High pH .::

[itiwhetu]

They do, but we hear so frequently about wrong advice, even from independent store owners (who didn’t mention cycling to me but were happy to sell me two Betta at £25 a go that just kept dying). You wouldn’t say the same of a doctor - you’d expect them to have a good enough grasp of the basics and then have their work checked and overseen by an expert…

My first reply to you was in humour, I‘m not looking to spoil that

If you don't like the shop just don't go back. Talk with your feet, and these shops will go out of business. I get annoyed when people buy their tanks from the big stores and the fish from the little guy, don't you think the little guy would like to sell you a tank? Just stay away from the bad stores and they will disappear.

 

[NannaLou]

If you don't like the shop just don't go back. Talk with your feet, and these shops will go out of business. I get annoyed when people buy their tanks from the big stores and the fish from the little guy, don't you think the little guy would like to sell you a tank? Just stay away from the bad stores and they will disappear.

I’ve done that, but then I’m left with a chain store… who tell me that the cories are in local hard water and are perfectly fine…and you come on here and (just about) everyone says, oh no! Don’t do that…

It‘s a minefield of trying to decipher what is right, the members on here don’t have anything to lose/gain from giving their advice, so I tend to go with information on here…not everyone will have found this forum…I found it by accident…

 

[itiwhetu]

I’ve done that, but then I’m left with a chain store… who tell me that the cories are in local hard water and are perfectly fine…and you come on here and (just about) everyone says, oh no! Don’t do that…

It‘s a minefield of trying to decipher what is right, the members on here don’t have anything to lose/gain from giving their advice, so I tend to go with information on here…not everyone will have found this forum…I found it by accident…

I found this by accident as well. I love this forum site; it has inspired me to set up my new tank, it has taught me to be calm and to walk away from an argument that can't be won. So, thank you TFF. But remember that you are always going to be responsible for your own actions, and if nothing else learn from your mistakes, so you can help others in the future

 

[Rocky998]

See, I dont like the "walking away from businesses" thing... My lps sells the bowls and some of the advice given is bad... But its all I have near me... I have 2 petsmarts and 2 of the same lps... And I'm not going to order things online just to spend $50 on some stupid shipping... So no thanks, irdc what they do as long as I have the common sense not to do stupid stuff... Cause they'll learn eventually

 

[Byron]

This seems to have gone way off the rails. There is no reason necessarily to walk away from a store just because they give poor advice. Some stores have knowledgeable staff, but the vast majority (from what members have said for months) do not. Acquire your fish from stores that seem to have healthy fish, independent rather than chain if possible (the health of the fish does seem to be a real issue between these), but do your own research on issues and ignore advice unless you know personally that the individual has the knowledge.

I was lucky when I got back into the hobby in the 1980's that I had a local store owned and staffed by hobbyists who knew the hobby. After I moved to Vancouver in the early 1990's and got back into fish, I had two similar stores among the then-8 or 9. One provided a terminal so customers could do research right there before acquiring fish. The onus is on the hobbyist/customer to research the facts and make the right decision; it would be preferable to have trained staff everywhere, but this is not common and the situation is unlikely to get any better.

This hobby in my view will cease to exist before the issue of knowledgeable staff gets significantly better. The animal rights folks, who often have a very valid concern, are beginning to turn their attention to aquarium fish. I have previously mentioned a proposed bylaw in one Canadian city that will, if passed, prohibit the sale, acquisition and keeping of all aquarium fish; existing fish will be grandfathered, but as they die off so will the hobby. This is not an isolated case. Sadly, the lack of knowledge among fish store staff, and frankly many hobbyists, only adds fuel to the zeal of these people. The trade in exotic animals has been banned in many places, and fish will likely be caught up before long.

 

[Rocky998]

This seems to have gone way off the rails. There is no reason necessarily to walk away from a store just because they give poor advice. Some stores have knowledgeable staff, but the vast majority (from what members have said for months) do not. Acquire your fish from stores that seem to have healthy fish, independent rather than chain if possible (the health of the fish does seem to be a real issue between these), but do your own research on issues and ignore advice unless you know personally that the individual has the knowledge.

