Very Soft Water

[pankelephant]

Hi there! I need some help.

My water is very, very soft - Kh and Gh are both 1 (tested with a reliable API kit). My Ph is about 6.8 and has been quite stable. I have soft water fish - tetras, etc. I have a mystery snail and seems to be doing just fine, although he has some cracks in his shell. This may have occurred at the pet store before I got him. I've had him about two months and he's active and growing.

The problem is that any shrimp I've ever introduced to the tank have died w/in a week or so. The fish leave them alone and I acclimated slowly so I can only assume it's because of the softness of the water. I would like to get some nerite snails and amano shrimp, but I have read that with nerites especially, the soft water will be an issue.

So my question is two-fold. One, should I worry about it at all? And if so, what's the best way to increase the hardness without increasing Ph too much? If it's relevant, I will be planting this tank shortly and will be dosing glut and PPO-Pro dry ferts including Mg.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[MartyMA]

Hi there! I need some help.

My water is very, very soft - Kh and Gh are both 1 (tested with a reliable API kit). My Ph is about 6.8 and has been quite stable. I have soft water fish - tetras, etc. I have a mystery snail and seems to be doing just fine, although he has some cracks in his shell. This may have occurred at the pet store before I got him. I've had him about two months and he's active and growing.

The problem is that any shrimp I've ever introduced to the tank have died w/in a week or so. The fish leave them alone and I acclimated slowly so I can only assume it's because of the softness of the water. I would like to get some nerite snails and amano shrimp, but I have read that with nerites especially, the soft water will be an issue.

So my question is two-fold. One, should I worry about it at all? And if so, what's the best way to increase the hardness without increasing Ph too much? If it's relevant, I will be planting this tank shortly and will be dosing glut and PPO-Pro dry ferts including Mg.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

If you really want to raise the water hardness a bit, try crushed coral. I load a mesh bag with crushed coral and put it right in my HOB filter. I replace the coral every three months or so. My tap water is not very soft but my endlers much prefer harder water. Both my cherry shrimp and endlers thrive in the harder water. I am not sure how well your soft water fishes will react but the coral probably won't raise the hardness that much.

 

[bud29]

Hi there! I need some help.

My water is very, very soft - Kh and Gh are both 1 (tested with a reliable API kit). My Ph is about 6.8 and has been quite stable. I have soft water fish - tetras, etc. I have a mystery snail and seems to be doing just fine, although he has some cracks in his shell. This may have occurred at the pet store before I got him. I've had him about two months and he's active and growing.

The problem is that any shrimp I've ever introduced to the tank have died w/in a week or so. The fish leave them alone and I acclimated slowly so I can only assume it's because of the softness of the water. I would like to get some nerite snails and amano shrimp, but I have read that with nerites especially, the soft water will be an issue.

So my question is two-fold. One, should I worry about it at all? And if so, what's the best way to increase the hardness without increasing Ph too much? If it's relevant, I will be planting this tank shortly and will be dosing glut and PPO-Pro dry ferts including Mg.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

There are additives you can get which raise the gH of the water such as GLA's gH booster or bee shrimp mineral gH+. For raising kH, many people use baking soda which is cheap and effective. I believe crushed coral only raises kH, not gH.

 

[aluka]

Crush coral also increase ph, which isn't the best for shrimps. They also like their kh to be as low as possible as well.

I see that you are from the boston area! and you are right our water is ridiculously soft! The only way to really remedy it is to use a gh booster. You can buy salty shrimp gh+ which is slightly pricer or if you are only planning on keeping neos (like cherries) then buy seachem equlibrium, its like 13 bucks for a big bottle that will last you a year. I have both, i use the equlibrium for neos and salty shrimp for crs.

Its also super easy to use just mix into your new water before you do water change.

 

[pankelephant]

I'm only planning on Amanos and Nerite snails. I thought the Kh would be an issue esp. for the snails. Am I incorrect?