New 75 Gallon! Need Some Ideas

[Byron]

After I posted earlier today, it occurred to me that I had neglected to respond to your comment in post #1 about using chemicals to lower pH.  I realize you said you don't want to, but I thought it might help if I explain why this is extremely risky to begin with.  And it has largely to do with the GH and KH.  The latter buffers the pH, preventing fluctuations.  The higher the KH, the stronger this buffering will be.  So if for example your source water happened to be moderately hard in terms of GH with a corresponding KH, any chemicals used to lower the pH without first dealing with lowering the GH/KH would send the pH down immediately, but the KH would kick in and the pH would rise back, usually in less than 24 hours.  If you continue to add acids/chemicals to lower the pH, it will keep bouncing back, at least until the point at which you exhaust the buffering capacity, and then the pH could very suddenly crash as it is termed.  All of this is severe on fish.  This is why the only really safe way to lower pH is by diluting the source water to lower the GH and especially KH first.
 
And this brings me to your comment in post #12 that I obviously totally missed previously...my apology for that.  But now I will comment on this.
 

Here is the interesting thing I have yet to figure out... In my tank setups as far as what water I use, the 29gal uses RO water from the local fish room with a pH of 6.4 and yet the pH stays around 7.4 with natural driftwood in the 29gal. The 55gal uses my tap water with stays at 7.6 and yet the water in the aquarium after a day and a couple days after that stays around 6.7 with no natural driftwood. Water changes are done weekly on all my setups around 15-20%. Both tanks have always stayed the same... I use the API liquid testers and not the strips as I have realized in the beginning stages of my journey with fish keeping and the free testing done at the local petsmart is not reliable at all.
I guess that was part of why I started to lean towards SA cichlids on top of what I found out and in fear of going for African cichlids with using my tap water and it falling below certain parameters that would be unhealthy for them.
 

 
While wood, along with peat, dried leaves, and similar organic matter will tend to lower the pH, this is kept in check by the KH as I've explained above.  Only after the GH/KH is lowered will there be significant lowering of the pH from organics.  And here I should mention that it is perfectly natural in every aquarium for the biological processes to slowly lower the pH.  The production of CO2 is what achieves this; CO2 produces carbonic acid, increasing the acidity, thus lowering the pH.  The breakdown of organics (fish excrement, etc) by bacteria in the substrate is primary in this, but other factors play into it as well.  So if the GH/KH is sufficiently low in the source water, the pH will naturally lower in any aquarium.
 
In addition to the source water GH/KH, there are other ways to prevent this.  Using calcareous substances as the gravel/sand substrate, or placing some of this in the filter, adding calcareous rock...each of these will slowly dissolve the "hard" minerals, primarily calcium and magnesium, thus raising GH, KH and pH.  I would suspect this is occurring in the 29g.  RO water is devoid of anything, so using this solely as the aquarium water means that the water parameters will be significantly affected by all sorts of things.  And while only natural wood, peat or leaves in this case would certainly lower the pH and by quite a lot, there would appear here to be some calcareous substance doing the opposite.  The composition of the substrate, or any such material in the filter media, are likely sources.  RO water on its own should never be used in an aquarium; mixing it with some tap is better.  And in your case, as it would appear the GH/KH may not be very high in the tap water [more on this below], this would probably be a good idea as it would work to stabilize things more.  However, I would first want to ascertain the issue causing the rise in pH (and likely GH/KH) in this tank.
 
The 55g using tap water is lowering in pH, which suggests that the initial GH/KH of your tap water is likely not very high.  If you are able to track this down on your water supplier's site, or directly, we will have confirmation (or not).
 
Water changes are the most significant impact on all of this, assuming the tanks are not overstocked to begin with, or over-fed; both of these will affect water chemistry a lot.  So I would recommend increasing the volume of the weekly water changes to no less than 1/3 of the tank volume, and preferably more.  I have been doing 50-60% changes every week for years, and I know this has helped me create an extremely stable water chemistry.  My tap water is near-zero GH/KH, with a pH around 7, but my tanks run anywhere from 5 in some to mid-6 in others, depending upon the specifics of each.  But these each remain absolutely constant; there is a change of no more than two or three decimal points with these water changes, indicating that the established biological system in each aquarium is fairly solid.  However, if I neglected these water changes (which I never have, nor would), I would expect serious consequences, as the increased organics would overload the system rapidly.
 
Byron.

 

[hudsona85]

This is what I found from the water testing that was done last year. So, based on your experience Byron, what are your thoughts in regards to keeping either SA or African Cichlids? If I had to guess, it seems on the higher side? I appreciate again for the advice and lessons being taught.

 

[Byron]

This is what I found from the water testing that was done last year. So, based on your experience Byron, what are your thoughts in regards to keeping either SA or African Cichlids? If I had to guess, it seems on the higher side? I appreciate again for the advice and lessons being taught.

Water Parameters.jpg

 
Thank you.  These numbers are exactly what I was expecting, as I explained in my last post a few minutes ago.  Your GH and KH are very low.  A bit higher than mine, but still low.  In fish keeping we tend to use one of two scales for GH/KH.  The numbers here are in ppm [parts per million, which is the same as mg/l should you see that elsewhere].  The second measurement unit often used is dGH and dKH, meaning degrees GH /KH.  You can convert back and forth with the number 17.9, multiplying dGH by 17.9 to convert to ppm, or dividing ppm by 17.9 to convert to dGH.
 
A GH of 25.1 thus equates to 1.3 dGH, which is very soft water.  Mine is 7 ppm, or less than 1 dGH.  Your KH of 27.9 equates to 1.5 dKH, and this is not going to do much in the way of buffering.  So this is certainly the reason your pH lowers when only tap water is used.
 
In relation to your initial questions on cichlids, I would absolutely avoid African rift lake cichlids, unless you decide to use a sand composed of crushed coral and aragonite, which would raise the GH, KH and pH.  Partial water changes, once the tank is established, would not impact this much, though I would initially keep them less (maybe 1/3 max) and test pH/GH before and after to ensure the chemistry was OK.  However, as you have the ideal water, without any fussing, Neotropical cichlids would be well suited.  If you decided on a mainly Central American habitat, you could add a bit of the afore-mentioned sand in a mesh bag in the filter to increase the GH/KH/pH a bit.  For South American species, nothing would be needed at all.
 
Edit:  I should comment on the high pH.  I would expect this is being achieved by the addition of something such as sodium carbonate [soda ash] or calcium hydroxide [lime].  These are added here in Vancouver.  This is done to raise the pH and thus reduce  erosion in pipes, etc.  I have never seen any impact of this, and it seems to dissipate out quite rapidly.
 
Byron.

 

[hudsona85]

After I posted earlier today, it occurred to me that I had neglected to respond to your comment in post #1 about using chemicals to lower pH.  I realize you said you don't want to, but I thought it might help if I explain why this is extremely risky to begin with.  And it has largely to do with the GH and KH.  The latter buffers the pH, preventing fluctuations.  The higher the KH, the stronger this buffering will be.  So if for example your source water happened to be moderately hard in terms of GH with a corresponding KH, any chemicals used to lower the pH without first dealing with lowering the GH/KH would send the pH down immediately, but the KH would kick in and the pH would rise back, usually in less than 24 hours.  If you continue to add acids/chemicals to lower the pH, it will keep bouncing back, at least until the point at which you exhaust the buffering capacity, and then the pH could very suddenly crash as it is termed.  All of this is severe on fish.  This is why the only really safe way to lower pH is by diluting the source water to lower the GH and especially KH first.
 
And this brings me to your comment in post #12 that I obviously totally missed previously...my apology for that.  But now I will comment on this.
 

Here is the interesting thing I have yet to figure out... In my tank setups as far as what water I use, the 29gal uses RO water from the local fish room with a pH of 6.4 and yet the pH stays around 7.4 with natural driftwood in the 29gal. The 55gal uses my tap water with stays at 7.6 and yet the water in the aquarium after a day and a couple days after that stays around 6.7 with no natural driftwood. Water changes are done weekly on all my setups around 15-20%. Both tanks have always stayed the same... I use the API liquid testers and not the strips as I have realized in the beginning stages of my journey with fish keeping and the free testing done at the local petsmart is not reliable at all.
I guess that was part of why I started to lean towards SA cichlids on top of what I found out and in fear of going for African cichlids with using my tap water and it falling below certain parameters that would be unhealthy for them.
 

 
While wood, along with peat, dried leaves, and similar organic matter will tend to lower the pH, this is kept in check by the KH as I've explained above.  Only after the GH/KH is lowered will there be significant lowering of the pH from organics.  And here I should mention that it is perfectly natural in every aquarium for the biological processes to slowly lower the pH.  The production of CO2 is what achieves this; CO2 produces carbonic acid, increasing the acidity, thus lowering the pH.  The breakdown of organics (fish excrement, etc) by bacteria in the substrate is primary in this, but other factors play into it as well.  So if the GH/KH is sufficiently low in the source water, the pH will naturally lower in any aquarium.
 