I was lucky when I got back into the hobby in the 1980's that I had a local store owned and staffed by hobbyists who knew the hobby. After I moved to Vancouver in the early 1990's and got back into fish, I had two similar stores among the then-8 or 9. One provided a terminal so customers could do research right there before acquiring fish. The onus is on the hobbyist/customer to research the facts and make the right decision; it would be preferable to have trained staff everywhere, but this is not common and the situation is unlikely to get any better.

This hobby in my view will cease to exist before the issue of knowledgeable staff gets significantly better. The animal rights folks, who often have a very valid concern, are beginning to turn their attention to aquarium fish. I have previously mentioned a proposed bylaw in one Canadian city that will, if passed, prohibit the sale, acquisition and keeping of all aquarium fish; existing fish will be grandfathered, but as they die off so will the hobby. This is not an isolated case. Sadly, the lack of knowledge among fish store staff, and frankly many hobbyists, only adds fuel to the zeal of these people. The trade in exotic animals has been banned in many places, and fish will likely be caught up before long.

I COMPLETELY. agree!

 

[StevenF]

I should probably add that I live in a rental and it has a water softener.

Water softeners use a resin and salt to create a chemical reaction between the tap that removes most of the calcium and magnesium in the water and replaces it with sodium bicarbonate if regular sodium chloride salt was used. Some use potassium chloride salt. which results in high levels of potassium bicarbonate. Softened water as a result has very low GH and high KH Animals need a balance of sodium and potassium for good health. If you put a fish inn this water it likely would't be healthy, die early, or die shortly after put it in the tank.

There are two things you could do:

1. Using aquarium test stops that measure kH and GH test the water from any outdoor faucets you can on the property. Softened water it typically only piped to the home sinks and washing machine. The outdoor faucets likely have untreated tap water. So look for a faucet that has a higher aha and lower KH than the softened water. If you find a good facet use water from it toil your tank and when performing weekly water changes.
2. buy a portable RO system. It would remove most of the stuff in your water leaving you with zero GH and zero KH. The one I linked to is one is just one example of such a system. it connects to the sink faucet or an outdoor type faucet and one line goes to a drain. A 3rd line carries the filtered water to a storage container or to a storage container or your tank. The linked unit produces 50 gallons per day which should be enough for a water change For most tanks. Note most commercial fertilizers will not work with RO water. So If you want plants we can discuss fertilization in a later post.

 

[FF_Member146894]

buy a portable RO system. It would remove most of the stuff in your water leaving you with zero GH and zero KH. The one I linked to is one is just one example of such a system. it connects to the sink faucet or an outdoor type faucet and one line goes to a drain. A 3rd line carries the filtered water to a storage container or to a storage container or your tank. The linked unit produces 50 gallons per day which should be enough for a water change For most tanks. Note most commercial fertilizers will not work with RO water. So If you want plants we can discuss fertilization in a later post.

they live on a rental property so they probably aren't allowed use RO systems
at least that's what I was told by others on the forum

 

[Essjay]

It is usually units which are permanently plumbed in which landlords don't allow. Tenants are not normally permitted to cut into pipework belonging to the landlord. But a unit which attaches to the tap/faucet doesn't involve cutting into the pipework so that type should be allowed (provided the landlord allows aquariums, of course)

 

[Colin_T]

The pH is high because the KH is high.

Mixing the tap water with reverse osmosis, distilled or rain water (50/50 mix) should bring down the KH and pH.

You could also put some peat moss in a filter and run that in a bucket of tap water for a few days to a week to drop the pH to a more suitable level. The acids in the peat will be neutralised by the KH and use up the KH. Then the pH should come down. The drawback is the water will turn yellow/ brown.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Maybe a simple answer. Do you have friends or family that live locally that you could get water from? A couple of 25l containers are pretty cheap and it would solve the issue with the water filter.