Water hardness/Ph info??

[Hf21]

Hi all,
I have hard water in my area the gh Is 17 drops on the api test kit and kh 3 drops. Ph is about 7.6/7.8.
I have always wanted to breed some fish but alot of the fish i want to try like alot softer water and lower ph. They would be in their own tank my main tanks would stay with the water as is. If I did say half tap water and half ro water would this make my water softer/lower the ph? I have never used ro before so I'm really unsure what this would actually do. What other options could I have to help me lower my parameters without adding chemicals to lower things.
Thanks all.

 

[Derekshatch]

Fluval peet lowers ph and hardness and it looks like black gravel and put it in your filter but it makes your water yellow because of tannins so you can let the tanins release for a day or so. I use it and it works.

 

[Derekshatch]

Dont use tap water especially if you have a softner.

 

[Hf21]

Dont use tap water especially if you have a softner.

If I dont use tap water then you suggest I use ro? Of so how do you go about that as it has literally no minerals in it? What do you do to it to make eit ok for the fish? Sorry for been thick I have never dealt with it before.

 

[Derekshatch]

Do you have a water softner? Personally i use hose water but i have a well.

 

[Derekshatch]

You can just use tap water and add enough ro water until the water is at the ph for you but if you try to change the ph that way you are going to have to add ro water after each water change. It is best to keep your ph stable and not try to chase it just to try and change it. The best method for me is peet it really helps and is very easy to use/keeps ph stable.

 

[Hf21]

You can just use tap water and add enough ro water until the water is at the ph for you but if you try to change the ph that way you are going to have to add ro water after each water change. It is best to keep your ph stable and not try to chase it just to try and change it. The best method for me is peet it really helps and is very easy to use/keeps ph stable.

I dont have a softener. I will look into the peat thank you.

 

[Derekshatch]

You need so minerals in your water so just ro water will kill the fish. Add more tap water than ro water.

 

[Derekshatch]

 

[Derekshatch]

Also my ph in one of my tanks is about 7.6 to 7.8 and my fish have had no problems that adapt to the ph that your tank has. What fish do you have?

 

[Essjay]

Don't bother about pH, it's hardness you need to look at. As long as the tank hardness is within a species' range, pH can be outside their range as long as it is stable.

You can mix tap water with RO, or you can use pure RO and add minerals back in eg using Rift Lake salts.

Using peat will not remove calcium and magnesium from the water - in other words it will not make it softer.

 

[Derekshatch]

What fish are you trying to breed?

 

[Derekshatch]

My fish do fine in semi hard water.

 

[Byron]

Of the three parameters (GH, KH and pH) the GH is the most important as it does affect the fish's physiology. Softening the water is only safely achievable by diluting the hard water with "pure" water. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the usual method, or using distilled water, or sometimes collected rain water. The dilution will be a ratio depending upon the percentage, so for example using 50% hard tap water and 50% pure water the GH would be reduced by 50%. So it would end up around 8.5 dGH if the tap is 17 dGH.

Using organics such as peat, dried leaves, alder cones, or wood can achieve this but the effect is minimal when the initial GH is high and the calculations are not so easy to predict because these organic substances gradually (or more quickly) wear out the harder the water is to start with, and in any case you want to prepare the water externally to the aquarium so you can use it in water changes and this really needs to be dilution. The water in the aquarium must be fairly stable at all times or the fish can be impacted.

With the lower GH and KH (both are lowered by dilution the same) the pH is likely to lower as well, but this will depend upon the initial values, the percentage of dilution, and other factors such as CO2. It is generally best to deal with the GH, and let the pH react so it will then be more stable.

Never try to adjust the pH without first dealing with the GH and KH because this will not be stable and a fluctuating pH is far worse on fish than a stable pH even if it is not exactly in the range for the fish. Once the GH/KH are reduced, the pH will adjust accordingly. In very soft water, adding the organic substances can rteduce the pH quite a bit because the GH/KH is not having an effect on the chemistry.

And as Derekshatch said, do not use water that runs through a softener, as most of these will make the water even less healthy for fish.

 

[Hf21]

Of the three parameters (GH, KH and pH) the GH is the most important as it does affect the fish's physiology. Softening the water is only safely achievable by diluting the hard water with "pure" water. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the usual method, or using distilled water, or sometimes collected rain water. The dilution will be a ratio depending upon the percentage, so for example using 50% hard tap water and 50% pure water the GH would be reduced by 50%. So it would end up around 8.5 dGH if the tap is 17 dGH.

Using organics such as peat, dried leaves, alder cones, or wood can achieve this but the effect is minimal when the initial GH is high and the calculations are not so easy to predict because these organic substances gradually (or more quickly) wear out the harder the water is to start with, and in any case you want to prepare the water externally to the aquarium so you can use it in water changes and this really needs to be dilution. The water in the aquarium must be fairly stable at all times or the fish can be impacted.

With the lower GH and KH (both are lowered by dilution the same) the pH is likely to lower as well, but this will depend upon the initial values, the percentage of dilution, and other factors such as CO2. It is generally best to deal with the GH, and let the pH react so it will then be more stable.

Never try to adjust the pH without first dealing with the GH and KH because this will not be stable and a fluctuating pH is far worse on fish than a stable pH even if it is not exactly in the range for the fish. Once the GH/KH are reduced, the pH will adjust accordingly. In very soft water, adding the organic substances can rteduce the pH quite a bit because the GH/KH is not having an effect on the chemistry.

And as Derekshatch said, do not use water that runs through a softener, as most of these will make the water even less healthy for fish.

Thanks so much for the reply! I will have a play with some ro water and try get the ratios right. In reply to the other comments I love Cory's and angels but I have never had any Cory's breed no matter how much I try. I realise they all like the softer more acidic water where as mine is really alkaline.