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Showing results for tags 'hardness'.
Found 10 results
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I currently have a high GH and low Ph. Source was identified to be my tap water. Although the GH is much higher in the aquarium (lava rocks are the only thing I can think of, contributing to it). KH was 0 and I tried wonder shells and the KH went up but did not alter the Ph. I was considering crushed coral but won't that increase the GH even more? What's the most effective method of raising the Ph without further increasing GH (or even reducing GH)?
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Hello everyone, New to the forum, and getting back into fish keeping and planted aquariums after ~20 years off. I’m seeing something with some Glofish tetras (black skirt tetras) that I haven’t seen before and can’t find anything online about other than one or two other people having it. I’ve had three from a local fish store exhibit an orange “forehead” or between the eyes. After some initial stressed behavior they have acclimated to the tank and seem happy and healthy (though I have wondered about too small a number, hence this next part about getting more to build more of a school). I chalked the strange discoloration up to unknown but harmless reasons. See the attached picture, the orange spot is most pronounced with the light blue fish coloration. I recently bought some more from the local Petco. They weren’t in the best of shape to start out (bellies seemed a bit sunken, all were small), but I figured it would be fine. All three died in the quarantine tank within days of coming home, and had the between the eyes orange coloration show up. But it was also much worse, and seemed more like bruising or red discoloration as well. I have been speculating and researching as to possible causes, and want some of your ideas. I don’t expect that a disease would act that quickly, but who knows? I wonder if it could be shock because of high pH or GH. I have pretty hard water and have been working to bring it down by using distilled whenever I change water, and just noticed that some reference sites show black skirt tetras as preferring a somewhat acidic pH. I didn’t think to test the water from the fish store before mixing in some as part of the acclimation process, so perhaps the swing was too great? I have pictures of the dead fish for comparison as well, but leaving it off for now. Other fish were added at the same time as the initial tetras, and none of them have any of the same symptoms. Some worked through some ick; interestingly the tetras were the only ones never showing any signs of ick. All are happy now. Water parameters: temp: 76 F pH: ~8.2-8.4, now down to 7.8-8 GH: 180 ppm, now down to 120 KH: 150 ppm, now down to 80 ammonia, nitrite: 0 nitrate: ~20 ppm
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Can anyone tell me what my hardness is? To me, the color of hardness on my test strip just doesn't match any of the colors on the result. All of the other tests color match perfectly except hardness.
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Hi everyone, The water in my planted tank is testing in the range of 150 ppm GH (I'm using Aquarium Coop test strips). I don't have any rocks or substrate in that tank that would raise general hardness so much, so I am wondering if it's the fertilizers. I'm using ADA Green Brighty N, Neutral K, Iron, and Mineral. Coyld any of these affect GH? (Note: I was using Green Brighty K until a couple of weeks ago when I changed to Neutral K, but the GH high levels persist). Thanks!
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I'm just figuring out GH & KH and could use some direction. With the API Test Kit I have a KH of 5 and GH of 25. Which, if I'm right, means I have super hard water. What does that mean for keeping fish? I believe it means shrimp are out of the question. I have fish now that are fine, but going forward do I need to adjust it at all? Use distilled or RO water? How would either of those affect my KG? How would a water softener (for the whole house) affect fish keeping? Generally, what do I need to know or do any this high GH? TIA
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I've tested my water out of my tap and it only measures between 0 to 25ppm I usually use wonder shells and equilibrium to harden the water. I have recently "restarted" my 75g aquarium after a couple years of it sitting empty I power washed and cleaned it and filled it with water from my tap and treated with fritz complete. The only things in the tank when I measured it was 2 medium sponge filters and 2 aqueon heaters otherwise it was an empty tank and it measured over 300 ppm. Very confused as to what could cause this I have 2 10g tanks and a 29g and none of them have this issue any ideas what this could be? -
Help! Please. I tested my water with the Aq.Coop test strips and an odd reading came up! The water hardness portion of the strip turned a darker shade of pink, not a shade of blue as the chart indicated it should. What does this mean? Any help would be extremely appreciated since I have fish coming and no where to put them! Best regards Troy B.
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I am trying to start up an aquarium and have been hearing about how water hardness impacts the pH and the ability to affect the pH. I am using the Tetra Easy Strips and using the app they have that reads the strips and the results have been the same. The results show very soft water and Low Alkalinity. The recommendation is to do a 3 gallon water exchange and add 2ml of Tetra AquaSafe Plus and add 10 ml of Tetra Easy Balance Plus for my 10 gallon tank. Before jumping to adding chemicals I checked my city water to see what it had as far as hardness in concerned since I heard it impacted the water parameters. Below is what I found but can't make heads or tails of. Need a little education and direction. Total Alkalinity 87.2 mg/L as CaCo3 Total Hardness 144 mg/L as CaCO3 Langelier Index .2887
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How long does it take for a Wonder Shell to have an effect? Prior to the addition of a small Wonder Shell to a 10 gallon tank, my dGH was ~6 and my dKH was essentially 0. After the addition of the Wonder Shell and waiting 24 hours, my dGH was about 6.5 while my dKH was still essentially 0. Should I expect a rise in dKH in a 24 hour period? Would my plants be absorbing the extra minerals released by the Wonder Shell hence the apparent failure to raise the calcium hardness? Thanks in advance for your input.
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I have a pair of endlers and I am concerned about my water parameters. My ph is 7 gh is between 75 ppm and 140 ppm and KH is 75 ppm. I was wondering if I should raise my hardness or if it is ok as is. If I need to raise my hardness what would be the best way to do so.
