Questions on water parameters

[mom2reds]

Ok I am not very good at water chemistry, I have a 75 gallon tank that has been up and running for several years, well I actually moved all my stuff from my 100 gallon tank to it about a year ago and my 100 gallon had been running for about 7 or 8 years. A little back ground on my tank we moved in September to the country and now have well water, which is very very hard so we had to have a water softener on all our faucets in the house, so all of my water changes are being done with ro water, I got lazy a while back and added some well water thinking that the minerals would be good for my plants and it would be easier than hauling water from town in. Needless to say I lost a bunch of fish even though it was mixed with RO water 50/50. So now I am doing straight RO. I just did a 50% water change today and checked my parameters about 4 hours later. They are
Ph 8.2 ammonia, nitrate ad nitrites are all 0
Kh took 6 drops and my Gh took12 drops to change the water color.
Doesn't this mean my water is very hard still? How can this be when all I am adding is RO water and how can my ph be so high?

 

[ImACoolguy]

If I was a gambling man I would guess the sudden change in pH due to the addition of so much well water.


Caleb

 

[Hooked on Fish]

Hi Mom2reds,

GH 12 and pH 8.2 is definitely high for plants. I usually aim for GH 6-7 and a pH between 7.0-7.4. What are you using for a substrate? This could influencing the pH and or hardness.

As for the issue with the well water it's possibly high in zinc or copper. Fish are far more sensitive to these heavy metals than humans.

Have you thought about getting a rain water collection facility? That might be more convenient and cheaper than driving to town to buy RO water. I'd still run it through a ceramic/carbon filter to remove contaminants though. However if you are using water that is pretty much pure you will need to add a balanced mix of freshwater aquarium salts.

 

[mom2reds]

I have Eco complete for a substrate and have had it for almost 8 years. Other than a few new plants nothing has changed in my tank. I guess I will just have to wait for several more water changes and see if that helps. I am betting you are right on the zinc or copper, being the culprit in my fish loss. It does not rain much here usually although we have had a bunch lately, praise the Lord. I am adding in flourish complete and excel.