So I got a API KH and GH test kit. Haven't done the KH yet but the GH is 232.7ppm. So a little lower than tap but a bit higher than the 200ppm I was hoping for... tomorrow is water change day. Going for a 75% change as suggested, which will roughly be roughly 30 litres. What is recommendation with mixing distilled water back with tap on refill. Dont want to shock the fish and I have got Shrimp as well. Or should I do a 50% change so it's no so intense??
Age old stocking question...
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Have you diluted the GH in the water now in the tank? If the GH of the aquarium water is "x" then you want the water used for each water change to also be "x" or reasonably close. There is some flexibility in this, but without all the data it is difficult to offer suggestions.
If you mix 3 parts of tap water to 1 part distilled or RO water you will end up with approx 175 ppm. As you have guppies in the tank you probably don't want to go lower than this. If you change 75% of the water using this mix you will end up with a GH of approx 190. (It will steadily drop thereafter with every water change). Since you are effectively only going to reduce the GH by 20% I would just go ahead and change 75% now.
You may want to double check my arithmetic as I didn't use a calculator
You may want to double check my arithmetic as I didn't use a calculator
And will this be ok for Shrimp also?If you mix 3 parts of tap water to 1 part distilled or RO water you will end up with approx 175 ppm. As you have guppies in the tank you probably don't want to go lower than this. If you change 75% of the water using this mix you will end up with a GH of approx 190. (It will steadily drop thereafter with every water change). Since you are effectively only going to reduce the GH by 20% I would just go ahead and change 75% now.
You may want to double check my arithmetic as I didn't use a calculator
Yes, that's fine for cherry shrimps.
So I found out today all my Corydoras have been kept solely on tap water in madienhead aquatics. I rang around a few stores and this is case for all when they get them in. They go through a quarantine process then are kept in tap water. The shops closest to me are all hard water areas. So now what do I do? Still try the mix method? Another thing is the price. If I follow the advice with 3 part tap to 1 part distilled I would be spending min of £50 a month looking online. Is RO water cheaper? Please help....
I have no clue what you mean, when you say "Kept in tap water". If any aquarium fish were to be kept in tap water, they would die very soon. (Due to chlorine)
I guess they condition it but it's not RO water
Mixing will be best. They can survive in hard water but will be suffering and die sooner than they would in the correct water
Why do you need RO water to QT your fish?
Oh… now I get it. Your tap water isn't the correct GH for cory cats, so you want to QT them with RO. I got you now.
Then yes. I suggest doing the 1:3 ratio.
Then yes. I suggest doing the 1:3 ratio.
No clue... I have never used RO water before. 
Edit: It all depends on where you live. Look around, investigate, find the best prices. Then go from there.
Edit: It all depends on where you live. Look around, investigate, find the best prices. Then go from there.
RO is fine. Just mix it outside of the tank. RO is better than distilled. Distilled has the minerals the fish need removed.
@Retired Viking can probably walk you through his process, he uses RO
@Retired Viking can probably walk you through his process, he uses RO
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Everything I posted previously about how fish are affected by parameters is scientific fact. However, fish can manage for a time if parameters are not what they need. A fish temporarily housed in harder water than it requires is not usually going to suddenly turn belly-up dead, though sometimes it might. Depending upon the GH, and the species, and the duration, the fish might get through this with barely any problem,and possibly for months. We cannot see any of this because it is how the fish's physiology is functioning. Think of it like people who have cancer; a person can have cancer for years before it is detected, and they would not know it--until it is too late. Fish like most animals have an instinct to survive and they will valiantly work to overcome obstacles, but at some point it can overwhelm them and then they succumb. But along the way, they are likely being impacted, and the shorter this period is, the less damage long-term.
The citation in blue from Nathan Hill in my signature relates to this.
The other thing about stores is that they hope to sell fsh quickly, because the longer they keep them the less profit. Few stores will have special water tanks according to the fish's needs, because it is very expensive and the fish should be largely unaffected if they sell them within a few weeks. When you get the fish home, you are now responsible for the life of the fish until it dies, and that is a very different situation.
I have never had to use RO, having very soft water. I have gone the other way, hardening the water for livebearers back in the 1980's. I will leave it for members with the experience to comment on RO, etc.
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