hard water

Hi The water coming out of my taps is very hard. What is the most efficient (and cost efficient) way to soften it a little - aquarium soil? Driftwood? Current readings: 413.715 mg/l (or parts per million) 23.499 °dH

I recently did a water change after my water had been shut off for a while, and now my larger fish aren’t active. I usually do water changes every 7-10 days. At first I thought I may have added too much Algae Killer, but after doing 2 water tests I no longer think that’s the reason. Test...

I have a 20 long with platys, zebra danios, WCMMs, and cherry shrimp. I recently rescaped it and wanted some bottom feeders to grace its terrain, so I ordered 6 pygmy corys at the LFS which will be here to pick up on Wednesday. But, I just read that most corys, including pygmies, prefer soft...

I have just revamped my tanks, two 10 gallons and a 6 gallon. They were overgrown with plants and snails, but now they are sorted I am looking into stocking ideas. With these water parameters I know my options are limited. Have any of you managed to make a dwarf gouramis tank a success in such...

Sigh. Just an update on the water situation. From left to right: Off the tap Filtered (brita jug) Off my 10g tank Can't wait to get my RO system installed, water changes have become a royal PITA for the past couple of months

So, 2 weeks ago I tried to get 3 ottos to keep company to the lonely one I keep (had 2, but one died about a month in and this one has been lonely ever since). All 3 died in days in the quarantine tank. I went back to the shop with water and pH test showed off the chart blue (api kit, same one...

Hello, As you’ve read; I’m now keen to take the shift into introducing rainwater into my water changes for my 200l freshwater planted tank. I live in a very hard water area. The GH (20) and KH (16) are way over the comfortable limit. Would greatly appreciate any feedback on my plan here: -...

Hello all I've kept tropical fish for a few years now, and it has been a fairly casual hobby but recently I've decided that it was high time I learnt more about it and so I will be the first to admit I don't know as much as I should. Please be gentle... I have a Fluval 180l tank which came...

Hi everyone, I've been in the hobby for about 9 months now and currently have 3 tropical tanks. (I'm not sure if I'm in the right area of the forum.) I live in a place with very hard water (~20DKH, 8.5PH) and though the fish and shrimp are fine, my trouble is that I get some unappealing, thick...

Never sure which forum section to post in but this is a learning post. I'm setting up my 127L/34G tank. It's 36"/90cm in length, 12"/30cm width & 18"/45.7cm. Starting cycling so this isn't a rushed question but I really like the spray nozzle on Eheim Aquaball that creates small waves & the...

My pH is over 8 right out of the tap, which obviously makes things a little difficult. What are some good ways of lowering it? I've heard adding catappa or oak leaves is a great, natural way to do so, but I don't really want brown water in my aquarium. Is there something similar that doesn't...

My friend has two betta fish. One of them died today. We can’t figure out what’s going on so I seek help here. The symptoms are: -not eating (it’s been a week now) -swim bladder -stays at the bottom of the tank and only goes up for air My friend has tried everything, epsom salt baths, treated...

hi, I have a new 110L tank set up with dark substrate and background, lots of plant (artificial and a few real), we live in a hard water area and I don't want to artificially alter the ph etc. I have six zebra danios in the tank at the moment, I love guppies but don't want babies so only male...

I am starting my first aquarium. Its 48x15x11 (inches) about 140 litres. I was planning on having pearl gouramis and kuhlis, was undecided on the rest, but just found out i have very hard water. 413.5 mg/l (or parts per million) :Calcium Carbonate 165.4 mg/l (or parts per million)...

Is it plausible to mix tap and distilled water (or similar) to drop my hardness if I wanted tetras? My hardness is around 250ppm. I know is over 215 for kh and gh. My ph is at 8.2. I haven't cycle yet. I'm gonna cycle with my normal tap. I do really want tetras but if it would be too hard to...

I'm scared to mess up as I'm a fish newbie. My parameters are ph of 8.2 And both gh and kh higher than 214 ppm. I have ammonia and used a calculator to find out how much to add to my size tank. 14 ml of 3% ammonia for my 37 gal. Is all I need to do is condition my water for chlorine and add to...

Need help!!  I setup a fish take with distilled water and after a few weeks the water became extremely hard.  I have replaced more then 20% of the water.  I have used different chemicals for making "tap water" safe for fish event thought I did not use tap water.  I recently also added a water...

Hi there, (feel like I need to start yet another topic)   I have found out that the water in my area has a GH (General Hardness) of about 14, aka the water is Very Hard.   I was planning on keeping guppies, but I believe they prefer water of GH 8-12, so suppose that I will no longer be able to...

Hi TFF.   Old member here.     Wanted to pick everyone's minds on what kind of fish to stock an outdoor pond in the summer. I live in Arizona and I've had terrific luck raising mollies in my pond (even throughout the winter) and was wondering what other fish would do great in our hard water...

I moved house about 6 weeks ago and I'm very pleased to report that everyone survived the journey and has settled in. However... the PH in my new house is very high (around 8.2). I have a couple of Platies which should be fine, and 5 neon tetra's which I understand could be problematic. I've...

Hi all,   Thanks for all the advice so far. I now have a pretty good idea of how the cycle works, what fish are suitable for my size tank (64l) and what fish are compatible with each other. So here comes my next question...   I live in the East of England (Newmarket) which is a notoriously hard...