New Tank....

P

patricdj

AC Members
Jan 6, 2005
13
0
0
I just set up my new 58 gallon tank :dance ! I followed the directions from the man at one of the local LFS.

When I went to check on my levels, I saw that my water is off the charts :( in the hardness category. I called the LFS (Petsmart) and was told that their water readings are the same - don't worry about it. They told me I just would not be able to keep angelfish.

My question is :idea2: : When I do my water changes, can I put 10 gallons of well-water (which should be very soft) and hope to eventually replace the hard water? I am sure it would take a while - 10% water changes every two weeks would mean that my water would have been totally changed after 5 months, no?

Any help is appreciated!

D

(PS. I do not have any fish in the tank yet. The filter and heater are the only things running.)
 
I was told by plenty of people that it was okay to change 25% a week on a 45 gal. or bigger! :cool:
 
If you have not started cycling your tank, and have no fish... why not just change as much water as you want?

On another note, since you have no fish yet, you should look at the threads about fishless cycling since you seem to be pretty patient :)
 
Well Water

Test you well water for hardness. If it has the same values as your local water, then you might not get the results you want. On the other hand, if your well water is soft, then you are in great shape to keep whatever fish you want. Depending on what's in the water, you might be able to just filter it through carbon and have yourself the perfect soft water.
 
Well water

Is my assumption accurate here: well water is better for the tank thatR/O water, correct?
 
water

The well water could be better for the tank, since pure R/O water would not work. Before you start using that well water, you probably need to have it tested for hardness and ph.

Rain water is soft. If you can find a way to collect it in large amounts and filter it prior to using for the tank, then perhaps that might be the way to go.
 
patricdj said:
10% water changes every two weeks would mean that my water would have been totally changed after 5 months, no?
Click to expand...
No, it is not. Every time you change water, you're also removing some of the previous water change, looking at your 10% water changes (let's pretend that we have 100 units of 'something'):
100units - (100 x 0.10 (10%))units removed=90 units remaining
Assuming no more are added, the next time you do a 10% change:
90 - (90 x 0.1)=81 units remaining (not 80, as it would be if you simply added change percentages)
then:
81 - (81 x 0.1) = approx. 73. See what I'm getting at.

You can change much more water than this and be fine. I change 50% weekly. FYI, if that's a lot of work for you in one shot, two 30% changes is the same total weekly change as a single 50% change.

Don't use rainwater if you live in an area of high air pollution. That doesn't just mean the city because air currents carry pollution far. Nova Scotia (Canada) for example, has very little smoke belching industry and yet has terrible air quality because the jet stream carries a great deal of pollution over it.

Another problem with rainwater is the method of collection. If its running off your roof, well, look at your roof and you'll understand.

Stick with whatever water is readily available to you and work with that. The folks at the lfs were correct that it doesn't matter, much. You won't be breeding tetras, but if you decide to keep rift lake cichlids, you're golden. For other fish, acclimate them slowly and it'll be fine. Besides, if the store has the same hardness as you, it makes your life easier.
 
Why can't you keep angel fish in hard water? I have had one in my 55 for a little over a year now. The hardness/PH of the water mostly can matter very little to most fish, as long as they have been acclimated to the water. My angle btw is in water that has a hardness of 290 PPM, KH 230 PPM, and the PH is ~8.2. No where near ideal. If you really had your heart set on angel fish, go for it. Unless you wanted to breed them. That may be a different story then.

Another thing I realized. You said that the store has the same water as you. I bet that they have angels in their holding tanks.......
 
I was told that the water would be too hard for them to proliferate. I am new to the hobby, so I cannot fully answer you on why not. I was told that to keep them healthy (as well as happy) the water would need to be a little softer than what I have.
 
Exactly that, you'll have no luck with them proliferating, which as a new hobbyist probably isn't your goal anyway. They would do fine so long as they were slowly acclimated (assuming that the store isn't keeping them in the hard water already).

But angels probably aren't the best fish to start with anyway, they can be agressive. Doesn't mean that they will be or that you shouldn't get them if that's what you're looking for, but I generally advise a peaceful comunity style setup for a new hobbyist to get the feel of things and gain a better understanding of tank maintenance and the hobby in general before moving on to more costly or difficult fish.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom