Implications Of Very Soft Water?

[Katch]

I've just performed the Hagen KH and GH test on my tap water.

GH took just 2 drops to turn giving me about 20ppm

KH turned immediately on the first drop giving less than 10ppm

What are the implications to me and my fish having to operate with such soft water?

 

[Twinklecaz]

I think it means you have good conditions for Chichilds! I think anyway.

Low KH means your PH may swing about, I have a similar thing though mines not quite as low as yours.

Don't rely on me though, I'm not entirely sure.

 

[Katch]

I'm planning to keep Rams and/or Appistos so soft is good I know; my concern is pH swings and also my plants. I know plants prefer slightly higher pH. I'm considering adding a small bag of coral to my filter to try and give it a little lift. I don't want to end up with hard water but I'd prefer slightly soft as opposed to super soft!

 

[Twinklecaz]

Yeah. Would be good to have a happy medium

 

[Mo1959]

Same problem here. Super soft water that continually crashes to ph of 6 or maybe even less as that is all the kit goes down to. It keeps bringing my cycle to a stall. I have just received some crushed coral and have some lying in the tank in a sock!!!! Don't laugh. Waiting on filter media bags being delivered. It seems to have raised the ph a bit so hopefully my cycle will get under way again. I suppose I should be happy as I eventually want to stock a couple of shoals of tetras and one of corys so the water should suit them.

 

[OldMan47]

You have almost no pH buffer capacity so your pH will indeed swing wildly. Anything to stabilize the pH would be a good thing. Calcium carbonate will not only provide a bit harder water but will raise the pH quite a bit. Since you are looking to care for soft water fish, why not try a low dose of a commercial pH stabilizer in your tank water. It is not something I would normally recommend but your water conditions are not that common in the hobby. You are in the ideal position to be able to do things like breed cories if you choose to do so. I use large amounts of RO water mixed into my tap water to try to make my tanks suitable for them but you are already there. Please think hard about what you propose to do. There are tons of very nice South American fish from the Amazon system and similar places that the rest of us struggle to keep healthy. Those fish would absolutely thrive in your water.

 

[Mo1959]

Thanks OldMan. Fortunately it is tetras and corys I fancy anyway so I suppose I should be happy with my water conditions. I just get worried that even if I keep my ph raised enough to get through the cycle that it will somehow stall again once I have fish and not process their ammonia quickly enough or am I just worrying needlessly?

 

[Twinklecaz]

Oldman, butting in again but I'd love your opinion on my KH and GH readings as I'm a little confused. I've got a thread down the page somewhere

 

[OldMan47]

I try to visit each one each day but sometimes don't find the time Caz. If someone like WD is on the job with good advice, I usually do not comment though.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I think I'm going to end up the poster child for super soft water. KH/GH = 0, pH flatlined at 6.0 for most of the time I've had fish in the tank. I haven't experienced much in terms of actual fluctuations, but I guess the potential is there with such low mineral content.

I don't mind the low pH, since I've ordered some Bolivian Rams that should arrive in a few weeks. I hope they will do well in this water.

I think Robby and WD wrote a good article on buffering the pH capacity here:

Robby and WD speak out!

I'm going to add a bag of crushed coral to my tank to try and stabilize the situation.

 

[Mo1959]

Hi Gvilleguy. Sounds like we are in the same position. As I said in my post above, I am using some crushed coral to at least raise the ph to get my cycle done but I don't know if I want to leave it in permanently or not. I know that if I don't, my ph will be permanently around 6 and it worries me when I get fish that the filter will not have enough active bacteria to process their waste. Have you been managing with yours without noticing any ammonia or nitrite spikes? No doubt I am worrying needlessly but it just would be so frustrating to have struggled so long with the cycle for it all to go pear shaped anyway when I add fish!

Regards
Maureen

 

[craig855s]

Use tropicmarin remineral tropic to raise your hardness a tad, raises KH too to keep it stable. I use 2 level spoons per 25L of RO in my tank and my PH is bang on 7 and rock steady

 

[Gvilleguy]

Hi Gvilleguy. Sounds like we are in the same position. As I said in my post above, I am using some crushed coral to at least raise the ph to get my cycle done but I don't know if I want to leave it in permanently or not. I know that if I don't, my ph will be permanently around 6 and it worries me when I get fish that the filter will not have enough active bacteria to process their waste. Have you been managing with yours without noticing any ammonia or nitrite spikes? No doubt I am worrying needlessly but it just would be so frustrating to have struggled so long with the cycle for it all to go pear shaped anyway when I add fish!

Regards
Maureen

My bacteria do fine processing the waste - normally my ammonia and nitrites remain zero. The recovery time from a mistake is what hurts. I cleaned my filter and threw out a carbon pack, not realizing that it must have contained a large number of ammonia processing bacs. It took me 18 days to recover, but ammonia never went above 0.25 ppm, and nitrites stayed at zero. So I just need to be VERY careful when I do my tank cleanings to make sure I don't damage the colonies.

 

[OldMan47]

If I were in your position, I would leave my water alone and just adjust my fish desires to match the water Mo. I am quite happy with my own water and its reactions but that is because I have no alternative. With your water I would quickly become a cory and angels specialist. Why not go that way if I had such perfect water for them?

 

[Mo1959]

Hi OldMan. Funny, I was just sitting here thinking about it before I looked in here and had kind of come to the same conclusion myself. I don't want to spend the rest of my fish keeping time constantly worrying about trying to adjust my water to something that it doesn't naturally want to be!!! Like Gvilleguay says, I may just have to be a wee bit more careful if I make any changes to filtration in the future. I suppose the fact that my second tank (just a two foot) that is currently cycling with a few fish in is testament to my nice water. I have a couple of neons and a couple of glowlights and they are extremely healthy and lively. Currently doing a water change every morning on that one and won't add more fish for several weeks yet.

The larger tank just seems to be extra stubborn and unpredictable. I had a small nitrite reading two mornings ago now back to no nitrite showing and only ammonia again. It is seriously trying my patience. Think it has been well over two months now. Much longer and I may well be tempted to just go fish in for that one too.