Sophia Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 What test kit is it that tells you whether you have 'soft' water, ie the kind that the characins and many river fish enjoy? And other than collecting rain water, is there any way you can help make the water softer? Is pH an indicator of water softness, or the presence of happily multiplying ramshorn snails? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 soft water is usually neutral - acidic. The term soft means there is a lack or lower concentration of minerals like calcium and magnesium for example. Bog wood and peat are commonly used to soften water. Reverse osmosis also creates soft water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 I think my killie tank has soft water as the snails don't thrive and their shells turn white and they die. There is salt in there and bog wood, water is yellowy colour. The ph is in the low 7s I think. It takes 3 drops for the carbonate hardness test to turn yellow. I understand that the sort of softness we are talking about is not reflected in the carbonate hardness either. :dunno: The cory/loach tank seems to have harder water as the snails are thriving (and not being eaten by my loaches :-? ) and the pH is about 7.6. It does have bog wood and a few leaves. There is no salt in there and it takes maybe 6 drops for the carbonate hardness test to turn yellow. The water is on the yellow side too. I would like the loach tank to have softer water as that is what the fish in there are supposed to prefer. Reverse osmosis is not something I think I could get into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 It is sometimes best to link to articles here so that things are explained correctly there is a very good run down of it here.. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/w ... mistry.php But generally GH refers to the hardness of your water (ie soft or hard water) KH is the carbonate hardness (or buffering) and PH is how adic or alkaline it is.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 thanks Ryan, that is interesting and I will read it till I understand the differences . I have a question regarding this statement : I consider intentionally lowering pH a tricky and dangerous business because it is impossible to do without affecting KH. You must first �use up� the buffering capacity and then any further steps you take will immediately lower the pH. Is there a way to naturally 'use up' the buffering capacity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 What is the KH of your water to start with? It is probably easier to find water with a lower KH and change the PH of that.. Failing that you can just keep dumping more peat etc in there to try and overcome the buffering (which might be what they are talking about here). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 The easiest and cheapest way to get high quality soft water for your fish is to collect rain water. just run one of the down pipes from your roof into a 200L drum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 The easiest and cheapest way to get high quality soft water for your fish is to collect rain water. just run one of the down pipes from your roof into a 200L drum. For now I have scooped off a few litres from my 80L bug-quarium that was overflowing in the rain. What is the KH of your water to start with? It is probably easier to find water with a lower KH and change the PH of that.. Failing that you can just keep dumping more peat etc in there to try and overcome the buffering (which might be what they are talking about here). From the tap it's 4 drops or 71.6 ppm to turn yellow, in the cory/loach tank it's 7 drops or 125.3 ppm. I see that the buffering is useful, but if I have a regular feeding and water change regime, and normally good water parameters, where would a pH spike come from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 where would a pH spike come from? As nitrates rise, the PH in a tank with unbuffered water rises So the PH of your tank will gradually build up all week and then crash when you do a water change. So it's more a matter of PH swings and crashes rather than spikes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 I seeeeee I will do some daily testing and see how it looks. From memory my nitrates are fairly consistent at 5-10ppm only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Is pH an indicator of water softness pH is a measure of how acidic your water is, KH and GH will tell you about the hardness [or lack of]. My tanks all have a similar GH/KH to the tap water, but the tap water is pH >8.6 and the tanks range in pH from <6.0 to about 7.6...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 I think what I was getting at here was that my killie tank has KH-softer water than the cory tank and it has salt. The addition of salt alters the ph I think too, so I was thinking that acid/alkaline could indicate soft/hard. So I think it is the addition of salt as a mineral/whatever that has altered the softness/hardness. I don't know. One day it will all come together in my brain. :facepalm: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Saline water is neutral, whether it alters hardness i don't know.. Theres heaps on info on wikipedia if you want to look up hardness etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 16, 2011 Report Share Posted April 16, 2011 Sodium chloride (common salt) will not alter pH or hardness. Seawater may contain calcium or magnesium ions which will raise the hardness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted April 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2011 it's brookfields tonic salt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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