Increasing hardness safely?

[Dazydaizee]

I apologize in advance if this is long, I'm trying to include everything you guys need... thanks for reading!
I'm looking to increase the hardness in my tank. It's not fully cycled. It seemed to be doing well with 0 ammonia & nitrites, but higher nitrates. I did overfeed a few days (I know, I know...) and I had some new plants adjusting & some parts dying off, along with some new BIG snails in terrible shape, one of which died. So I'm sure all of this contributed to the slight rise in nitrites and ammonia. (I do mean slight, registering the 1st level under 0), but my nitrates ARE still high.

My pH has been steadily dropping and is currently between 6.0-6.4. It was maintaining about 7 or so for the first few weeks the tank was set up. I guess it's been set up at least 4 or 5 weeks now. I know that many things impact pH, that fluctuating pH is worse than a steady less-than-ideal level, and that my animals should all be able to tolerate this pH.

So why do I want to mess with the water hardness?
-The aforementioned trapdoor snails with terrible shells that I added, plus the current "mystery" or "apple" snails in the tank. I don't want to cause more shell damage to those already damaged, and I don't want my other snails who are doing well to develop these awful problems.
-As a buffer to maintain pH. I don't know when it will stop dropping and it seems too easily affected considering the other parameters... but really I have only a basic understanding of all this...


Additional tank details:

Setup:
20Long, penguin biowheel filter with an additional dual sponge filter coming soon. It's not 'densely' planted, but there are a lot of plants. Florescent lighting, about 74 degrees, Caribsea floramax substrate...

Inhabitants:
Endler's livebearers- 6 adults, 6 fry
Mystery or apple snails- 2 at about 2inch shells?
Trumpet snails & Ramshorns- 10 or 15?
Trapdoor snails- 2 large at about 3 inches? and probably 6 small babies...(surprise!)
Cherry Shrimp- 15 or so along with one big ghost shrimp.

All seem to be doing great. The fish have had babies, the shrimp are developing saddles. I found one dead shrimp (I think) a day or two after I added them to the tank, but other than that and the snail who arrived in awful shape, I haven't really had any losses.

Lastly:
I add Kent Marine Iodide at 1 drop per 10 gallons once a week and a little with larger water changes. I read this recommendation for reducing molting problems in shrimp.
I use Tetrasafe conditioner, I used Cycle in the beginning and threw some more in recently. I used Stress Coat and Stress Zyme when adding the fish.
I did order a 'plant food' that has not arrived yet, and I'm wondering if that would change the hardness of the water as well...

My kH is showing "extremely soft" without a color change at all. My gH is 2.5 which I guess is less than 50ppm? I'll have to retest my tap, but it runs "very soft" with the last test I used... so my assumption is that I need to increase it for the health of the snails and the stability of the tank.

Thanks for reading all that. I've also read mixed reviews about crushed coral, limestone, etc... so I'm looking for some recommendations from all you experienced aquarists who I can trust!
Thanks again!

 

[terror]

you can try crushed corals i have good experience with them i used to experience ph crashes specially during cycling and crushed corals are reAlly great also it takes effect slowly

 

[Dazydaizee]

How do you determine the quantity to use? I know testing is essential, but what should I start with? And how soon should I see a change in the levels/when would I determine it's necessary to add more? And I've heard of putting them in a filter bag and adding to the filter vs. adding directly to the tank. To me the filter method makes more sense for a more even distribution.. is that correct?

Thanks

 

[Lady G]

You could try using aroagonite sand, or one of the cichlid sands for a substrate.

Not sure if this will help or not but here is a article that goes over pH, KH and GH for a aquarium.

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-chem.html

 

[RustyRay]

With soft water such as yours, you either have the option of performing frequent water changes (to add back water hardness and alkalinity) or of using additives.

A filter bag of crushed coral is a good option, as others have recommended, but once the coral is covered in bacterial slim it will need changing. It's a method that adds calcium and boosts the pH.

Another method is adding a dash of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to stabilize the pH. 1/2 teaspoon (tsp) per 5 gallons, added during a water change. Baking soda is a mild alkaline chemical, with a pH around 8.2. A small amount will boost alkalinity without increasing the tank's pH significantly. NOTE: This solution doesn't address the snails' problem of not having enough calcium.

Additives for increasing GH hardness (like Seachem's Equilibrium) will help in adding calcium for the snails. These products are usually pH neutral, but they do contain many of the essential minerals for maintaining plants and freshwater invertebrates.

 

[soobie]

It's not fully cycled. It seemed to be doing well with 0 ammonia & nitrites, but higher nitrates. I did overfeed a few days (I know, I know...) and I had some new plants adjusting & some parts dying off, along with some new BIG snails in terrible shape, one of which died. So I'm sure all of this contributed to the slight rise in nitrites and ammonia. (I do mean slight, registering the 1st level under 0), but my nitrates ARE still high.

A small point of clarification- if your ammonia and nitrate are both zero, and return quickly to zero after adding an ammonia source, then your tank is cycled. NitrAtes are the end product of the cycling process, and will build up in the tank until you do a water change. Nitrates don't go away on their own (unless you have a well planted tank); you have to take care of it.

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

Are you looking to increase both your hardness (gH) and alkalinity (kH)? The latter is what will buffer your pH. For that, as mentioned, you can add baking soda and you will need to measure both your pH and kH to determine when you've gotten them to the desired level. Baking soda will raise kH to prevent pH drops, and will also raise pH. Add it slowly, rather than dumping it in to try and raise it in one fell swoop.

For hardness (gH) I use RO Right to increase, which will not raise alkalinity. That is in fact what I used to raise the hardness in my 30g which has mystery snails. Seachem Equilibrium I'm sure is a similar product, though I have not personally used it.

Crushed coral or aragonite will increase both numbers due to the fact that it's calcium (raises gH) carbonate (raises kH). But by itself it may not give you an increase to the levels you desire. It's something that you can use after you've already raised your water to the desired levels to keep those levels elevated, since it will slowly release those minerals.

As far as snails' calcium needs a lot of that should come from their food. Feed veggies high in calcium (it's easy to look up nutritional values for most veggies). Broccoli for instance is fairly high in calcium. I buy bags of broccoli slaw which is just shredded broccoli with a bit of cabbage and add pieces here and there for them to nibble on.

A gH of 2.5 is about 44.75 ppm btw. You can convert from degrees by multiplying times 17.9.

 

[platytudes]

The easiest method would be to use some DIY Malawi salt mix. The recipe is:

1 teaspoon per 5 gallons baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)
1 teaspoon per 5 gallons marine salt mix (NaCl + trace elements and buffers)

This mixture is cheap and will last you a long time in an airtight container.

You dissolve it in your water change water (not the tank itself) and over time it will buffer up your water. Do not add it to the main tank!

The "per 5 gallons" is just a starting point, you may need to add more than 3 teaspoons (1 tbsp) of mixture per 5 gallons, OR you may not need so much. As long as you stick to the ratios, it should work out fine.

Source: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwh2oquality.htm

 

[Dazydaizee]

NitrAtes are the end product of the cycling process, and will build up in the tank until you do a water change. Nitrates don't go away on their own (unless you have a well planted tank); you have to take care of it.

Thanks, I guess I wasn't quite clear on that. I do have quite a few plants, but my understanding was that most of the nitrates would be used by the plants. I haven't gone crazy with water changes, but I've done them about once a week on that tank. 2.5gallons on most, and 5 gallons on one or two. Maybe I need to do larger quantities or more frequent changes? I do have more plants on the way, and the tank's got 30lbs of substrate, so it's definitely not a full 20 gallons of water.

Crushed coral or aragonite will increase both numbers due to the fact that it's calcium (raises gH) carbonate (raises kH). But by itself it may not give you an increase to the levels you desire.

I added Caribsea crushed coral today, so I plan to monitor the levels and hope that I can achieve a rise in both gH & kH this way. I'm very hesitant about adding baking soda or chemicals to alter pH or hardness, so if the crushed coral can give me reasonable results, that would be ideal for me.

As far as snails' calcium needs a lot of that should come from their food. Feed veggies high in calcium

I have read about this as well, so I have offered spinach so far (of course I plan to offer a variety, I just started off slow). Also, I have some sinking crab food with calcium that I offer the shrimp & the snails do eat this as well.

I've also read about adding cuttlefish bones for calcium... has anyone tried this? Does this alter the water chemistry at all?

Thanks

 

[platytudes]

I'm very hesitant about adding baking soda or chemicals to alter pH or hardness, so if the crushed coral can give me reasonable results, that would be ideal for me.

The thing about crushed coral in the substrate is that as its pores get coated with algae and muck, it will not work as well any longer. That's why the most reliable way to use it is in a media bag in your filter, preferably a canister filter since it is pressurized. When it gets dirty, you can clean it and reuse it. It would be practical to have another media bag of clean crushed coral standing by so you can swap it out.

The water flowing through it allows it to buffer more effectively. Think about it - would carbon work if you just sprinkled a generous layer on top of your gravel? Would ceramic media still provide biological filtration if you just tossed handfuls of it inside of your tank? Maybe, but it works much better if water is flowing through it.

pH up and pH down solutions are best avoided - they are just a quick fix. pH up is made from soda ash, I believe. Carbonate salt mixes like the one I suggested raise the alkalinity as well as the pH.

You can add cuttlebones for inverts to graze on - some readily do, some not so much. You probably won't notice much change in your water chemistry from it. A piece of limestone in the tank (such as Texas holey rock) would probably impact the chemistry more.