Hardness: does this make sense
- Thread starter seangee
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OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
not sure recharging will be worth the effort tbh. If the cartrige lasts a couple of months they are around GBP13 - that' s cheaper than buying RO. I would only be filtering around 60 litres per week. If not the resin on its own is around GBP60 for a 25KG bag, which I suspect will last several years.
OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
No observable difference to the fish but the plants are loving it. I have never managed to grow water sprite planted in the substarte in this tank. There is plenty floating (which has never looked great) and I do keep trying to plant it. Suddenly some of the planted ones have shot up and are looking very healthy. My vals (v spiralis) have also put on a massive growth spurt and are spreading far more than they have ever done.
I think I am going to soften the water in my nano slightly. This does have hard water fish but I do get some de-calcification from my vals in there. Not enough to actually reduce the hardness (at least not if I keep changing 60% of the water a week), but it means the leaves are covered in limescale - which doesn't look great
I think I am going to soften the water in my nano slightly. This does have hard water fish but I do get some de-calcification from my vals in there. Not enough to actually reduce the hardness (at least not if I keep changing 60% of the water a week), but it means the leaves are covered in limescale - which doesn't look great
OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
Update: The community tank is now at around 6dGH. dKH holding steady at 15 and pH at 7.2. I am not going to actively reduce it further but keeping at filtering 75% of the water that goes in means it will tend towards 4dGH.
Two interesting asides. I mentioned in my first post the filter dropped the water to 4d. That was in a cheap canister I bought on Amazon. When I tried in the more expensive Pozzani canister it did drop it all the way to 0. Tried with the same cartridge several times to confirm so obviously not all canisters are equal. It also appears that ion exchange filters don''t gradually degrade. They work at full capacity until exhausted and then stop. So if you get a non zero reading its time to change the cartridge because the next time you use it it won't do anything.
Two interesting asides. I mentioned in my first post the filter dropped the water to 4d. That was in a cheap canister I bought on Amazon. When I tried in the more expensive Pozzani canister it did drop it all the way to 0. Tried with the same cartridge several times to confirm so obviously not all canisters are equal. It also appears that ion exchange filters don''t gradually degrade. They work at full capacity until exhausted and then stop. So if you get a non zero reading its time to change the cartridge because the next time you use it it won't do anything.
OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
Been a while so here is an update.
My GH did get down to and stay at 4d. KH stubbornly refused to drop any further and pH stabilised at 7.2. I would prefer slightly acidic water but I am not hung up about it. But...
Like any DI resin the harder it has to work the quicker it gets depleted. My cartriges were lasting less than a month for weekly changes. That means constant testing of the filtered water and having to ensure a constant supply of new cartriges. The same applies to my nitrate reduction cartriges.
So today I switched to RO water for the big tank. I have changed the ratio to 2 parts RO to 1 part tap water which should see everything stabilising at around 5dGH and 7dKH. No detectable change in GH after today's change but the KH did drop to 10d which is about what I expected. No pH change yet but I guess that will take time if it happens at all. And of course the RO water already has zero nitrate. Possibly wouldn't need to filter for nitrate at all but I have to for the nano anyway so will continue.
The price difference between buying cartriges and buying RO is pretty small. It does mean regular trips to LFS but for the time being that's the way it will go.
Oh yes: I thought I was imagining that my tetras (cardinals and glowlights) look brighter. A friend came around for lunch today. He hasn't seen my fish for around 8 months. The first thing he said was "Have you dyed your fish? They look much brighter"
My GH did get down to and stay at 4d. KH stubbornly refused to drop any further and pH stabilised at 7.2. I would prefer slightly acidic water but I am not hung up about it. But...
Like any DI resin the harder it has to work the quicker it gets depleted. My cartriges were lasting less than a month for weekly changes. That means constant testing of the filtered water and having to ensure a constant supply of new cartriges. The same applies to my nitrate reduction cartriges.
So today I switched to RO water for the big tank. I have changed the ratio to 2 parts RO to 1 part tap water which should see everything stabilising at around 5dGH and 7dKH. No detectable change in GH after today's change but the KH did drop to 10d which is about what I expected. No pH change yet but I guess that will take time if it happens at all. And of course the RO water already has zero nitrate. Possibly wouldn't need to filter for nitrate at all but I have to for the nano anyway so will continue.
The price difference between buying cartriges and buying RO is pretty small. It does mean regular trips to LFS but for the time being that's the way it will go.
Oh yes: I thought I was imagining that my tetras (cardinals and glowlights) look brighter. A friend came around for lunch today. He hasn't seen my fish for around 8 months. The first thing he said was "Have you dyed your fish? They look much brighter"
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