Low GH/KH in tank

Tank:

• 10 Gallon (Planted Tank, Fluorite Red Substrate, Driftwood, Passive CO2, AquaClear 30 Hang-On Filter with extra bio media and Purigen in stead of activated carbon, 6 x Harlequin Rasboras)
• pH: 6.5
• GH: 2’d
• KH: 4’d

Tap Water:

• pH: 9
• GH: 3’d
• KH: 1’d

I’m busy establishing a new aquarium and tested both my tank and tap water parameters. I’m keeping a school of Harlequin Rasboras, which should be kept in water with a GH range between 8 - 16 as I understand it. My tank seems to have very soft, slightly acidic water with very little minerals. My tap water is very soft, but basic. My water KH is also fairly low, which makes it more sensitive to pH changes.

I’m concerned that doing my weekly water change is throwing off my water chemistry. I’m using Seachem Neutral Regulator to condition my tap water, but that further softens the water. There’s also a large piece of Driftwood in the tank, which also leads to my slightly acidic pH, but that is fine for these fish. My main concern is that I need to drastically raise my GH/KH without raising my pH too far And then keep things stable.

 

OK you need a TDS meter and Salty bee gh/kh+ once you have this I can talk you through the process
It's important to to have your mix ready before the water change to keep your perameters stable and with you because you're not using ro water there could be fluctuations in your tap water so a tds meter is essential, try and get one you don't have to calibrate

 

Thanks for the response! I’ll be ordering a TDS meter then, but I can’t really find the salty Bee in any of the aquarium/fish stores I use.

Would something like Seachem Equilibrium or another alternative also work?

 

Seechem equilibrium won't help with your kh you'd also need an alkaline buffer which makes the mixing more difficult
Have you tried amazon
What part of the world are you
Your co2 will also be affecting your ph by the looks of things

 

Would any shrimp mineral GH/KH+ (shrimp salt) do the trick? If so, then I’ll grab some of that, get the meter and let you know. I live in Cape Town South Africa. So Amazon Orders take a while to get to me.

 

8-16 dGH for harlequin rasboras? Your water seems fantastic as is, the only thing that seems to be wrong is the source you are using for info on your fish IMO

 

Anyone that dose both will do but before you buy post a picture of it

 

8-16 dGH for harlequin rasboras? Your water seems fantastic as is, the only thing that seems to be wrong is the source you are using for info on your fish IMO

I’ve been googling to find as much info as I could in different places as well as Youtube videos. Which source(s) do you recommend / find to be most accurate?

 

I recommend seriouslyfish.com , fishbase.org and good old Wikipedia.
Those either freely give their scientific literature sources or are even required to do so. Otherwise books are the better sources anyway.

I agree with LowConductivity, for most fish your readings are perfect. Most fish in the trade are softwater fish, which in the wild live in waters even softer than your's. I'd be perfectly content with your readings.

 

I dont understand what's going on here I'm sorry, I've been giving information on raising his gh/kh specifically which as been asked for yet he's being told his water is perfect
Am I missing something ? Dose he want to raise gh/kh for a specific reason or am I wasting my time with input

It would be nice if someone would explain please

 

I’m busy establishing a new aquarium and tested both my tank and tap water parameters. I’m keeping a school of Harlequin Rasboras, which should be kept in water with a GH range between 8 - 16 as I understand it.

 

I dont understand what's going on here I'm sorry, I've been giving information on raising his gh/kh specifically which as been asked for yet he's being told his water is perfect
Am I missing something ? Dose he want to raise gh/kh for a specific reason or am I wasting my time with input

It would be nice if someone would explain please

The OP thought they have to change the water parameters because they read the fish need certain readings, which are incorrect, while the actual readings are a perfect fit.

So technically no need for a change in water parameters in the first place.

 

from my research Harlequin Rasboras need a gh of 8-10 or 143ppm which op wants to raise it to and at the moment its gh2 or 3 which you say is ok so ill bow out of this thread

 

Trigonostigma heteromorpha – Harlequin (Rasbora heteromorpha) — Seriously Fish

The habitat is swampy blackwater, the numbers are obviously taking in account seasonal changes, so... yeah.

 

Trigonostigma heteromorpha – Harlequin (Rasbora heteromorpha) — Seriously Fish

The habitat is swampy blackwater, the numbers are obviously taking in account seasonal changes, so... yeah.

Amazingly informative and it looks my water is in fact quite suitable for them. I was planning on adding some floating plants like frog wart (think that’s the name) or something but I haven't found any yet. I’ll be bookmarking this site
The tank is still cycling, but I already see Nitrites and Nitrates so all types of bacteria are present, they just need to multiply and stabilize . I am testing the water daily for now to monitor.

 

You mean frogbit.

Good luck then with the tank.

 

Apologies for the confusion in this thread. MacZ was right, initially I thought Harlequin Rasboras required much harder water, but it turned out my water is fine for them.

That being said, I am planning on adding in a bit of crushed coral in my filter to boost my pH slightly, which I think will also add some minerals to the water. This is to help my almost-there tank cycling to finish up easier as my pH balances out at 6.5 at the moment, which seems to be slowing things down a tad. I’ll see where the water hardness ends up stabilising at after that.

Thanks for everyone’s advice though! I’m learning a lot.