FishObsessed Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Hi fellow fish fanatics! My name is Kathy. I'll confess I'm not as die-hard into this hobby as others. I'm happy with just one fish tank and my fake plants lol. But I do love to see others fish tanks and what the pet stores are stocking in theirs. I currently have a 38 gallon Aqueon tank, with Aqueon HOB filter. It's stocked with 16 Tiger Barb's (8 regular, 6 green platinum, and 2 red GloFish) and 3 male platies. My tap water where I live in NC is SUPER soft...and by soft I mean close to zero, if not zero, gH. Ph is in the 6-6.5 range. Im looking to harden the water for the fish I have, OR get different fish entirely that will thrive in my tap water. Thanks for any input, and thank you for sharing your pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alesha Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Welcome to the forum, Kathy! Glad to have you here. I'll let some of the more knowledgeable member address your water issues, as don't have any advice to offer on that. Again, welcome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amataharimau Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 I really like the term "experienced beginner"! It's a handy oxymoron that I will keep in my vocabulary 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 We are going to try to talk you into live plants! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 I live in NC as well. Our water, especially in the eastern part of the state tends to be acidic. All my tanks naturally run @ 6.0pH as well. So I keep fish that like those conditions (mostly South American). I also put some crushed coral in my filters to buffer the water some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishObsessed Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 I've heard of putting crushed coral in the filter. I have an Aqueon quiet flow HOB filter. Do you just sprinkle the coral behind the filter cartridge or put it in a pouch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 @FishObsessed Welcome to the forum! Here's an article on water chemistry that I wrote for Aquarium Co-Op, and at the end, there's a section on how to safely and gradually raise your pH, GH, and KH: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh In general, I believe Cory says that crushed coral tends to raise KH, whereas Wonder Shell and Seachem Equilibrium is better for raising GH or water hardness. Hope that helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishObsessed Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 @Irene thank you! 3 hours ago, Irene said: general, I believe Cory says that crushed coral tends to raise KH, whereas Wonder Shell and Seachem Equilibrium is better for raising GH or water hardness. Hope that helps! That does help. I thought crushed coral might be the way to go but I found a Wonder Shell last night at a LFS and already see an improvement in the activity level of my tiger Barbs....that's encouraging 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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