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Where are my hard water people at??


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On 10/1/2021 at 11:55 AM, Guppysnail said:

I keep hard water fish. Water softeners are fairly inexpensive and I installed one myself. Or rodi system (never had one)

Also almond leaves and fluval makes peat moss filter media

I have ran peat moss, but only achieved temporary results, I keep guppies and one lone betta 

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My well water is stupidly hard as well. I will never keep tetras because of it. My Bettas have never had any issues.  Like you, stem plants just don't grow.  In fact, lots of plants melt on me.  The most expensive plant that melted was bucephalandra. Moss is also a no go. Aquasoil only buffers a short time and peat kind of helps. I've tried seachem acid and alkaline buffer.  That didn't work either. I usually throw in Indian almond leaves and adler cones.  It helps a tiny bit.

Rimmless tanks are a terrible idea when you have hard water.  Mineral deposits end up everywhere.  Its the main reason I moved my betta from a rimmless 5 gallon to a 10 gallon with a rim.

What have I learned? Just go with it and experiment.  Distilled water can also be helpful.  I usually add some during a water change.

My goal with the new tank is to create a planted tank using nothing but low light, hard water tolerant plants.  

 

 

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I use Phosphoric acid.  I watched it from Jack wathley discus search on you tube if you are interested. It’s a short process but you can’t just pour some in a tank you can also use Murat ice acid. I only use it in my discus tank and few few others. Do not do this with out more research 

 

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On 10/1/2021 at 2:00 PM, Mack said:

I have ran peat moss, but only achieved temporary results, I keep guppies and one lone betta 

The peat moss has to be changed way more than the internet says with hard water.  I've used fluval peat granules before.  Instructions say to change every 3 months but I had to change them every month.

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I do use peat also. It just an organic peat stuffed in a patty hose and stuff in the hob with a sponge in front and on the intake. It help a little if you were at 7.2 with the peat maybe down to 7.a I’m no crazy about the canister filter but one of mine has the peat in the hoses, sponge, some ceramic ballsin a bag and a another sponge at the top. No reason for how I set it up other than I what’s the pear to go into the tank right from the Source.

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I added the video and it works on other fish as well. There are clear details  on is to test before and after to much youbneed to do a bigger fresh water change. I’ve been doing ing for a couple months and the rams like it and discus love it. I only do the tanks thank need it m. My Mubua would never see it. It’s pretty similar it the fear to get over. You can’t just keep toppling of with it or the ph will fall to low. 

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On 10/1/2021 at 12:02 PM, sairving said:

My well water is stupidly hard as well. I will never keep tetras because of it. My Bettas have never had any issues.  Like you, stem plants just don't grow.  In fact, lots of plants melt on me.  The most expensive plant that melted was bucephalandra. Moss is also a no go. Aquasoil only buffers a short time and peat kind of helps. I've tried seachem acid and alkaline buffer.  That didn't work either. I usually throw in Indian almond leaves and adler cones.  It helps a tiny bit.

Rimmless tanks are a terrible idea when you have hard water.  Mineral deposits end up everywhere.  Its the main reason I moved my betta from a rimmless 5 gallon to a 10 gallon with a rim.

What have I learned? Just go with it and experiment.  Distilled water can also be helpful.  I usually add some during a water change.

My goal with the new tank is to create a planted tank using nothing but low light, hard water tolerant plants.  

 

 

Ooh I just ran out of reactions 😞 I was going to like your post, I didn’t know those where rationed out. I was debating whether or not to try to use seachem products to buffer my water, thanks for the extra knowledge. And when you have solid rock water calcium deposits are part of the decor lol. My betta is also doing fine, but I think my hope of breeding him has been flushed down the drain

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I’m not sure if this makes a difference but I had a beautiful moss carpet that was gather from moss that grew under the down spouts. Water from the well is 7.6-7.8!and it grew great. I moved it to my discus tank and now it grow but more up than out. That after I moved it to the larger low ph tank still grows the clown fish are going through it all the time. You can see the snails living in it there are kuili loaches that live under the Moses so we see them more often then most. I tried to find the picture in the higher ph and it grew more likely grass. I think thanks what I’ll do this weekend. Sport I couldn’t find the other pic

7EF903FE-780E-4E1F-B4EA-01438A1086B7.jpeg

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On 10/1/2021 at 2:42 PM, Mack said:

Ooh I just ran out of reactions 😞 I was going to like your post, I didn’t know those where rationed out. I was debating whether or not to try to use seachem products to buffer my water, thanks for the extra knowledge. And when you have solid rock water calcium deposits are part of the decor lol. My betta is also doing fine, but I think my hope of breeding him has been flushed down the drain

Yeah, I tried acid buffer first. I didn't realize you have to add it everyday or water parameters may not stay stable. Then I read the directions and found out I needed the alkaline buffer too. If you read the alkaline buffer instructions, they only talk about adding it to tanks with RO water. Then it turns into a bit of an experiment trying to get the right mix. Even with both products, I could never get the ph to stabilize.  

Maybe someone else on the forum has been successful using both buffers in hard water.

I had calcium deposits on top of the tank, down the sides and on the stand.  I have to clean the 5 gallon and will probably need 5 gallons of vinegar lol.

