Hard Water

[Andreeuh]

Basically in the topic... How do I get rid of hard water? Also, does using Ammolock help in speeding up the cycling process. Is it safe to add the fish sooner?

Thanks!

 

[kjharve]

The easiest way to soften hard water is to add soft water. Bottled water is usually the best option. You'll need to check what it contains though. I'm afraid I don't know which US brand bottled water is soft.

As for Ammo-lock, from my limited knowledge of it, all it does is render the ammonia less harmful. It doesn't actually remove it and should only be used in emergencies. Once added it won't do much good against new ammonia that develops.

The only way to get an instant cycled tank is to use BioSpira. A good way to speed it up cycling is to add a source of bacteria from another tank. This would preferably be filter media but anything else is feasible.

 

[Araxen]

Is bottled water safe for an aquarium? I never considered it till I read this post. I have 8.0ph water and have been wanting to lower the ph of the water and never considered this option of just using bottled water.

 

[RadaR]

The best way is to use an RO unit. There other alternatives though like rain water and an ion exchanger coming off a tap. Distilled water works a bit too i think.

 

[Don155]

Bottled water is safe for aquariums if you take the usual precautions. I.E. treat it like tap water and use a declorinator just to be safe.

Having said that, I do not recommend messing with your water hardness. Fish actually will prefer slightly hard or even just plain hard water. In other words they will easily adapt to the condition of the water you put them into.

Softer water is more suseptible to pH flucuations and those changes are what can seriously harm your fish. Harder water generally contains a buffer that guards against sudden changes in water pH. If you soften the water, you can easily remove that buffer and end up with problems.

In addition, deviating from the water type prevalent in your area makes the maintenance of your aquarium harder as you will be constantly trying to "adjust" the water to match what is in your tank already. This causes more opprotunities to mess it up and cause damage and disease to your fish stock. Remember the fish sold at your LFS will probably already be aclimated to the water type most prevalent in your area.

For the second question, do NOT use ammolock if you are trying to cycle your tank. Using it will lock the ammonia available to your bio bacteria and stall the cycle. Plus, the ammonia reading will never lower without large water changes since the bacteria will no longer be able to break it down.

The best way to mitigate ammonia is through frequent water changes to dilute the ammonia and keep it in the low zone. You can also use Seachem's PRIME to help detoxify the remaining ammonia and nitrites but also keep them available for the bacteria.