How do i soften the water??

[Riley]

hello,

I set up my tank about ummm maybe 2 weeks ago and im cycleing it. But where i live our water is really hard. Im leaning at getting a discus tank but how can i soften the water? i bought some correct ph that lowers your ph too 7.0 but stupidly i didn't read a tiny bit of the instructions that said that if you have really hard alkaline water you should soften first.so i put the little tablets in and it was at about 7.0 that night then this morning i tested it and its back up to about 7.5-8.0 or 8.0-8.5, so i was just wondering if anyone new how too soften your water

please reply

 

[semper fi]

you get a temporary lower ph due to the kh and gh still being high. to lower the ph you will need to also lower those to keep the ph stable. do you know the levels of the kh and gh? you can lower the kh by boiling the replacement water first. gh can be lowered by adding distilled water. also you can invest in an ro unit.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Yup, you really are best off getting an R/O unit, or choosing a fish that can better handle your water. Solutions like PH down create unstable environments and ultimitely make matters worse.

 

[Riley]

whats a ro unit?

 

[Elite]

I'm not sure what an R-O unit is, but I've always heard that it is sooo much easier to get a fish that matches your pH than it is to change it for another kind of fish. Unless you're absoloutly set on discus (and I wouldn't blame you), a lot of african cichlids would be PERFECT for your level pH. I'd suggest a Malawi set up because they have lovely colours like the discus. Very different looking from the discus, though.

 

[semper fi]

a ro, reverse osmosis, unit is a filtration system that removes minerals, salts and other trace elements from the water producing pure raw water. they do not filter the water for toxins though

 

[Blade]

Don't get wild caught discus, change the water often and there is no reason why you can't have discus. You won't be able to breed them but they will do just fine