water pH and hardness level?

Question

what can i do to keep my water pH preference 6 to 7.5 and
hardness preference soft besides doing water changes?

Answer 1

To be totally honest you are best off letting the water be what it will be naturally. Besides water changes there are a few options, all of which are bad except copperheads wood method. That will lower the pH some and the hardness just a bit over time. You can use distilled water to cut your tap water to the preferred levels if for some reason you really need to try to keep pH 7.5 soft water, but it will be a constant fight trying to keep the pH high and the hardness low. That never works out well.

I would suggest you settle for what it is normally, but use distilled to cut the tap water if you need to for your fish. If you would like to email me what you currently have in water conditions as well as your target I can try to help you tailor a plan to your specific needs. Please also include the tank size and what fish are in the tank.

MM

Answer 2

First,is the expiration date on the test strips current? I suspect you are not getting good information from them. Largely because of the Nitrite readings. Is this a well or a municipal water supply? The GH can't be lower than zero,but it could be zero,although that's not likely. You are correct in thinking that the baking soda change would be temporary. Limestone rocks in the tank would have a long term affect on pH and possibly hardness also,but would be slow acting. Item #3,yes return the pH stuff,it's not good for fish or plants. Crushed coral will give you the desired affect as might some of the "Lake Malawi Salts" sold by various suppliers. I think your first need is to check the accuracy of the test strips. Good luck.

Answer 3

that's an easy question, I had that same problem when breeding discus, and the answer is RO water. Use 1/4 tank or more of reverse osomsis water mixed with tap water 3/4 tank, then add some ph down to adjust ph level. RO water softens the water and makes ph buffering easy and ph levels will remain the same. check with your local water supply store for RO water.

Answer 4

I agree with Magic, unless you're keeping wild caught fish or discus or German rams, I'd leave the ph alone. Otherwise here's a great article that talks about all that's involved with adjusting ph and hardness and how to do it:

http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

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Answer 5

Add some driftwood to the tank for decorations or a small mesh bag of peat moss (no fertilizer added) to the filter .

Answer 6

oyster shells which can be hung in a stocking,(can get from pet shop) rise the ph level and take out when ph is level.