Softening water (GH)

[Wolfspyder]

Hi all, I have a planted 20 gal tank and my water is very hard(~300ppm). I purchased a Water Softener Pillow, but talking with a friend of mine, he said that it takes out the heavy metals but adds sodium/salt to the tank, which isn't good for the plants. I tested my water before putting it in, and it starts out as soft, ~75ppm. I'm guessing it is evaporation and then me adding more water that is making it more concentrated.

Any suggestions other than using distilled water during water changes?

 

[amphibianboy528]

I have never used this before but I think blackwater extract or alot of wood.or if you can put peat in your filters.

 

[Sonia]

I agree with amphibianboy528, however you should note that peat filtering and driftwood will probably lower you PH as well.... I'm not sure about blackwater extract, but I think it'll have the same effect.
How often are you doing waterchanges and what percentage are you changing each time? Maybe doing more would help...

 

[jacktheknife]

how much driftwood would one need in a 30 gallon tank?

would collecting rainwater be a feasable option?

 

[amphibianboy528]

i found a product called "amazon rain" that will soften up the water.I found this product in the Aquarium Fish Magazine.

 

[Wolfspyder]

I do a ~25% water change weekly and my PH is between 6.2-6.8 as near as I can tell with my tester. I'm going to try more distilled water with my water change, maybe doing 5 gallons of it and see how much a change that brings. I use Flourish excel and a liquid fertilizer for the plants, as well as have some flourish tablets buried in the substrate, so I think that will help cover anything tap water normally puts in.

I'll look into the peat thing, and thanks for the repsonses everyone

 

[deeni0z]

depending on where you live/if there was a recent fire, rain water would not be the best.

 

[amphibianboy528]

rainwater basically anywhere because of acid rain,the pollutants that stay in they are combine the rainwater with chemicals and are usually fatal to fish.

 

[TankGirl]

Is there any problem occurring in the tank that makes you want to alter the water, aside from the test kit reading? You can create a real headache for yourself if you get started trying to manipulate your water parameters, and if your plants are growing and the fish are healthy I'd leave it alone - treat the tank, not the test kit

 

[malkore]

I think you hit the nail on the head: "I tested my water before putting it in, and it starts out as soft, ~75ppm. I'm guessing it is evaporation and then me adding more water that is making it more concentrated. "

Only H2O evaporates....so all hardness is left behind. Then you add more 75ppm hardness water, and increase the concentration.

Doing topoffs with R/O or distilled water would prevent the concentration from building up. Doing bimonthly large water changes will help bring down the concentration. I had the same problem in one of my tanks. Top off's with tap water pushed my Kh and Gh up 5degrees each. So I did two 75% water changes on consecutive days, and now I'm back on target.

 

[Wolfspyder]

Is there any problem occurring in the tank that makes you want to alter the water, aside from the test kit reading? You can create a real headache for yourself if you get started trying to manipulate your water parameters, and if your plants are growing and the fish are healthy I'd leave it alone - treat the tank, not the test kit

From what I read, my fish prefer softer water and I was trying to cut down on the white crusty build up too

 

[TankGirl]

I hear ya on the white crusty buildup!

I think the procedure Malkore outlines is really going to be the only way to deal with it effectively. Your fish are most likely adapted to harder water, as many are bred in harder water than they have in the wild, so it will depend on how much more you want to do at water change time.

 

[malkore]

Unless you're keeping some very special fish (discus, cichlids, etc) or trying to get them to breed, water hardness and pH isn't that big of a deal. a stable pH is 10 times more important than a perfect pH range.
Example: most tetra species are 'softwater, pH 6.8-7.0' My tap water is moderately hard, with a rested pH of 7.8 - my tetra do great: neon tetra, black neons, lemon, even rummy nose are fine. in fact when my 20g was getting concentrated hardness, the rummy's did fine and they tend to be less hardy than other species.