Hardening Water for Platys

[KiwiGal77]

We have very soft water - 45ppm CaCO3, with a pH of 7.8 (yes having soft alkaline water is a real thing).

I've always liked Platys and would like to keep them again, but obviously my tap water isn't ideal for their health. Are there any simple/easy ways to increase the hardness of your water without risking creating big issues or spending a fortune and having daily maintenance steps?

Hoping theres some rock/media that I can just keep in the filter, or a one-off substrate that can also have plants, or a single product that can be added during water changes....

Definitely not interested in high tech or potentially stressful for either me or the fish. Simple only, if possible

 

[Colin_T]

Rift Lake water conditioner used at half strength.

 

[Wills]

The Seachem products are pretty good for this - nice and straight forward dosing

Wills

 

[Colin_T]

In Australia we get Aquasonic Rift Lake water conditioner. I am not sure what you will have access to in New Zealand.

 

[emeraldking]

I'm not familiar of what's commercially available in New Zealand. So, I'm gonna rely on Colin, who lives most close to you. But what about using shells or coral to increase the hardness?

 

[Back in the fold]

I heard once to put a parakeets cuttlebone in the aquarium . Is that still valid ?

 

[Slaphppy7]

Personally, I'll never try to alter my source water params for fishkeeping...it's much simpler to keep fish that will do well with the source water I already have, unchanged

 

[Byron]

The easiest and least expensive and least effort method is to have a calcareous substrate. Back in the 1980's I did this for a tank of black mollies and another of rift lake cichlids. My tap water was zero in GH and KH with a pH below 5-6. A substrate of dolomite worked. Today there are better calcareous substrates made for rift lake cichlids. Once in the tank, test your parameters. You may want to do smaller volume water changes, depending upon the parameter changes with each. But as with any aquarium that is "left alone" the biological system will establish according to the factors and remain stable.

 

[KiwiGal77]

Thanks, I'll have a look at all those products and see what I can possibly get here in NZ or what our best equivalent may be.

I guess there's positives and negatives for both a liquid product and substrate/filter media. While possibly the liquid might be more fiddly with dosing, I do worry about the effect of relying on substrate or filter media and getting the balance right at water change times given how soft our tap water is - especially if I had to do large water changes due to disease or other issues?

 

[Byron]

I guess there's positives and negatives for both a liquid product and substrate/filter media. While possibly the liquid might be more fiddly with dosing, I do worry about the effect of relying on substrate or filter media and getting the balance right at water change times given how soft our tap water is - especially if I had to do large water changes due to disease or other issues?

This is a very significant concern, which is why I mentioned smaller water changes previously. You need to "prepare" the water outside the aquarium in an individual container, then add it once the parameters match. That's every weekly change...Emergency major water changes are obviously very difficult. If you have a calcareous substrate then you obviously won't be preparing water but doing smaller changes. It depends upon the specifics once you go down this road.

 

[KiwiGal77]

This is a very significant concern, which is why I mentioned smaller water changes previously. You need to "prepare" the water outside the aquarium in an individual container, then add it once the parameters match. That's every weekly change...Emergency major water changes are obviously very difficult. If you have a calcareous substrate then you obviously won't be preparing water but doing smaller changes. It depends upon the specifics once you go down this road.

Yea. Would a combination of the two work? So you have the substrate that does the job in the tank, and then just one of the products on hand for water changes to prepare the new water to match the tank water?

 

[Byron]

Yea. Would a combination of the two work? So you have the substrate that does the job in the tank, and then just one of the products on hand for water changes to prepare the new water to match the tank water?

No, when I had to increase GH and pH I used a dolomite substrate and nothing else. Back in those days (1980's) I did weekly water changes of probably only 1/4 to 1/3 volume. I also measured just the pH. I never saw variances of more than a couple decimal points which is easily managed by fish. If I were to do this now, I would definitely monitor the GH. I made the decision many years ago (1990's) to only keep fish suited to my water that was always available out of the tap. Preparing the water before adding it might depend upon the difference in GH and pH, and the volume of each change. The biological system of an aquarium can become very stable, and thus deal with minor fluctuations. It all depends upon the specific situation.