Question about substrate and water hardness

[stevenht]

Info about my tank

I have a 20 High tank with 4 blood fin tetra, albino cory and a DG.
Driftwood trunk with plants all around it on one side.
I have a brand new carpet growing of Dwarf Hairgrass on the other side with Amazon Sword living the back of the tank.

My questions

1. I have Caribsea FloraMax black substrate. It's impossible to siphon because of all the debris it kicks up. What should my my main focus when siphoning the water when doing PWC? Also, will cory's be able to clean this substrate properly? or will he just primarily stick to cleaning my swords and driftwood?

2. I recently found on our local news that our water has higher chemical counts, I'm guessing make it "harder" water. Do I double dose my conditioner when putting in new water or is buying R/O water from my LFS worth the 49 cent a gallon until our water supply is balanced again?

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[plantnoob]

The Corys (how many?) should be able to get most of the food that falls to the bottom, assuming you're not overfeeding. They are constantly foraging, but I doubt they're doing anything to clean your amazon swords. I'd definitely try not to kick up debris every time you do a water change. Just vacuum near the surface of the substrate - you should be able to siphon out most fish waste that way without kicking up dust. In any case, after you have a carpet established, that's the best you can do.

What chemicals? You need to know that first. Call up your water department. Something like Seachem Prime is good to take care of chlorine and chloramine, but may not help with others.

Definitely suggest not buying water from your LFS. Your flora and fauna would prefer stable water than ever fluctuating water quality. Plus, unless you have your own RO filter, you'll get tired of buying water for every water change. Think stability. Definitely not worth the effort.