How to softened/hardened the water?

[Barry Tetra]

I have Discus, silver dollar, swordtail, kuhli, betta, ram, goldfish, pleco, blackghost knifefish, Green knifefish, angelfish. The questions is which fish need soft/hard water and how do I softened or hardened water? My GH is 3 dGH KH is 3 dKH pH is 7.5.

 

[Colin_T]

I have Discus, silver dollar, kuhli, betta, ram, pleco, blackghost knifefish, Green knifefish, angelfish.

These are all softwater fishes that do best in water with a GH below 150ppm.

The goldfish and swordtails require harder water with a GH around 200+ppm.​

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To increase the GH you add mineral salts like calcium and magnesium chloride. You can buy bags of African Rift Lake water conditioner that these and will increase the GH, KH and pH.

The reduce the GH, use rain water, distilled water or reverse osmosis water.

 

[Byron]

All livebearers (swordtails mentioned, and guppies, platies, mollies, endlers) must have moderately hard or harder water. These terms are subjective, but generally you want a GH of 12 dGH or higher. It doesn't matter much how high, it is the minimum (12 dGH) that is crucial for fish requiring minerals in the water. There are other fish not mentioned in your initial post that would also require this, such as some of the rainbowfishes.

The other mentioned fish are all soft water. Some of these will be fine with soft water that is closer to being moderate (in the 8dGH to 10dGH range), while others need it softer. With all soft water species, they will be fine with your water having a GH of 3 dGH. The pH will tend to lower in time which is fine, as these fish also tend to prefer an acidic pH.

Reliable sources will give a range for each species, and with few exceptions all you need recognize is the difference between soft and hard. For example, all the fish listed (except the swordtails) are basically "soft water" species, so it does not matter if the range for the individual species might be 3-4dGH for one, and 5-6dGH for another...all will be fine in "soft" water like you have. It is the harder water swordtails that will struggle and weaken.

You have no need to soften your water, and if you remove the swordtails, you have no reason to adjust it at all. This is by far the way to go...select fish suited to your water.

Hardening water is easier than softening water. But if you harden the water, you then have issues for soft water fish which will be better with the present water. You cannot make conditions better for the swordtails if they are in the same tank as the other fish. The swordtails must be removed, either returned to the store, or placed in their own tank. If the latter, you can easily raise the GH (and KH and pH also, they are connected) by using a calcareous substrate or by purchasing minerals salts. "Salts" does not mean common table-type salt, sodium chloride, but the salts of minerals like calcium and magnesium. There are rift lake cichlid salts available that will do this.

Using the mineral salts means having to prepare fresh water outside the aquarium for each water change; you cannot do the mixing in the tank with fish. This makes water changes more involved, and it can get expensive. Using a calcareous substrate is permanent. Sand such as aragonite is ideal. Crushed coral is not, as it is only part of the issue.

 

[utahfish]

To raise GH one can buy a bucket of calcium chloride sold at most pool/ hot tub stores. If one buys a liquid calcium for instance seachum calcium it is derived from calcium chloride. For magnesium least expensive alternative is just plain epsom salts which is magnesium sulfate. One would need to dose both in water outside the tank and id suggest doing so separately as mixing calcium chloride and magnesium sulfate together cause them to clump together and take alot longer to dissolve. I use rotalabutterfly nutrient calculator to figure how much of each i need to get my GH where i want it. Or you could just get rid of your sword tails save yourself the trouble and just keep soft water fish

 

[Barry Tetra]

These are all softwater fishes that do best in water with a GH below 150ppm.

The goldfish and swordtails require harder water with a GH around 200+ppm.

-------------------
To increase the GH you add mineral salts like calcium and magnesium chloride. You can buy bags of African Rift Lake water conditioner that these and will increase the GH, KH and pH.

The reduce the GH, use rain water, distilled water or reverse osmosis water.

Sorry for being stupid but what’s the difference between KH and GH?

