Convert tank to hard water?

[Thornapple61]

 I’ve had my planted tank “set-up” (long story) for about 4 weeks. I have a well with a water softener, so I recently started dosing equilibrium to try to bring the GH up. Plant growth seems hit or miss depending on species. (Java fern seems a little rough). I am also suspicious that I may not be fertilizing enough, and some other nutrient deficiencies going on

Tank is stocked with (15) Neons; (6) orange venz Corys, (5) chili rasboras 
 

Turns out I have a spigot in the basement pre-water softener. So I ran a cup of hard and soft water and put a test strip in. Here is what I found

soft water: GH=0; KH=40; PH=6.4

hard water: GH=150; KH=120; Ph=6.8-7.2

In terms of plant growth, am I better off converting over to my hard water?

Can my livestock handle the transition? I understand the neons probably will disagree with it.

If I did change over, would it be wise to do it gradually through water changes?

Thanks in advance.

***or a thought I just had…could I mix my hard and soft water and end up with my GH goal..shooting for 3-6 and still possible have the added nutrients from the harder water?

Edited February 4, 2023 by Thornapple61

[CJs Aquatics]

If the goal is plant growth I think you would be better off looking into the ferts and lighting. Some do better or worse based on water being hard or soft but in my experience it’s negligible mostly. I wouldn’t chase specific numbers with regards to water chemistry personally I would look at how the inhabitants are doing in what I have but if you do decide to make the transition I would do it gradually rather then suddenly to better monitor how things go little by little. You could remove a specific plant and try it in a tank of the new water for a while first to see if things make a difference as well to see if it’s justified, hope this helps some 

[mouseturd13]

I have hard water and I wouldn’t say it doesn’t anything dramatic for plant growth. I would first try to keep track of your fertilizing and lighting. maybe write down when and how much on a note pad and note down how the plants are doing. After a few weeks then maybe come back around to the water issue but I think you can probably get where you want with the light and fert adjustments. 
 

you might also do some research on items like a wondershell or crushed coral. I know those are used to help with water that is relatively soft to help add back in some minerals and it might be easier to measure how much you are adding in. I have not personally used these so I can’t say for sure if they are effective or how they are used effectively. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by mouseturd13

[Mmiller2001]

Does your water softener use salt?

[Thornapple61]

Yes it does. But the salt is only used when it regens to clean the media in the softener itself. But there’s likely residual salt in the softener after it’s cleaned itself

[Ohad]

The reality of plants is that four weeks is nothing.  This is when things just start. You have in the background some stem plants that may grow faster. Suppose you are not using CO2 and do not say what light you are using.  Green aqua has a video on YouTube about what water they use, but this is for pro-level plants. Your plants with good light, some water changes, and fertilizer will do good. 

If you are in a hurry, look into CO2, but to start, I would mark three months in the calendar from now and check then.

Trim off dead or melted leaves and think about bringing in snails 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Ohad

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:44 PM, Thornapple61 said:

In terms of plant growth, am I better off converting over to my hard water?

I watched this video, it's pretty interesting.  One of the "rules" they mention is for GH > KH.  So getting your GH up a bit should help with plants to have the minerals available needed.  This could also be from the substrate and other methods, but in general it could lead to issues, theoretically. 
 

As far as how... I would recommend using stone in the tank.  GH should be up using something like Seiryu while for KH you'd use crushed coral.