murph3400
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2017
- Messages
- 111
Tested tap water pH 8.0 hardness approx 250ppm. Any suggestions. Trying to set up planted with dwarf cichlids. Thank you
What is RODI? I have African cichlids and my water is very hard 300. What is the optimal water hardness? How do you soften or lower the number?
Indeed. Mine is like liquid rock. I can leave holey rock in my tanks for years and it won't even move the needle on ph/kh because my water has so much to begin with.Dalto, i'm also a SA cichlid fan as well as a few CA varieties. My oklahoma hard, alkaline water is probably similar to your texas water.
These days, although there are some African cichlids in the house I keep almost exclusively SA cichlids. I used to specialize in and breed Apistogramma and for many of those, soft, acidic water is a requirement. As a result, I have a dedicated RODI system connected to a pair 50g barrels for storage.I don't alter it chemically but probably make it worse, hardscaping three tanks with holey rock. I firmly believe that the hard water is keeping my larger SA's, especially festae, more docile and less inclined to breed. I have a six festae in my display tank, one adult male and female, four juveniles. Zero aggression towards each other. They are all submissive to an adult male GT. Get to enjoy more peaceful interaction without destructive breeding aggression. The hard water hasn't slowed down the convicts breeding, thank goodness for a hungry EBJD and Pleco. Had a pair of Bolivian rams and discus that
Would breed. The eggs never hatched, possibly due to the water parameters.