Water Hardness
- Thread starter FishingAgain
- Start date
I live in the Shenandoa Valley of Virginia, where the water is also very hard. Mine usually tests at around 300 ppm. I have several species of tetras (buenos aires, black neon, glolight, and rummynose), as well as rams (which have been doing well except now the tank has ich because of my stupidity), which all prefer soft water. I don't think that there is a problem with keeping fish that prefer soft water in hard water, except that it's harder to breed them. If the fish have come from soft water, and you're going to be keeping them in hard water, you may have to acclimate them VERY slowly. However, since all of the pet stores local to me are on the same water system, they have water that is just as hard as mine. So if I see something I like in one of the stores, I usually wait a week and then buy it, since it will be acclimated to our local water by then (I suppose). I think that the water in Florida where a lot of the fish sold in the US are bred is hard, so unless you're getting fish straight from the wild, I don't think you'll have any major problems.
yeah that's sort of what I gathered from those articles -
they can handle living well in the harder water but to breed generally requires softer water
oddly enough both of my favorite fish stores are not open on Sundays (yes even in this city) so I have to sit here and try to remember to ask them tomorrow (by phone) if they soften their water for their tanks
they can handle living well in the harder water but to breed generally requires softer water
oddly enough both of my favorite fish stores are not open on Sundays (yes even in this city) so I have to sit here and try to remember to ask them tomorrow (by phone) if they soften their water for their tanks
I would definately try it first, IME many fish that are said to difficut to breed in something other than natural environment will still be quite prolific. Also, many fish are tank raised, and quite simply don't even know they are suposed to like soft water. There are of course always exceptions, and always finicky fish, but I'd try it straight out of the tap and see what kind of response you get from your fish first. Be wary of the LFS's they make a living selling things some of which are more hassle than they are worth. Stay away from quick fix chemicals, they seldom do the job well.
I contact my LFS and sure enough they do not use any treated water at all for the fish that like softer water.
So for all those fish they are sitting in the same thing I would be using at home which is great news!
So for all those fish they are sitting in the same thing I would be using at home which is great news!
Regardless just make sure to use a very slow acclimation process when adding new fish. I usually float the bag for 2 hours, taking a little fish store water out then adding a little tank water to the bag. If there are any differences this should minimize any impact. The net the fish out of the bag.
Peat Moss question
This is a dumb question but what kind of peat moss. The kind for plants or is there one for aquariums?
This is a dumb question but what kind of peat moss. The kind for plants or is there one for aquariums?
hard water PH and starting up in Las Vegas
I'm, in Las Vegas too! The water here is a nightmare! I think I've already read about every article on PH and hardness on the internet about twice now.
I'm trying to start up a 10 gallon tank. I got those multi test strips....The PH is at least 8.4 and the hardness is 240. I keep trying the drops that are to reduce PH, but from what I can tell from all the chemestry discussions, the hardness is foiling my efforts! It really hasn't budged!
I have a tank filter and of course, used the water conditioning drops to rid the water of chlorine.
It has been 10 days now. First, I need to figure out whether to start over with "new water" but from where? The articles out there are depressing and frustrating.
* R/O systems are too expensive
* Aquarium peat is expensive and clouds your water
* Drops are evil chemicals
* Distilled water is bad
* Admittedly the tap water is no good.
How can I get decent water for my 10 gallon tank??? I suppose I could go buy 10 gallons of Evian water, but that seems extreme as well as expensive! I can't even imagine what someone does with a 55 gallon tank!
HELP!
- Frustrated in Vegas[/COLOR]
I'm, in Las Vegas too! The water here is a nightmare! I think I've already read about every article on PH and hardness on the internet about twice now.
I'm trying to start up a 10 gallon tank. I got those multi test strips....The PH is at least 8.4 and the hardness is 240. I keep trying the drops that are to reduce PH, but from what I can tell from all the chemestry discussions, the hardness is foiling my efforts! It really hasn't budged!
I have a tank filter and of course, used the water conditioning drops to rid the water of chlorine.
It has been 10 days now. First, I need to figure out whether to start over with "new water" but from where? The articles out there are depressing and frustrating.
* R/O systems are too expensive
* Aquarium peat is expensive and clouds your water
* Drops are evil chemicals
* Distilled water is bad
* Admittedly the tap water is no good.
How can I get decent water for my 10 gallon tank??? I suppose I could go buy 10 gallons of Evian water, but that seems extreme as well as expensive! I can't even imagine what someone does with a 55 gallon tank!
HELP!
- Frustrated in Vegas[/COLOR]
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Why is the tap no good? If the local stores are using the same water, the fish you get there are already adapted. Unless you want to breed felicate SA tetras of Dwarf Cichlids that don't breed with high valcium and magnesium in the water, for keeping fish it does not matter that much.
I guess I was thinking the tap water was no good because I started with that and the PH is 8.4 (at least) <-- 8.4 is the highest measure on the test dip strip.
If I ever get the PH down, then I'm afraid to cycle in new water because I'm thinking the tap water I'm adding will be PH 8.5 again and it will raise the PH in the tank, even if I'm only doing a 20% water change.
I'm just a beginner and I'm not looking to start breeding anything. Mostly I wanted a small community of friendly fish like 5 neon tetras, 3 male guppies, an alge eater and a couple glass shrimp.
Any hints or advice would be appreciated.
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Thanks,
If I ever get the PH down, then I'm afraid to cycle in new water because I'm thinking the tap water I'm adding will be PH 8.5 again and it will raise the PH in the tank, even if I'm only doing a 20% water change.
I'm just a beginner and I'm not looking to start breeding anything. Mostly I wanted a small community of friendly fish like 5 neon tetras, 3 male guppies, an alge eater and a couple glass shrimp.
Any hints or advice would be appreciated.
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Thanks,
