Just set up my first Tank!

[GuppyMan]

I set up my first tank and have let it cycle i did research and got a trio of guppy's. I know they like hard water and was wondering if anyone Knows how i can bring my soft tap water up? 

[Fish Folk]

On 1/13/2022 at 9:44 PM, GuppyMan said:

I set up my first tank and have let it cycle i did research and got a trio of guppy's. I know they like hard water and was wondering if anyone Knows how i can bring my soft tap water up? 

I’ve got soft water, and I just add some crushed coral to my substrate. It make the water cloudy at first, but that clears up. I do about 1-cup per 10-gallons. I don’t think you need to be overly concerned for your guppy’s sake. They’ll adjust to your water if your tank is properly cycled.

Add live plants! Lots of them.

And remember: it’s better to UNDERFEED your fish rather than to OVERFEED them.

 

[Levi_Aquatics]

I use crushed coral and wonder shells to help keep hard, higher ph water.

[lefty o]

crushed coral is great, can also add in a wondershell to get minerals in the water. guppy's can take a spritz of salt in their water too.

[tolstoy21]

Crushed coral will raise the Ph, but if you do a lot of water changes you might struggle to keep it as high as you want. I guess this depends on the Ph range you're targeting.

In tanks that I do a lot of water changes in, I find crushed coral adds some KH, keeping the system above absolute zero, but it doesn't create what I would consider alkaline water. I personally find it doesn't move the GH much. Again, this is probably more a result of my water turn-over rate than anything else. 

To boost KH or GH, I typically mix Seachem products into my change water (for tanks I'm targeting a specific range of parameters impossible to meet with very soft well-water). For GH I like equilibrium. For KH, Seachem has a range of different buffering products.

WonderShells are also certainly good solution but I haven't used them myself.

I don't want to downplay crushed coral. I love it and use it all the time (I put some into every box filter I have).  And in my water aging barrel. But for my water, which is highly acidic, it doesn't do the job I need it to do for fish that require a higher Ph, given amount of water I change. I use it to avoid KH crashes more than anything else.

Coral certainly is the easiest, most cost effective first thing to try, that's for sure. But if that doesn't do the trick, there are a ton of other options, my personal preference being the Seachem line of products.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by tolstoy21

[tolstoy21]

Ok amending what i just said above. . . . 

Maybe all that info is overkill for your situation 🙂  as this is your first breeding tank!

So, yeah, crushed coral works and is a great first thing to try.

Good luck. Ask a lot more questions here if you have them!