Hard water - best solutions?

[bluedragon]

Hi, I have a 55 gal fw tank. I've been struggling with terribly hard water that stresses the fish.... way over very hard water in my test kit.
Also, the Ph is difficult to stablize with such hard water as well... not to mention scraping off all the calcium crust from the tank rim and parts.

I've been trying to get it softer by adding "Tank Soft" type of liquid add to the tank products but understand these really remove the minerals anyway.? I don't know, it's confusing :?

I've decided I'd rather pour softer water into the tank.... when I top the tank off and when I do water changes.

I would like the best advice to do this ... would it be to buy spring water? buy distilled water? make distilled water somehow? use some sort of whole house or faucet filter?

Anyone know the best solution for hard water? I have well water.

Thanks!

 

[Toirtis]

Get an R/O unit and use the water from that to counter the hard water from your well. I would try about 3:1 R/O water to well water for a few water changes and see how things go.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:2ae66f9bc7] Welcome to AA, bluedragon! [/center:2ae66f9bc7]
An R/O unit maybe your best bet. What kind of pH test kit are you using? Does it test for both high and low readings?

 

[bluedragon]

Thanks, what is a R/O unit? It's the standard kit which detects soft to very hard water.

 

[Toirtis]

R/O = Reverse Osmosis....a system that will provide you with pure water (with almost zero dissolved solids).

What are your KH, GH and pH values at present?

 

[hashbaz]

I have hard water and bought a RO filter to combat it. It works great. But if I could do it all over again, I would go brackish instead. It would be a lot easier - but you would still have to worry about crusties. There is a good article on this site about RO. I bought a cheep one on ebay for $100. Most are quite a bit more expensive.

Usually a high hardness (the KH type, I think) helps to stabilize the PH. An RO system would also slightly lower your PH. If you are using chemicals to lower your PH, you probably shouldn't. Everybody (except the people selling the chemicals) says that altering your PH this way is very unstable and this harms the fish.

Great choice BTW about not using "tank soft." It's best not to use any chemicals at all (except dechlorinator) if you can. Good luck and PM me if you want to know more about RO systems.

 

[TankGirl]

I would abandon the use of the chemicals to soften the water, as mentioned. If you are having pH swings from getting the dose right with Tank Soft then that might be the reason for the trouble you are having with the ram's colors.

I am lazy and have stopped trying to fight my hard water and now I am focusing on African cichlids and livebearers. I do have a 55 that is heavily planted, but I use CO2 injection and this lowers the pH, but I do a very diligent dance keeping fertilizers and whatnot in the right parameters and it is kindof a pain!

If you don't mind spending a few sheckels on a R/O unit, it would be a good investment, and might even be something to consider for your whole house, since the hard water means deposits in your shower, dishwasher, clothes washer, etc.

Good luck!

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

What are the pH, GH, and KH levels of your tap water and what type fish are you keeping?

Unless you're trying to breed apistos or discus, I really doubt it's the hardness that's stressing your fish: my guess would be the fluctuations in the water's chemisty being caused by the additives.

 

[nick_schembri]

I use an ion exchange resin in my discus tank. You place the resin inside a sock or something porous and place it in the filter. It can reduce your hardness to 6 dGH in about 5 hours. But this depends on your tank size and what type of filter you use.