Softening water? Lowering pH naturally?

M

M8D

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Mar 26, 2013
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I know they make test kits to check your water softness? Any idea where I could find one? I totally spaced when I was at Petsmart.

My main issue (because I've yet to test my water softness) is the pH of my tap water.
My readings, right out of the tap using the API test kit is:
7.8 pH
0 Ammonia (I assume, it stayed white so I take it nothing was there at all to react to... I would HOPE I wouldn't have ammonia in my water haha)
0 ppm NitrIte
5 ppm NitrAte

The fish I'd like to get like softer water with a pH at or below 7. I've heard that wood can soften water as well as lower (if memory serves me right) the pH a bit. I don't mind the tannins. I'll be using sand and live plants as well though I don't know if those help at all with the issue. I also don't know if Seachem Prime will soften the water a bit? I know it removes heavy metals but I don't know if that would actually help softening the water?

I've yet to get the substrate or get the tank up and running at all so I haven't been able to start cycling it yet, but I got Seachem's "Stability" stuff that's suppose to kickstart my tank cycle because believe it or not... I cannot find pure ammonia anywhere. I'm dead serious... it's quite sad.

I know it's a bad idea to mess with the natural pH of the tank, that's why if there is NATURAL ways to do it (i.e by adding a bit of salt, or wood,etc.) I'd like to test it out. I won't be adding fish for a few weeks anyways (one week for the Seachem product, and then I'm going to let it run another week to make sure it's stabalizing correctly and not wonking all over the place since i've heard bacteria-in-a-bottle products are known to have 'mini cycles') so I'll have time to experiement with the pH and water softness without it effecting any fish.


Also... as a side question... my filter came with carbon in the filter... I KNOW you don't want to use carbon when treating fish (but thats normally done in a seperate tank) so I'm curious if leaving the carbon in the tank will be alright? I'm not sure if it would effect my cycling process or not? I bought some different sponge filter pads though that I shoved in there that are just sponge, nothing else, but if the carbon filters will be alright then i'll leave them (or just 1 and then 1 of the regular spongies) in the filter.
 
To answer some of your questions;

1) Yes wood will help lower PH and soften water over time, although to be fair, if you carefully acclimate new fish, you'll more often than mot find they will get used to the water they are in, making it safer than purposely messing with PH with chems (which i know you wont but want to put out there)

2) carbon should never be used in a tank except for after treating a tank with meds...

Now since you are cycling your tank, its even worst to keep the carbon in there since it absorbs a lot of stuff out of the water which is what you need to cycle your tank...

As for substrate, even those, depending on the types used can effect PH and water hardness etc...

For water hardness test kits API has one that tests for both KH and GH which is pretty good and maybe worth looking into...

Also you may want to look into fishless cycling to get your tank cycled since the stuff in a bottle 99% of the time i think dont really work too well...

If you need a source of ammonia its actually quite easy, get some frozen shrimp from the supermarket and take out maybe 2-3 pieces depending on size and let them "ferment" in the tank... That breaking down will help give you the ammonia source you need to build some beneficial bacteria up in your system....


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Prime generally does not affect pH.

pH may or may not need to be altered, most fish can adapt to pH. it is crucial for some species but those are generally wild caught fish and are often considered for experienced fish keepers. Most fish domestically bred can adapt to your pH.
pH is more easily altered if you run your source water thru a RO/DI filter and then re-add appropriate buffers, adding driftwood, indina almond leaves etc will usually lower pH but are often not needed.
Carbon can run in your filter but it usually is not needed unless you are trying to clear up the water.
there are additives that can kick start the cycle usually live bacteria or shelf stable products do work. but some may take a couple weeks for the bacteria to become active.. until they do you will need to be very active watching the water parameters.
 
There are test kits you can buy which will give you the GH, general hardness and KH, carbonate hardness. As Ed pointed out, most domestically bred fish, as well as some wild-caught can adapt to your water.

I'd try that route first as monkeying with your water hardness can be a slippery slope. Fish need stability in their tank, which is typically much easier to maintain if you're not constantly trying to modify your water to hit some magic number(s). If you change the hardness of your water, you'll need to keep doing it for every water change. It can get tedious and expensive to keep up.

Mark
 
Unless you have well water or are planning to breed, you are probably good to go for most soft water fishes sold at the local fish store. I soften my water by using 90% RO but still have a ph reading in the high 7s. What fish are you looking to get, by the way?
Also, it's likely the fish at the LFS are being held in the same municipal water supply as you have in your home .
 
Fat Homer said:
2) carbon should never be used in a tank except for after treating a tank with meds...

Now since you are cycling your tank, its even worst to keep the carbon in there since it absorbs a lot of stuff out of the water which is what you need to cycle your tank...
Click to expand...

I don't run carbon in my tanks aside from a small amount that's in the filter cartridge of one of my HOB filters, but both of your statements are debatable.

Carbon shouldn't have a negative effect on a cycling tank.
 
Alriht, well I'll keep my carbon sponges in the box for future need since I don't need them and aside from the tannins from my driftwood which I don't care about, my water is pretty clear.

Isn't distilled water the same as RO water? Just the way the go about cleaning the water is different? I use distilled water on my geckos and out of curiosity i tested the pH and it read 6. But yeah I live just a few blocks down from petsmart so no doubt they have the exact same water quality as me. I did order a GH and KH API liquid test kit off amazon though. Should have it by monday.


As far as fish goes... uh... I'm open to anything really. I've always wanted pictus catfish but... eeeh I'd probably get eaten alive by hobbists if I tried putting one in my tank, even though they only grow 4-5". I know they're active swimmers and I'd like to think 30" length is plenty but I tread on uneven ground on that one. If you guys think one or two would work though... let me know. I used to have one, and its my FAVORITE fish in the whole water-world. Other than that though, no specific fish. I want activity on all 3 levels though. Someone on another forum recomended a bristlenose pleco? one also said a Zebra pleco and though thats my 2nd favorite fish... I doubt theres any store here that has them and I am not paying 100$+ for one hahaha.

So I'm open to suggestions on fish.
 
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Since i dont think you mentioned tank size cant really comment about the fish too much... Except i thought bristle nose plecos reach around 5-6" in size, so maybe the zebra pleco (if its the one im thinking of) will be a better choice due to it growing only about 3.5" long depending on tank size...

As for the pictus cat, i have absolutely no knowledge about them, so dont have any input on that part...


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Being 20G then maybe the zebra would be more suitable > the bristle nose then...

And since plecos are poop machines, the smaller pleco may give you a little more space for other tankmates...



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