Conditiong Water

[plotolover]

hello all

I'm curious what everyone thinks. I use an API tap water filter that claims to remove just about everything from the water and then says to add their electroright and ph right back to the water to make it suitable for fish.

It does work well to clean the water however i just don't know about the readding of stuff it says to use a certain amy for different types of results like higher ph and so on. I have a community tank and would like the ph around 7 and kh around 3-6 degrees. When i test the water after adding chems it usually reads about 6ph to 6.6ph and kh of practically 0 or one drop and the color is not blue but already yellow.

So i guess is there another product to use that will condition the water to exact ally 7.0ph and 3-6kh with no other additives needed i do not like to add lots of unneeded chems to my water and find that they can do more harm than good. Again this is the water before it goes into the tank that i use for water changes once a week. I usually change 15 of the 40gal once a week so that i can keep the filter running.

Is there any product that can make purified water into what i want without the guess work. What do you use or what suggestions does anyone have. I am fairly new to all this so a reliable dependable product that works the same every time would be much appreciated. What products do people who use rodi water use to condition it to their needs.

Thanks to any and all who can help!!

 

[elmo666]

A good starting point, infact one of the most important, is to test your incoming water supply. In my area it comes out around 7, and not too hard. Your water should be matched to your chosen fish. That said, many of the mainstream community fish are tank bred and are tolerant of quite a wider water chemistry than you would imagine. Obviously, if you want to keep discus, killifish, or malawi cichlids or the like, an adjustment of your water is crucial. Checking out your tap water may also save you alot of needless work. Another thing I check out is what the water at the lfs is doing, what they are keeping the fish in. If they appear happy and healthy there, to me it makes good sense to try and match it. A reverse osmosis unit will give you practically pure water to work with. Only thing is this has no buffering qualities so any adjustments must be done carefully and tank parameters monitored closely.

 

[elmo666]

as above. Sorry, posted it twice