How to soften the hardness in your tank? Peat granuals?

[DanTheGuppyMan]

I posted a thread earlier today asking how to lower my pH, and I found that peat granuals can lower your pH AND the hardness in your tank. Is this true? Also I heard that fluval's peat granuals change your water to a yellow color which I do not want...would a UV sterilizer help with the color? I also have Fluval Stratum- would that help? I heard it helps with the tannins of my driftwood so I was wondering if it would help with that too...or should I just leave my pH and hardness alone? I want to stock it with agelfish and currently my pH reading is higher than a 7.6, as far as my test kit goes. I am not sure of the hardness yet but I know angelfish like acidic and soft water which is definitely not what I have...can they still adapt well to it if I add no products to lower pH or hardness? Or should I? What other natural ways can you lower these without side effects like the change of water quality? Thanks if you can help.

 

[Rivercats]

If your ph is stable don't mess with it as the fish will acclimate to it. Any peat, almond leaves, and similar products will leech tannins which is what helps to soften the water so if you don't want tinted water don't use them. A UV sterilizer won't do anything for tannins and actually tannins in water make a UV sterilizer less effective.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Oh ok thanks again, Rivercats. If I do decide to use the peat (which i probaby wont) and it turns the water yellow, could you just take it out and the water would change back or would you have to do major water changes? Also, my pH is around 8.0...is that safe for angels? I have not measured the hardness yet. How can I get the fish to acclimate to my water easily with not a lot of stress? What I was going to do is take the new angel and put it in a bucket with the water it came from in it. Then put a little but often water in the bucket every 5 mins until its full, then slowly release it into my tank and see how it does. Sound ok?

 

[Rivercats]

The water will change color and if removed the tannins will very slowly go away, quicker with a WC. I use a drip line but your way should work, part of the reason fish are floated and water added slowly to the bag is for the water they are in to reach the temp of the tank water slowly. It usually takes me about 45 minutes before they are ready to be added. Put don't put any of the water they came in into your tank. Also as I said a stable ph is better than one you have to try to maintain. They will acclimate so don't trying adjusting the ph of the water.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

+1 to rivercats. My tank raised gbr spawn frequently at a ph of 7.7. Many tankraised species are alot more forgiving to ph values compared to their wild counterparts.

 

[FeldmansFish]

Using carbon in your filter assists with removing tannins

 

[Rivercats]

Using carbon in your filter assists with removing tannins

You don't want to use carbon in a planted tank as it removes alot of the minerals you put in the tank via your fertilizers. Purgen is acceptable because it only removes organics, such as tannins. But when you remove the tannins you also remove thier ability to help soften water and reduce ph.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

So I should take the carbon bags out of my filter and replace it with Purigen or something? I have some boxes of Purigen and Peat Granuals...just trying to find the best media for my filter...what do y'all use?

 

[Tippytrampoline]

If you're going to purchase your new angels from a local pet store, chances are high that the water in their tanks is similar to if not the same ph as the water from your own faucet, so the good news is that the fish will most likely already adapted to that ph and hardness. Acclimation in thy case would be less stressful!

If you're receiving them from an online supplier, use bottled water from the store for acclimation purposes in a separate tank. I'm not able to remember exactly which bottled water (distilled, spring, etc) is good for this, as some of them have essential minerals removed which are beneficial to the fish, so if another user could pipe up with their input on that it'd be more helpful for you. Add small amounts of the water from your tank during water changes into the quarantine tank, and watch for stress. When most of the water in the quarantine tank is from the aquarium, net the bad boys into their final home, and you should be golden!!!

As for me, I use the bucket technique myself, as I don't have a quarantine tank (bad me!)

Good luck, angels are a blast!!!

 

[Rivercats]

If you use the peat then don't use the Purgen or it will just remove the good tannins out of the water. If you use Purgen don't waste the peat by using it. I have organic peat in my dirt so don't use it. I use Purgen if my water isn't as polished as I like it. Remove the carbon if you want your ferts to work properly.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Oh I see. Thanks! Now...as Tippytrampoline said about quarantine tanks-I have a 2.5 gallon and a 5 gallon spare tank I can use. Is that big enough? Also how long does it take before they can go in their final tank?

 

[Rivercats]

If your going to do a quarantine tank then it should be at least a 10g, I use a 20L. I quarantine 4 weeks, some only 2, it's pretty much a matter of choice and if you feel the new fish are healthy. IMO some issues don't arise in new fish for 2-4 weeks so I prefer a longer time. If there is even a hint of a problem they might stay in QT for months depending on what the problem is.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Have you had any sick fish from mellow aquatics? I have ordered 3 so far from them. So I have an old 10 gallon from my hamster I had, can I use that or should I just use a clean bucket I have (which I have a lot of lol).

 

[Rivercats]

All 14 of my current angels came from them at dime body size and healthy as can be. They are all over a year old now and still healthy as can be. If the angels are only dime body size then a 10g will be fine.

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Yes I ordered dime and dime to nickel sizes.