bpcatch22

Hey all,

I bought 5 neons to add to the other 3 I have in my 55gal lightly planted freshwater tank. Within a day 3 of them had died. So I decided to test my water today and see if something was off. This is what I came up with:

PH - 7.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate ~ 5-10

GH - 1.5
KH - 1

I want a soft water tank, but I don't think it is supposed to be this soft! My stock right now is as follows:

5 neon tetras
3 white clouds
2 dwarf gouramis
1 danio
1 albino cory cat
1 shrimp
a total of 10 plants that are growing well and look healthy

I change about 10 gallons of water every 2 weeks using RO dosed with 1 1/2 tsp of KENT RO RIGHT per 5gal bucket. This is the dose recommended for a soft water tank suitable for discus (which I plan to add a couple in the future). I dose with a capful of Flourish Excel daily. My GH has been a steady 4 and KH a steady 3 for quite some time. I have not changed anything in the tank and have been doing things the same for months now. Why the change in hardness over the last couple of months? (that is when I last tested)

Is the low GH and KH why the neons died, I know I acclimated them well before I added them to the tank. What should I do to get them back up? Or do I need to do anything at all?

Any and all help is appreciated!

THANKS, BP

Jay

Hey bpcatch22

IME Neon Tetras are not the easiest fish to keep. They are very sensitive to changes in water parameters.

The low KH and GH could be from a number factors, plants for example will use up your calcium and magnesium which is what your test kit measures. I have never used the Kent product but have not heard great things about it. I use Equilibrium by Seachem to adjust my GH. I would suggest changing products as Seachem will be forthcoming about the contents. Once you dose the GH booster to 4 or 5 your KH should come up some. If not enough, you can dose baking soda (carbonates) to increase your KH.

Jay

__________________
High Tech & Heavily Planted

bpcatch22

OK, so how do I go about doing this? Dose it all at once, or slowly over a few days?And what should my target readings be for both GH and KH?

Thanks, BP

Jay

For your soft water...future Discus water. I would do it over a period of hours. The instructions for Equilibrium are fairly straightforward. I would, from RO water, target GH at 6-8 and KH at 4-5. IMO I think you will be ok just dosing the Equilibrium, but all tanks do not behave the same way.

Jay

__________________
High Tech & Heavily Planted

bpcatch22

Ok, just want to make sure I got this right. I just ordered some Equilibrium so it will be here in about a week. Until then can I do the same thing with the KENT RO RIGHT liquid? I only have one small bottle of it left anyway, might as well use it up?

So should I just dose it right into the tank, say a small amount every hour or so, then test with my test kit for GH and KH? Then repeat the whole process every hour until I get my target readings on my test kit? Raising the GH and KH this quickly won't hurt my fish and plants? Just want to make sure to be safe.

Oh by the way my test kit is a TETRA LABORETTE liquid test master kit if that matters any.

Thanks again for all the help, BP

bpcatch22

Jay,
In addition to the questions above, I have one more.

From a cost savings standpoint, would I be better off to mix RO with tap water at half and half? I just mixed some up and tested it with these results:

PH - just a touch above 7
GH - 4
KH - 3

Which would you suggest going with?

THANKS, BP

Jay

Frankly, unless your tap or well water is really awful, I would use just tap water. I use tap water in all of my fw tanks. I do boost the GH a bit with Equilibrium and use Prime to condition it.

I would add the product according to the instructions. You will need to dissolve the product in water prior to adding it to the tank. Don't be concerned, as it takes a while to get this stuff dissolved, and it will cloud the tank for a few hours after you pour it in. It is not harmful to the fish or plants.

Jay

__________________
High Tech & Heavily Planted

bpcatch22

The only things I don't like about my tap water are that the PH is over 8, and it is a little bit hard for the fish I am keeping and want to keep in the future. That is why I thought about mixing it with RO. Other than that it would be ok. Would beat having to carry the heavy jugs of RO around all the time.

I just tried a dose of RO RIGHT into my tank according to the instructions on the bottle, waited an hour, tested, and did not see any change on my test reading. It says on the bottle that some test kits wont pick it up. Should I try another dose? I don't want to over do it if I can't test for it.

BP

Jay

Mixing RO and Tap is no problem IMO.

The importance GH is often overlooked or not clearly understood by beginning hobbyists.

When you are measuring GH with a hobby test kit, the only thing you are really checking is Ca expressed as ppm/CaC04. The test "assumes" magnesium is there. A GH booster like Equilibrium doses Ca and Mg in a reasonable proportion plus other electrolytes necessary for healthy fish and plants. You would really have to make an effort to over dose using the bottled stuff. Like I said before, if I do not know what ingredients are in bottle, I am not going to dose it.

__________________
High Tech & Heavily Planted

bpcatch22

Here is what I think I am going to do from now on. Please tell me if you do not agree.

I am going to start mixing tap and RO at half and half for my water changes from now on starting today.

If you do not think it will harm anything, I will wait until the Equilibrium comes in that I just ordered to dose my tank back to what it is supposed to be (you said to shoot for GH 6~8 and KH 4~5 right?) And also use it to boost the GH in the mixture of tap and RO used for water changes.

If I am understanding you correctly, My test kit will measure the GH and KH accurately since the Equilibrium doses Ca and Mg and that is what the test kit reads. Is this correct or do I need another means for testing them?

Thanks, BP