Water Chemistry Problem

[Hermaniak]

I need help stabilizing my water.
I have a well, the water is filtered and softened.
I also have a RO unit for drinking water.

My regular water has a KH of around 200 ppm, but the GH is near zero.
My RO water has a KH of zero and a GH of zero.

I am not sure how this is possible.

Any suggestions on raising the GH?

We would like to keep guppies, but have killed a half of a dozen so far. I used a commercial pH stabilizer with buffer-but this did not help. I suspect the pH is fluctuating wildly due to the very low GH.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

 

[HooKooDooKu]

I've got no direct experience with dealing with soft water, a little bit of quick researching suggests putting crushed coral in the tank as a source of minerals to harden the water.

Of course as you do water changes, you don't want to make sudden changes to the water quality. You should be able to avoid sudden water chemistry changes if you "pre-treat" your water for water changes by keeping a large bucket with crushed coral in it as well. The day or so before you do a water change, place the water in the bucket with the crushed coral to give the new water a chance to harden up some before adding it to the tank.

 

[Caliban07]

I need help stabilizing my water.

I have a well, the water is filtered and softened.

I also have a RO unit for drinking water.



My regular water has a KH of around 200 ppm, but the GH is near zero.

My RO water has a KH of zero and a GH of zero.



I am not sure how this is possible.



Any suggestions on raising the GH?



We would like to keep guppies, but have killed a half of a dozen so far. I used a commercial pH stabilizer with buffer-but this did not help. I suspect the pH is fluctuating wildly due to the very low GH.



Any ideas?



Thank you!

RO and 'softened' water are not ideal for aquariums. Softeners replace calcium and magnesium ions for sodium ions which increases total dissolved solids (TDS) because the ratio is usually 3:1 in favour of sodium.

RO strips the water of most ions, molecules and large particles to create pure water. You need to then remineralise the water so that it is suitable for fish.

Guppies typically prefer hard water (although they are highly adaptable). Fish regulate water moving in and out of their bodies and need to keep a balance. Guppies placed in RO will have lots of water entering their bodies due to the phenomenon known as osmosis. They have to get rid of it constantly to maintain a balance and this puts a strain on their bodies.

You can buy product that remineralise the water such as seachem equilibrium. Someone else maybe able to help with the rest because I have never used it.

There may be many reasons your guppies are dying. Ammonia etc.