 

[Colin_T]

pH is the measurement used to tell us if something is an acid, neutral or alkaline/ base. Pure distilled water has a no mineral content and a pH of 7.0 and is considered neutral.

If something breaks down in pure water the pH drops and becomes acidic (pH goes below 7.0).

If minerals are added to pure water the pH goes up and becomes basic or alkaline (pH goes above 7.0).

Carbonate Hardness (KH) is the measurement of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. These normally increase the pH. When there are acids in the water, the acids cause the pH to drop. If there are plenty of carbonates/ bicarbonates in the water, they neutralise the acids and help stop the pH from dropping.

General Hardness (GH) is the measurement of minerals in the water and usually measures calcium and magnesium chlorides. The more calcium and or magnesium chlorides in the water, the harder it is.

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If you have hard water, it contains lots of minerals and it usually contains lots of carbonates and bicarbonates. To lower the hardness, you dilute the hard water with soft water. Reverse osmosis (r/o) water, distilled water and rain water have no minerals and is very soft water. Mixing some of this soft water with the hard water will reduce the GH, KH and pH of the hard water.

If you want to reduce the pH, you can add small amounts of acidic substances like carbon dioxide (CO2), peat moss, drift wood and things like sodium biphosphate to lower the pH. These acids get neutralised by the carbonates/ bicarbonates and when the carbonates and bicarbonates have been used up, the pH drops.

--------------
To increase the GH you add minerals like calcium and magnesium chloride.

To increase the KH you add carbonates and bicarbonates (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate).
When you add carbonates & bicarbonates the pH will go up.

A small amount of sodium bicarbonate will not affect the fish, but it is preferable not to add sodium to tanks with freshwater fishes in.

 

[Barry Tetra]

pH is the measurement used to tell us if something is an acid, neutral or alkaline/ base. Pure distilled water has a no mineral content and a pH of 7.0 and is considered neutral.

If something breaks down in pure water the pH drops and becomes acidic (pH goes below 7.0).

If minerals are added to pure water the pH goes up and becomes basic or alkaline (pH goes above 7.0).

Carbonate Hardness (KH) is the measurement of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. These normally increase the pH. When there are acids in the water, the acids cause the pH to drop. If there are plenty of carbonates/ bicarbonates in the water, they neutralise the acids and help stop the pH from dropping.

General Hardness (GH) is the measurement of minerals in the water and usually measures calcium and magnesium chlorides. The more calcium and or magnesium chlorides in the water, the harder it is.

---------------
If you have hard water, it contains lots of minerals and it usually contains lots of carbonates and bicarbonates. To lower the hardness, you dilute the hard water with soft water. Reverse osmosis (r/o) water, distilled water and rain water have no minerals and is very soft water. Mixing some of this soft water with the hard water will reduce the GH, KH and pH of the hard water.

If you want to reduce the pH, you can add small amounts of acidic substances like carbon dioxide (CO2), peat moss, drift wood and things like sodium biphosphate to lower the pH. These acids get neutralised by the carbonates/ bicarbonates and when the carbonates and bicarbonates have been used up, the pH drops.

--------------
To increase the GH you add minerals like calcium and magnesium chloride.

To increase the KH you add carbonates and bicarbonates (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate).
When you add carbonates & bicarbonates the pH will go up.

A small amount of sodium bicarbonate will not affect the fish, but it is preferable not to add sodium to tanks with freshwater fishes in.

I heard baking soda is dangerous to fish?

 

[Colin_T]

Some brands of baking soda have sodium bicarbonate in and most people don't like adding sodium to freshwater tanks because it can damage the fish's kidneys if they are exposed to high levels or just exposed to it for a long time. This is mainly an issue with soft water fishes like tetras, labyrinths, barbs and rasboras. It is not a big issue with livebearers, goldfish or rainbowfish.

A small amount of sodium bicarbonate that is used to increase the pH a little bit, will not harm fish. However, sudden changes in pH (up or down) will harm fish.

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Other brands of baking soda have different things in and these other things can harm the fish.

