dspinky81

My tanks GH and KH levels are at GH 180 and KH 240 my panda corys and dwarf gourami seem to be fine but the cardinal tetras i just added are dieing off. How do i reduce these levels and what should they be at?

aquarist48

If your levels are too high...adding distilled water will reduce them, drift wood, filter some peat, rain water. However, it will also affect your pH levels as well.

Fla_Larry

i see you got about as many useful answers as i did.

so far all i have been able to find out the following ways of reducing GH

add distilled water
add RO/DI water
filter it through Peat
Use a water softener product on it ( Water Pillow )
RO/DI and or Distilled are costly, yur GH is up there so to get it down you need to cut your tap water with 75% RO/DI or distilled to get your GH down to 37, which is certianly more livable fr your cardinals but still very hard. you would more likely just Fill the tank with RO/DO or distilled and cut it with a small amount of tap water to add minerals back in.

The only other optins i have run across to eliminate that level of water cost is a product called " Water Pillow" or run your water through Peat.

Peat seems to be slightlky more preferred as the water softener method ( Water pillow) strips the calcium ion in favor of a sodium ion, in short adds salt to your water. weather that is truly a major issue is being debated.

Peat / Peat Moss / Spahgnum Peat moss is the other method, it appearantly strips the magnesium etc with out adding anything other than tannis acid, ( that would be the yellow colloring in the water ) this can be removed by AC ( activated carbon. Now as to how well it truly works... that is also hotly debated, some swear by soaking a large qty in a large qty of water for a few weeks, then using that water for water changes, others swear by boil, rinse, bag and add to your filter.

I have decided to try this last method. as i have a couple of spare filters, i will be aquiring the peat from HomeDepot ( 100% no ferts etc ). i will add it to a fine mesh bag ( pair of the wifes panty hose ) boil it wring it out and remove the tannins initially, then add it to my filter along with regular maint of AC and see how it goes.
BTW my Gh is 320+ so if i get any response out of it, it should work for you as well, of course my KH is fine @ 6dkh

well off to the poor mans aquarium supply store ( HD ) i go...

sirdarksol

The basis of the issue there is that minerals aren't really being removed from the water. As far as osmosis is concerned, the water has just as many minerals as it did before. It's probably not much more harmful (if any) to the fish, but, at the same time, it's not helping them if they're having problems with osmotic stress.

Distilled or RO water are the most direct ways to alter hardness. The difficult part is getting the mix right for water change after water change.

You can pre-treat water by filling a pillowcase with peat and dropping it in a garbage can with an air stone and some water. Let it run for about a week, and the the tanins in the peat will have broken the minerals down (simplistic explanation), and you can mix it with tap water to get the hardness/pH you want. As with distilled or RO, you've got to be careful to get the mix right, though.

dspinky81

Thank you for replies. I think i will start off with mixing distilled or RO with the tap water each water change. Since this seams like the easiest way. I will probably start off with 25% RO and 75% tap water in my next 20% water change and see how that goes. The cardinal tetras are all dead already.

aquarist48

Hello. What are the readings for your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? I have to question as to why your Cardinals didn't survive. Being that your tank is new, your gh and kh may not be problem. ??