Fresh water tips
- Thread starter Jag586
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If you want to raise your salinity (usually only if you are brackish or saltwater) You need to add SEA salt. If a fish is sick you add aquarium salt.
Normally I put water from hoses into 5 gallon buckets and I add some dechlorinator. Other than that I don't do much to the water.
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Normally I put water from hoses into 5 gallon buckets and I add some dechlorinator. Other than that I don't do much to the water.
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It all depends on what's in the tank. All of my tanks have water dechlorinated using Prime.
I have 90g, 29g, and 10g freshwater tanks that I use nothing else in,
a 60g planted tank to which I inject Co2 and add Flourish & fertilizing root tabs,
a 150g African cichlid tank to which I make my own cichlid salt mix out of baking soda + Epsom salt + marine salt,
and a 14g saltwater tank to which I add marine salt and a little baking soda.
There is no one size fits all when it comes to what to add for your fish, and on a general level it's usually not necessary to add anything (with freshwater), and doing so can sometimes complicate things and cause problems in an otherwise healthy tank.
What kind of fish do you have? Perhaps we can give you some ideas.
I have 90g, 29g, and 10g freshwater tanks that I use nothing else in,
a 60g planted tank to which I inject Co2 and add Flourish & fertilizing root tabs,
a 150g African cichlid tank to which I make my own cichlid salt mix out of baking soda + Epsom salt + marine salt,
and a 14g saltwater tank to which I add marine salt and a little baking soda.
There is no one size fits all when it comes to what to add for your fish, and on a general level it's usually not necessary to add anything (with freshwater), and doing so can sometimes complicate things and cause problems in an otherwise healthy tank.
What kind of fish do you have? Perhaps we can give you some ideas.
Dechlorinator. And not the fancy crap with slime coat promoting stuff in it. Basic dechlor. My tap water is pretty good, very low chlorine, no flouride, quite tasty and I don't even filter it. It's a little hard, with high pH, but so far the fish don't seem to mind.
I have a special case as I have very high nitrates in my well water (95 acre farmers field across the road). For water changes:
1) I setup a spare 10g in the garage and use Fluval Lab Series Nitrate Remover (FNR) or API Nitra-Zorb to filter nitrates out of the water.
2) I use an API Tap Water Filter to produce deionized (DI) water.
3) I use rain water collected from my downspout.
For the DI and rainwater, I add Seachem Replenish for minerals and adjust pH with Seachem's Neutral Regulator and Alkaline Regulator (my tap/tank water is about 7.6pH).
I mix filtered well water and DI (or rain water) 50/50 for a 10g weekly water change in my 60g tank. I recently switched to deep sand - the tank is not yet planted, but I do have floating Anacharis.
Since I have a bit of a surplus, I may temporarily use 100% rain water.
(in winter I think I'll collect and melt snow)
Since my weekly water change volume is low for cost reasons, I add Seachem Fresh Trace to ensure sufficient minerals in the water.
I periodically have used activated carbon and Seachem Purigen in the filter. But I am now limiting their use some.
I did recently have an 'outbreak' of cyanobacteria evidenced by redish algae like growth on my rocks. The rocks went through a vinegar wash in the dishwasher and I added a packet of API's Phos-Zorb product to the filter.
1) I setup a spare 10g in the garage and use Fluval Lab Series Nitrate Remover (FNR) or API Nitra-Zorb to filter nitrates out of the water.
2) I use an API Tap Water Filter to produce deionized (DI) water.
3) I use rain water collected from my downspout.
For the DI and rainwater, I add Seachem Replenish for minerals and adjust pH with Seachem's Neutral Regulator and Alkaline Regulator (my tap/tank water is about 7.6pH).
I mix filtered well water and DI (or rain water) 50/50 for a 10g weekly water change in my 60g tank. I recently switched to deep sand - the tank is not yet planted, but I do have floating Anacharis.
Since I have a bit of a surplus, I may temporarily use 100% rain water.
(in winter I think I'll collect and melt snow)
Since my weekly water change volume is low for cost reasons, I add Seachem Fresh Trace to ensure sufficient minerals in the water.
I periodically have used activated carbon and Seachem Purigen in the filter. But I am now limiting their use some.
I did recently have an 'outbreak' of cyanobacteria evidenced by redish algae like growth on my rocks. The rocks went through a vinegar wash in the dishwasher and I added a packet of API's Phos-Zorb product to the filter.
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In my case the tapwater is very hard with ph of 8.3 and tds off the charts. I mix in 30 % tap 70% RO water to get it down to a more moderate hardness. The main benifit for me is this mix eliminates the hard water deposits that used to plague me.
I would suggest testing your tap water first of all, check the ph and ammonia in the water. Always use a dechlorinator, I use prime as its concentrated and very cost effective. If your ph is high in the tap water then use RO to keep the ph around 7.4
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Best advice I can ever give is the KISS principle. Keep it as simple as you can - avoid the use of (usually unneccessary anyway) chemicals of any kind, or medications for that matter, unless absolutely essential.
I went on and on before about my special case, but the best fresh water tip is to keep the water 'fresh':
-> Monitor ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, GH and KH with occasional testing.
-> use good mechanical, chemical and bio-filtration.
-> perform weekly water changes of 20% - 50%. 'the solution to pollution is dilution'.
-> use living plants (rooted and/or floating) as plants help filter the water.
-> don't overfeed. Fish will over eat and create more waste and uneaten food decays and pollutes.
-> keep stock levels realistic for the size of the tank. Overcrowding often leads to disaster.
-> service filter(s) as required. Trapped detritus erodes and decays in the filter resulting in dissolved organics that pollute the water. Always clean filter materials in conditioned water.
-> Unless absolutely necessary, never treat sick fish in a main tank as most medicines are detrimental to the nitrifying bacteria.
-> Monitor ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH, GH and KH with occasional testing.
-> use good mechanical, chemical and bio-filtration.
-> perform weekly water changes of 20% - 50%. 'the solution to pollution is dilution'.
-> use living plants (rooted and/or floating) as plants help filter the water.
-> don't overfeed. Fish will over eat and create more waste and uneaten food decays and pollutes.
-> keep stock levels realistic for the size of the tank. Overcrowding often leads to disaster.
-> service filter(s) as required. Trapped detritus erodes and decays in the filter resulting in dissolved organics that pollute the water. Always clean filter materials in conditioned water.
-> Unless absolutely necessary, never treat sick fish in a main tank as most medicines are detrimental to the nitrifying bacteria.
