Good afternoon, lovely people. I'm having some trouble keeping my plants looking healthy and I'd like some help.
First, the tank:
20 gallon long, freshwater community (dwarf gourami, 3x harlequin rasboras, cory cat, otocinclus, guppy, and a platy). 30 gallon Top Fin power filter (replaced monthly with my big water change), 30 gallon air pump running to a bubbly clam and an air stone. I do 10% weekly and 20% monthly water changes. I use seachem prime for water changes, and seachem flourish root tabs + seachem flourish liquid fertilizer (2 doses per week). I don't remember every plant in the tank, but there's a sword, bacopa, cardinal plant, java fern, and some other guys. I'm not seeing great growth and I'm picking leaves out of the filter intake almost every day. They're all looking a little ragged. I have LED lights and a a T8 fluorescent designed for plant growth. They're on a 9hr timer. I see a little algae growth, but it's pretty sparse and I'm not concerned, as it's food for my oto.
My water chemistry is great, with two very notable exceptions. My hardness and alkalinity are through the roof, maxing out my test strips at GH 300 ppm and KH 200-300 ppm respectively. It's unfeasible for me to get a water softener for my water supply, so I wanted to know if there was a liquid water softener that's safe for use in aquariums. As for the alkalinity I'm a little stuck. I have no experience with RO filters, so am I basically just going to need to add purified water to the tank with every water change?
Any help is appreciated, guys
First, the tank:
20 gallon long, freshwater community (dwarf gourami, 3x harlequin rasboras, cory cat, otocinclus, guppy, and a platy). 30 gallon Top Fin power filter (replaced monthly with my big water change), 30 gallon air pump running to a bubbly clam and an air stone. I do 10% weekly and 20% monthly water changes. I use seachem prime for water changes, and seachem flourish root tabs + seachem flourish liquid fertilizer (2 doses per week). I don't remember every plant in the tank, but there's a sword, bacopa, cardinal plant, java fern, and some other guys. I'm not seeing great growth and I'm picking leaves out of the filter intake almost every day. They're all looking a little ragged. I have LED lights and a a T8 fluorescent designed for plant growth. They're on a 9hr timer. I see a little algae growth, but it's pretty sparse and I'm not concerned, as it's food for my oto.
My water chemistry is great, with two very notable exceptions. My hardness and alkalinity are through the roof, maxing out my test strips at GH 300 ppm and KH 200-300 ppm respectively. It's unfeasible for me to get a water softener for my water supply, so I wanted to know if there was a liquid water softener that's safe for use in aquariums. As for the alkalinity I'm a little stuck. I have no experience with RO filters, so am I basically just going to need to add purified water to the tank with every water change?
Any help is appreciated, guys