Guppypuppy
Member
Hey guys, first post, here it goes:
I have a 55gal cichlid tank and 10gal guppy tank. Guppy tank lightly planted, unsure of plant type. Cichlid is not. Looking at guppy tank specifically:
-Aqueon filter for 20gal
-6 guppies, 4 kuhlI loaches
-has bubble wall
-lightly planted but with gravel
-tank is gifted from previous owners suspicion it was a salt water tank beforehand? Cleaned well.
-using API stress coat water conditioner
Tap water, without filter tests over the high limits of the High pH tester in the master kit. Litmus, the kit and a generic chemistry test all confirm it is over 8.2, I am guess 8.6 to even 8.8. The gH and kH is relatively low, using the tests, gH was 4 drops, kH 10 drops.
I did a 20% water change a few days ago and noticed the fish today showing signs of what I suspected to be high alkilinity. The tank water tested a lower pH (~7.6), kH of 4 drops, but gH of 22 drops! Not sure why these levels aren't necessarily closer together, but I am newer to the master kit testing and monitoring of this. There are no nitrite/nitrates/ammonia changes, lowest rating possible there.
I feel as though I should adjust the alkilinity. In the past I used dehumidifier water mixed with tap to control pH, considering how high my municipal tap reads. This only provides a temporary fix, takes a lot of time, and doesn't strike me as a healthy solution bacteria wise for fish. I can't necessarily justify high expenses, or excessive water changes unless you have proposals that make those more reasonable.
Tl;dr - how can I drop the hardness of my water, tap or tank? Are there water pitchers that can filter it, could I consider particular substrates(which due to slow plant growth I have been considering), or am I missing something simple? I feel buying distilled water repeatedly isn't the best option. Trying to make it, even less so.
Note: Cichlids love their water. 55 gallons seems so much easier to maintain. Thanks for any responses!
I have a 55gal cichlid tank and 10gal guppy tank. Guppy tank lightly planted, unsure of plant type. Cichlid is not. Looking at guppy tank specifically:
-Aqueon filter for 20gal
-6 guppies, 4 kuhlI loaches
-has bubble wall
-lightly planted but with gravel
-tank is gifted from previous owners suspicion it was a salt water tank beforehand? Cleaned well.
-using API stress coat water conditioner
Tap water, without filter tests over the high limits of the High pH tester in the master kit. Litmus, the kit and a generic chemistry test all confirm it is over 8.2, I am guess 8.6 to even 8.8. The gH and kH is relatively low, using the tests, gH was 4 drops, kH 10 drops.
I did a 20% water change a few days ago and noticed the fish today showing signs of what I suspected to be high alkilinity. The tank water tested a lower pH (~7.6), kH of 4 drops, but gH of 22 drops! Not sure why these levels aren't necessarily closer together, but I am newer to the master kit testing and monitoring of this. There are no nitrite/nitrates/ammonia changes, lowest rating possible there.
I feel as though I should adjust the alkilinity. In the past I used dehumidifier water mixed with tap to control pH, considering how high my municipal tap reads. This only provides a temporary fix, takes a lot of time, and doesn't strike me as a healthy solution bacteria wise for fish. I can't necessarily justify high expenses, or excessive water changes unless you have proposals that make those more reasonable.
Tl;dr - how can I drop the hardness of my water, tap or tank? Are there water pitchers that can filter it, could I consider particular substrates(which due to slow plant growth I have been considering), or am I missing something simple? I feel buying distilled water repeatedly isn't the best option. Trying to make it, even less so.
Note: Cichlids love their water. 55 gallons seems so much easier to maintain. Thanks for any responses!
