[RO water that passes through softener first]

On 10/14/2022 at 11:45 AM, flyingcow said:

So first off, if you're measured hardness and the water report vary that drastically, I'd try a different test kit to make sure it isn't that hard. GH and KH are two tests where I think the API liquid test kits are worth it over a strip.

The small amount of sodium remaining after a softener and RO may or may not have an impact on the aquarium (especially plants, I believe, but people can feel free to correct me on that one). If you reduce hardness by mixing water from before the softener/RO and water from after, you'll get softer water, and any remaining sodium from the softener will be diluted and less likely to give an issue.

 

Ok thanks so much for your advice! The API test should arrive today or tomorrow so very curious to see what it says.

 

[RO water that passes through softener first]

On 10/13/2022 at 2:53 PM, flyingcow said:

A DI cartridge after the RO should do the trick to get out the remaining sodium.

So it would not be safe to use the RO water as is? This RO system is our drinking water, so I wouldn't want to mess with it by adding a cartridge. Nor do I have any experience with plumbing... or aquariums for that matter. Also definitely don't have space under the sink, since the RO system has 3 cartridges and a tank under there.

If it's not safe to use, then my other options is distilled water or adding chemicals, is that correct?

[RO water that passes through softener first]

Hello!

Would it be bad to use RO water that has passed through a water softener first? Water softener is salt based Rainsoft system. I'm thinking about how to lower the hardness of the unsoftened tap water I'm using in our aquarium. The test strips I use show hardness as bright purple, 300ppm +. I just ordered the API GH test kit to see if that's more accurate. Our city's water quality report from last year claims 181 for calcium hardness, 260ppm for total dissolved solids.

If it's safe, I plan to mix in some of the RO water with the tap water during water changes.

[New tank - newbie questions about ammonia and stocking]

Hello again!

It's almost been 2 months now. There's probably about 30 baby ramshorn snails now, and the frogbit takes over really fast. I've had to pull out excess frogbit and trim the roots 3 times already (because they get down into the substrate and make a mess of it). I have not touched the water other than to test it. Ammonia has been 0 for a month, but no sign of rising nitrite or nitrates. Could it be that there's too small of bioload to even make nitrate? And if it is made, it's getting absorbed by the plants?

A couple weeks ago I did read that ph being too low could impact bacteria growth (the tank was lower than 6), so I brought it up to around 6.8 with Seachem Neutral Regulator. Pretty odd that the ph in the tank got so low, because the water from our tap is more like 8.

Should I keep waiting for nitrate before getting fish? What about water changes - do I wait to do those until nitrate rises?

[New tank - newbie questions about ammonia and stocking]

Ok thank you all for answering my questions!

[New tank - newbie questions about ammonia and stocking]

Hello again!

We have a Fluval Spec 5 gallon that we started up almost 2 1/2 weeks ago. Added a heater and added foam over the flow to slow it down. The guy at the fish store told us to use a whole bottle of FritzZyme 7. We did that, and then a week later I did a 50% water change, not knowing that we shouldn't touch it. There are snails that came in on the plants and I thought cleaning out the poop would be a good thing!

The ammonia level has yet to go down. It's maybe around 0.75 or 1 and has been that since my water change. Algae is growing pretty well. Snail poop everywhere. Some of the plants have been showing new growth. Frogbit is SUPER HAPPY.

1) Do I not clean up the poop until the ammonia is at 0? Doesn't the poop add to the ammonia after a while?

2) At what point do new tanks ammonia go down? When is it safe to add fish?

3) My husband would ideally like to have a betta, some neon tetras, and some shrimp. Is that too much for a 5 gallon?

4) When we do get fish, is it ok to just put them all in at once and then use a general cure in the tank? What medicine do you recommend?

Thanks all!

[New tank and new to hobby: unexpected snails]

On 8/16/2022 at 12:13 PM, Cinnebuns said:

Brown, some of these get a pretty copper color

 

Red/pink. I'm working on these to go orange. 

Purple which is a red body with a blue shell

 

Blue which can get black or more vibrant

 

Ivory with a pink body

 

 

I'm no expert in ramshorn genetics but a friend and I have been experimenting with creating different colors a bunch. We have found that ramshorn color genetics is much more random than most species. I've even had a tank of full red throw a random blue. Also, purple is actually a combo of red and blue. It's a red body with a blue shell. He was trying for a very long time to make purple with a tank full of blue. Once he introduced red purple popped out. 

Awesome pics, that's quite a variety! Thanks for sharing! I'm having a hard time deciding what color mine is but maybe a bit more on the purple side?

[New tank and new to hobby: unexpected snails]

On 8/15/2022 at 6:23 PM, Cinnebuns said:

I have many different colored ramshorns. If you are curious I can share some pics. 

I would love to see pics!

 

On 8/15/2022 at 7:08 PM, Ken Burke said:

What a great setup!  Can wait to see it with a few shrimp. Maybe some CPDs or chili rasboras.  

How long has your tank been running? I see some signs of algae (a good thing at this stage). 

It has been 13 days. Algae is definitely kicking in but the ammonia is still really high. Trying to resist the urge to clean it!

 

On 8/15/2022 at 10:23 PM, Patrick_G said:

Your tank looks great!
I love all the “free” snails in my tanks. I even have a few tanks that just have just snails in them. 

Beautiful tank pic!

Thanks all for the responses! I feel better now, sounds like something I can manage. Will keep the snails for now and see how it goes. And if shrimp do eat snail poop, that will be an extra bonus!

[New tank and new to hobby: unexpected snails]

Here's pics!

[New tank and new to hobby: unexpected snails]

Hello!

My husband and I started our first tank a couple weeks ago. 5 gallon Fluval Spec. Picked up some live plants, substrate, driftwood and some rocks. Added the water and a bottle of bacteria starter stuff. And now we have snails! And those snails are having babies!

From what I can tell, the 2 big snails are ramshorn and bladder. The babies are way too small yet to tell. Is this going to be a mistake later? The tank is only 5 gallon, and we want to be able to put a few shrimp and 5 or 6 tetras. Are the snails going to take over?

[Anyone in the Round Rock TX area?]

I'm brand new here (and to the hobby) and this is the first post I saw! I'm in Leander! I can't answer though if there's any groups here though. I haven't looked.