Hard Water Because Of Drift Wood?

[thefishycouple]

Recently I have added 2 medium pieces of driftwood to my 30G fish tank.
I have one of those Red Sea's "real time" co2 indicators. It shows i have low co2 in the water.
As of right now my water properties are as followed:
pH: 6.8
gH: 12 (214 ppm)
kH 3 (53.7 ppm)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5

I have a couple fish in there including 6 Neon Tetras, (purchased last Tuesday, 2 have already died.) and I know Tetras don't like hard water, which seems to be my case.
I guess what I need to do in order to get everything back to normal is to either do a water change with distilled water or add some kind of product such as Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Water Softener Pillow. If the chemical is needed, is it any good?
My plants seem to be doing fine so far. (A little less green than usual)
Is the driftwood contributing to the hardness in the water and decreasing the co2 level?
Please help out before another Tetra dies or something else goes wrong with the tank.
Thanks

 

[Dave Spencer]

Whilst tetras do prefer soft water, I am led to believe that most you find in the hobby nowadays have become more tolerant of a wider range of water chemistry. Your fish may be diseased in some way. Did you get them from a reputable source?

I`m not sure what you mean by driftwood, but if it is a dark brown then it will contain tannins which can discolour the water brown, but will also make it acidic. Your Tetras will love this.

As a beginner myself, I am wondering why you are measuring CO2, perhaps you have a good reason. Somebody with more knowledge than me might help you out here, but personally, I only measure CO2 because I use CO2 injection for my plants. I aim for 30ppm.

Hope this helps.

 

[Liam]

The driftwood will soften and acidify your water if anything. Your water with a PH of 6.8 and a KH of 3 is very soft already. That’s great water for Amazon fish like the neons. You don’t want to soften it any more a KH of 3 is the least you can have when using Co2, (am pretty sure)
The neons won’t have died because of the ph or hardness unless the lfs you got them had very different water.

Mr G has a thread here about permanent Co2 tests which might give you some explanation.

 

[thefishycouple]

The one thing I don't understand is that if I have a ph of 6.8 and a kh of 3, I'd have a co2 level of 14ppm (Which is green according to charts)
BTW, I inject co2 using a DIY (Red Sea) method.
I got my Tetras from Big Al's. If they do have a disease, what could it be? They don't show any physical or behavior characteristics for it.

About the pieces of wood, yes they're dark brown and bulky. I guess the way to go would be to do a major water change (<50%) with distilled water. Thanks


BTW, water is clear....no residues of brown or anything.

 

[Gnatfish]

I guess the way to go would be to do a major water change (<50%) with distilled water.

Why? What do you think is wrong with your water?

It's definitely not hard! pH 6.8 is great for tetras.

If they do have a disease, what could it be? They don't show any physical or behavior characteristics for it.

...Well if they had a disease they would show "physical or behavior characteristics for it." then you could look those symptoms up. Or ask on here.

 

[thefishycouple]

I guess the way to go would be to do a major water change (<50%) with distilled water.

Why? What do you think is wrong with your water. It's definitely not hard! pH 6.8 is great for tetras.

Neons prefer a gH range of 0-3 (0-50 ppm)
My gH is 12 (214 ppm)
That's what's wrong.
So my question again is, I'd like to lower my gH to a lower, safer level for Neons. Is a major water change the best for reaching this? Thanks

 

[thefishycouple]

fishkiller_nomore, do you mean planting some Ceratophyllum?
If so, what do you think of these I found at http/www.azgardens.com/bunched_plants.php (25th down)