Very hard water

[mollymagic]

Hi there,
I live in a hard water area, and have tested the ph of the tap water (left 24 hours) and it was 8.8
I want to have a community tank, and this is a bit high. I am about to set up my tank and do a fishless cycle, tank holds 216 litres. Now, I keep getting ideas from everyone on how to lower the ph. I am now totally confused.
Suggestions so far...ro unit (bit pricy for me) still min.water, rain water, ph down treatment, boiled water, tap water and only have Tangs (not an option) So....can you help me out here before I tear my hair out!
Kind regards,
Sue

 

[Dubby]

Hi there,
I live in a hard water area, and have tested the ph of the tap water (left 24 hours) and it was 8.8
I want to have a community tank, and this is a bit high. I am about to set up my tank and do a fishless cycle, tank holds 216 litres. Now, I keep getting ideas from everyone on how to lower the ph. I am now totally confused.
Suggestions so far...ro unit (bit pricy for me) still min.water, rain water, ph down treatment, boiled water, tap water and only have Tangs (not an option) So....can you help me out here before I tear my hair out!
Kind regards,
Sue

[snapback]906812[/snapback]​

What about using bogwood or peat?

 

[lljdma06]

Hi there,
            I live in a hard water area, and have tested the ph of the tap water (left 24 hours) and it was 8.8
I want to have a community tank, and this is a bit high. I am about to set up my tank and do a fishless cycle, tank holds 216 litres. Now, I keep getting ideas from everyone on how to lower the ph. I am now totally confused.
Suggestions so far...ro unit (bit pricy for me) still min.water, rain water, ph down treatment, boiled water, tap water and only have Tangs (not an option) So....can you help me out here before I tear my hair out!
Kind regards,
Sue

[snapback]906812[/snapback]​

What about using bogwood or peat?

[snapback]906938[/snapback]​

Poor thing, that sounds like FL water. Liquid rock! I would not use chemicals, if at all possible IMO. I find that unless you are an expert, it can just lead to more problems. Many American fish are accustomed to high pH. I would advise going to your LFS and asking where they keep their pH, as there might not be such a difference between you and them. Also, try doing the pH test on water right out of the tap, as standing water could be affected in a different way. I am not a chemist, however.

Now my tanks without any assistance would settled down to 7.8 after a few weeks, so I would often wait a month with the tank running before I added anything, then they stubbornly stayed there. But with a large piece of Mopani, I got my cardinal tank down to 6.8, so it's possible, and my pH from tape started at 8.8, like your and my hardness was well, you could probably build a house from my water, it was so hard . You just have to be very patient. The initial tank had predominantly livebearers, and as the pH lowered over time, it took like a year, I moved the livebearers out and put them in another tank, and was finally able to stock it with what I wanted, cardinals. I found, however, that my pH was extremely stable. Others here have recommended filtering with peat, but I would wait for more replies, to get more detailed information. The Mopani would also released tannins, making it a very nice environment, but some people don't like that tea-colored tank.

As far as RO units are concerned, I've never used them and probably wouldn't. I had a friend who insisted on distilled water and used RO for his tanks, and my fish were always healthier despite my higher pH and never using distilled and RO. It would piss him off. But to each his own.

I'm just letting you know that it is possible to keep delicate fish if initially you have liquid rock! So don't lose hope. If I could do it, you can too!

 

[rdd1952]

Driftwood, peat in the filters and CO2 are the three best ways to lower pH. You can boil the water too or use bottled water (expensive). Unfortunately, it's much harder to lower pH than to raise it. As already suggested, your best option would be to look into cichlids or other hardwater fish.

 

[freddyk]

Soft water is easy to take care of because we can just add the minerals that cause harder water, but removing those minerals is much more difficult and expensive. Products like driftwood and peat leeches acids into the water that help, but the more minerals in the water (the harder and more alkaline the water) the harder the contributions of wood and peat have to fight to gain any footing. At a PH of nealy 9, you've got an uphill battle ahead of you.

Basically you would need a lot of wood and/or peat to accomplish anything worthwhile. My PH comes out at 8 and a tank full of Mopani wood brings it down to a whopping 7.8. Peat needs to be replaced regularly and it discolours the water, though it will be more affective then wood.

The only truly reliable method in your case is to go with R/O filtration and mix this with tap water to achieve the desired results. Using R/O water alone actually robs the fish of important nutrients, which might explain lljdma's friends problem. If you can't afford it then you need to be careful whatever you do, and the next best thing has already been brought up and dismissed by yourself:

Choosing fish that suits the water is a good idea, but you still need to be careful with this plan. Rift Lake African cichlids (not just Tangs) are an element on their own in fishkeeping and while they would be perfect for the water, I believe water alone is the wrong reason to choose these types of fish - it should be nothing short of genuine interest. Still, wouldn't it be nice to know that your fish can handle your water without any hassle on your part? If I couldn't afford R/O and my water was yours, this is the route I would take - having fish that handle the water as it is can prevent a pleasant hobby from becoming an annoying chore.

If you do end up using your water as it is, keep in mind how much more toxic ammonia is at these higher PH levels - there is little room for mistakes.

 

[GirlinWayside]

My water from the tap is the same way - it registers around 8.5.