water. I have yet to be able to keep a snail for more than two weeks (even my population of pond snails is in rough shape and its not from lack of food) and my four ghost shrimp have all but disappeared (there was one left as of this morning).
My ammonia and nitrites are at zero and have been steady for weeks ( at least 6 weeks anyway). Nitrates are always under 20 and I do weekly water changes on both tanks.
I have well water that has about 5 degrees general hardness and no nitrates. I do use a chlorine/metal remover conditioner with water changes just as a precaution (figured it couldn't hurt but maybe it does) but add nothing else to the water. Ph in my 10g planted is steady at 7.2 and in the 8g hex with driftwood it is at about 6.8 I think.
I suspect copper because we often have problems with the pipes in the house springing pinhole leaks. I figure if the water is eating away at the pipes to cause leaks, odds are some of that copper is leaching into the water coming out of the tap. It (or some other metal) is the only thing I can think of that is killing off my invertebrates like flies.
My fish seem okay although the redness qround the gills that showed up on my danios during cycling has never gone away (although its lessened) despite the absence of ammonia.
My question is, what can I do (on a budget) to clean my water up. Short term I guess I can mix distilled water with tap water to reduce any metals and retain minerals but is there a long term solution besides R/O? Even though they're small tanks (and I'm only in this house for another 6 months or so) I'd hate to have to keep buying distilled water. Will something like a Brita remove metals?
My ammonia and nitrites are at zero and have been steady for weeks ( at least 6 weeks anyway). Nitrates are always under 20 and I do weekly water changes on both tanks.
I have well water that has about 5 degrees general hardness and no nitrates. I do use a chlorine/metal remover conditioner with water changes just as a precaution (figured it couldn't hurt but maybe it does) but add nothing else to the water. Ph in my 10g planted is steady at 7.2 and in the 8g hex with driftwood it is at about 6.8 I think.
I suspect copper because we often have problems with the pipes in the house springing pinhole leaks. I figure if the water is eating away at the pipes to cause leaks, odds are some of that copper is leaching into the water coming out of the tap. It (or some other metal) is the only thing I can think of that is killing off my invertebrates like flies.
My fish seem okay although the redness qround the gills that showed up on my danios during cycling has never gone away (although its lessened) despite the absence of ammonia.
My question is, what can I do (on a budget) to clean my water up. Short term I guess I can mix distilled water with tap water to reduce any metals and retain minerals but is there a long term solution besides R/O? Even though they're small tanks (and I'm only in this house for another 6 months or so) I'd hate to have to keep buying distilled water. Will something like a Brita remove metals?