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10/1/2021 at 2:15 PM, Brandon p said:

I do use peat also. It just an organic peat stuffed in a patty hose and stuff in the hob with a sponge in front and on the intake. It help a little if you were at 7.2 with the peat maybe down to 7.a I’m no crazy about the canister filter but one of mine has the peat in the hoses, sponge, some ceramic ballsin a bag and a another sponge at the top. No reason for how I set it up other than I what’s the pear to go into the tank right from the Source.

Fluval peat granules generally drop my pH from 8.4 to around 8. It's not much but it helps.

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On 10/1/2021 at 4:47 PM, Mack said:

Good to know, I haven’t tried those yet but I might look them up. Thank you for the advice 

The water will be tannin stained from the granules.  Not sure if you like tannin stained water.  

If my water wasn't liquid rock, I'd attempt a blackwater tank.

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On 10/1/2021 at 5:21 PM, sairving said:

Yeah, I tried acid buffer first. I didn't realize you have to add it everyday or water parameters may not stay stable. Then I read the directions and found out I needed the alkaline buffer too. If you read the alkaline buffer instructions, they only talk about adding it to tanks with RO water. Then it turns into a bit of an experiment trying to get the right mix. Even with both products, I could never get the ph to stabilize.  

Maybe someone else on the forum has been successful using both buffers in hard water.

I had calcium deposits on top of the tank, down the sides and on the stand.  I have to clean the 5 gallon and will probably need 5 gallons of vinegar lol.

 

 

 

 

 

A few years ago I had to use alkaline buffer in an emergency situation.  I called the company. When they walked me through it they said to use alkaline or acid buffer you use it in conjunction with neutral regulator to stabilize.  You do not use them together. 

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I also have hard water. I have tried using distilled water/bottled water with some water changes and it helped a little, not enough to really justify doing it all the time.

I will say my Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus is putting on a lot of growth despite the hard water. My water sprite is not doing as well but has some new growth. Crypts are less happy about the hard water.

I was going to get tetras this weekend but I see a lot of you saying they don't do well in hard water so 🤔  

~40kh ~300gh according to my last co-op multi strip test

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My city water usually runs around 8.0 and I stopped trying to fix it a long time ago. Years ago I had a 20 gallon set up and would bring in bottled water to do changes, but that got old really fast. I was reading that some types of driftwood can lower the pH-have any of you noticed that?

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On 10/1/2021 at 12:32 PM, Mack said:

In the 5 years of casual fish keeping I have had to jump through all the hoops that my hard well water through at me, can’t keep/ breed tetras, bettas etc. and don’t even get me started with stem plants. What are some of the best and worst things that you have learned about your hard water??

I learned that it takes a minimum of 3 generations to get a species acclimated to hard water, to the point they can thrive.

I discovered RO water units are ridiculously expensive, and peat moss is a lot less expensive. 

I learned ammonia is more lethal at the higher pH.

I learned that I can use organic soil for a dirted tank, get great tannins and gorgeous fish, and pH still be above 7.8....

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On 10/1/2021 at 4:32 PM, Torrey said:

I learned that it takes a minimum of 3 generations to get a species acclimated to hard water, to the point they can thrive.

I discovered RO water units are ridiculously expensive, and peat moss is a lot less expensive. 

I learned ammonia is more lethal at the higher pH.

I learned that I can use organic soil for a dirted tank, get great tannins and gorgeous fish, and pH still be above 7.8....

Thank you for the wonderful insight. I haven’t tried dirted tanks yet, have you noticed any ammonia spike when first setting it up?

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On 10/1/2021 at 5:40 PM, dmurray407 said:

My city water usually runs around 8.0 and I stopped trying to fix it a long time ago. Years ago I had a 20 gallon set up and would bring in bottled water to do changes, but that got old really fast. I was reading that some types of driftwood can lower the pH-have any of you noticed that?

I have new driftwood leaching tannins right now but I also have a small bag of aquasoil under pool filter sand.  The water is being buffered a bit by the aquasoil for sure.  I have heard that driftwood can help.  Maybe it depends on the type and how much is in the tank?

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On 10/1/2021 at 6:56 PM, sairving said:

I have new driftwood leaching tannins right now but I also have a small bag of aquasoil under pool filter sand.  The water is being buffered a bit by the aquasoil for sure.  I have heard that driftwood can help.  Maybe it depends on the type and how much is in the tank?

I was just watching a Youtube video and a guy was explaining that water hardness has a lot to do with how things affect pH. I think my water is fairly hard-I guess I should test its.....

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I have use Seachem Discus Buffer and it works. You have to reup with ever water change and top off. That’s why I changed to the phosphoric acid is way cheaper. I don’t do this for all of my tanks. Of 20+ tanks 5-6 I lower ph in. Most fish will adapt. You can get discus to at 7 or slightlyhigher if you breed your own and do it over generations

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On 10/1/2021 at 3:31 PM, Mack said:

My ph is 8-8.2… I stuffed a large filter bag of peat, and my ph got to about 7.4 within a day (no livestock) but within a week it went back to original ph 😞 

If you do it over time and it will lower it. If you can do small water changes it will lower. You have to keep changing the peat. I will do it for small tanks but 75gallon or bigger is to much. So far the Jack Watley way is the best I have used that cost the lowest and easiest to do once you get comfortable with it.

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