If you are going to use baking soda to raise the pH, make sure it only contains sodium bicarbonate and try not to use it too often.

Generally a safer way to increase the pH is to add shells, dead coral rubble or limestone. These are made of calcium carbonate and will slowly raise the pH and keep it there. Unlike baking soda, which gets used up pretty quickly and then you have to add more. And if the pH starts going up and down, the fish will suffer.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Some brands of baking soda have sodium bicarbonate in and most people don't like adding sodium to freshwater tanks because it can damage the fish's kidneys if they are exposed to high levels or just exposed to it for a long time. This is mainly an issue with soft water fishes like tetras, labyrinths, barbs and rasboras. It is not a big issue with livebearers, goldfish or rainbowfish.

A small amount of sodium bicarbonate that is used to increase the pH a little bit, will not harm fish. However, sudden changes in pH (up or down) will harm fish. Another questions is why LFS use normal water with softwater and wont harm any livebearer fish?

--------
Other brands of baking soda have different things in and these other things can harm the fish.

If you are going to use baking soda to raise the pH, make sure it only contains sodium bicarbonate and try not to use it too often.

Generally a safer way to increase the pH is to add shells, dead coral rubble or limestone. These are made of calcium carbonate and will slowly raise the pH and keep it there. Unlike baking soda, which gets used up pretty quickly and then you have to add more. And if the pH starts going up and down, the fish will suffer.

Yesterday I pick sea shells from the sea and put in in the small container with hydrogen peroxide to breaches the shell, can I still use them?

 

[Colin_T]

If you find shells at the beach and there is nothing alive in them, just rinse under tap water and add to the tank. You don't have to sterilise them because they come from salt water and nothing will survive the transfer from sea water to fresh water.

If they have been in a container with hydrogen peroxide, just rinse them off and put them in a bucket of tap water. Leave them for a few hours then rinse off again and your good to go.

 

[Barry Tetra]

If you find shells at the beach and there is nothing alive in them, just rinse under tap water and add to the tank. You don't have to sterilise them because they come from salt water and nothing will survive the transfer from sea water to fresh water.

If they have been in a container with hydrogen peroxide, just rinse them off and put them in a bucket of tap water. Leave them for a few hours then rinse off again and your good to go.

Thank you as always @Colin_T @Byron @utahfish Another questions. Is it okay to put black ghost with discus and angel? I just bought big tank 70 gal.

 

[Colin_T]

Black ghost are fine with discus and angels.

Don't get carried away with tanks, a lot of people get excited when they first start out keeping fish and buy a heap of tanks. 12 months later they can't be bothered and the fish are left to die before the tanks are given away. I'm not saying you will give up, but don't let it take control.

 

[utahfish]

Thank you as always @Colin_T @Byron @utahfish Another questions. Is it okay to put black ghost with discus and angel? I just bought big tank 70 gal.

Id be less worried about the ghost knife and more worried about the discus. As mentioned before angels will out compete discus for food and are territorial and will stress the discus out. Best fish to put with discus are calm swimming dither fish, a shoal of tetras makes the discus feel safe as their presence indicates the absence of predators. As for a ghost knife, a ghost knife should be fine with either.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Id be less worried about the ghost knife and more worried about the discus. As mentioned before angels will out compete discus for food and are territorial and will stress the discus out. Best fish to put with discus are calm swimming dither fish, a shoal of tetras makes the discus feel safe as their presence indicates the absence of predators. As for a ghost knife, a ghost knife should be fine with either.

All of my angelfish are calm, all of them are female but for some reason my discuses and angels lay eggs every weeks, no success because no males.

 

[Byron]

Thank you as always @Colin_T @Byron @utahfish Another questions. Is it okay to put black ghost with discus and angel? I just bought big tank 70 gal.

Yes but no. First, angelfish and discus should never be housed together. As for the knifefish, yes, this is a good tankmate with either angelfish or discus. But the tank size must for the knifefish be no less than six feet in length and 2 feet in width. This fish grows to around 20 inches and is inflexible so it needs this space just to turn around.