In addition to the source water GH/KH, there are other ways to prevent this.  Using calcareous substances as the gravel/sand substrate, or placing some of this in the filter, adding calcareous rock...each of these will slowly dissolve the "hard" minerals, primarily calcium and magnesium, thus raising GH, KH and pH.  I would suspect this is occurring in the 29g.  RO water is devoid of anything, so using this solely as the aquarium water means that the water parameters will be significantly affected by all sorts of things.  And while only natural wood, peat or leaves in this case would certainly lower the pH and by quite a lot, there would appear here to be some calcareous substance doing the opposite.  The composition of the substrate, or any such material in the filter media, are likely sources.  RO water on its own should never be used in an aquarium; mixing it with some tap is better.  And in your case, as it would appear the GH/KH may not be very high in the tap water [more on this below], this would probably be a good idea as it would work to stabilize things more.  However, I would first want to ascertain the issue causing the rise in pH (and likely GH/KH) in this tank.
 
The 55g using tap water is lowering in pH, which suggests that the initial GH/KH of your tap water is likely not very high.  If you are able to track this down on your water supplier's site, or directly, we will have confirmation (or not).
 
Water changes are the most significant impact on all of this, assuming the tanks are not overstocked to begin with, or over-fed; both of these will affect water chemistry a lot.  So I would recommend increasing the volume of the weekly water changes to no less than 1/3 of the tank volume, and preferably more.  I have been doing 50-60% changes every week for years, and I know this has helped me create an extremely stable water chemistry.  My tap water is near-zero GH/KH, with a pH around 7, but my tanks run anywhere from 5 in some to mid-6 in others, depending upon the specifics of each.  But these each remain absolutely constant; there is a change of no more than two or three decimal points with these water changes, indicating that the established biological system in each aquarium is fairly solid.  However, if I neglected these water changes (which I never have, nor would), I would expect serious consequences, as the increased organics would overload the system rapidly.
 
Byron.

I think I understand what you are saying. For example- In the 29gal I neglected to mention this. I don't know much worse I am making it but I will tell you anyway. I add 5 gallons of RO water along with about 3 to 4 gallons of water from tap into a water filter to help get rid some of the contaminants every week. I would venture to guess that I have the tank overstocked in there as well. So I guess in turn based on what you are saying, I am using a band-aid instead of a more stable solution? I also use Prime to clean more of the metals out. The setup with the AquaClear 70 is regular sponge, chemipure elite rated for 50 gallons and Matrix from SeaChem and air wand.
I use the same setup except I am using the Carbon from AquaClear, no air wand, and using water from tap and unfiltered. It's probably safe to say the 55gal is somewhat overstocked as well... I do try and do about 25% of the water each week. Hmm... I do also use stability after each water change... So I am guessing that might have something to do with it as well?
 
The 55gal

 

This is what I found from the water testing that was done last year. So, based on your experience Byron, what are your thoughts in regards to keeping either SA or African Cichlids? If I had to guess, it seems on the higher side? I appreciate again for the advice and lessons being taught.

Water Parameters.jpg

 
Thank you.  These numbers are exactly what I was expecting, as I explained in my last post a few minutes ago.  Your GH and KH are very low.  A bit higher than mine, but still low.  In fish keeping we tend to use one of two scales for GH/KH.  The numbers here are in ppm [parts per million, which is the same as mg/l should you see that elsewhere].  The second measurement unit often used is dGH and dKH, meaning degrees GH /KH.  You can convert back and forth with the number 17.9, multiplying dGH by 17.9 to convert to ppm, or dividing ppm by 17.9 to convert to dGH.
 
A GH of 25.1 thus equates to 1.3 dGH, which is very soft water.  Mine is 7 ppm, or less than 1 dGH.  Your KH of 27.9 equates to 1.5 dKH, and this is not going to do much in the way of buffering.  So this is certainly the reason your pH lowers when only tap water is used.
 
In relation to your initial questions on cichlids, I would absolutely avoid African rift lake cichlids, unless you decide to use a sand composed of crushed coral and aragonite, which would raise the GH, KH and pH.  Partial water changes, once the tank is established, would not impact this much, though I would initially keep them less (maybe 1/3 max) and test pH/GH before and after to ensure the chemistry was OK.  However, as you have the ideal water, without any fussing, Neotropical cichlids would be well suited.  If you decided on a mainly Central American habitat, you could add a bit of the afore-mentioned sand in a mesh bag in the filter to increase the GH/KH/pH a bit.  For South American species, nothing would be needed at all.
 
Byron.
 

Byron,
   My only plan for the 75gal was to use the SA and just plain sand with no additives. It sounds like I am on the right track!? Again, I really do appreciate the time and effort made with advice given.

 

[Byron]

I think I understand what you are saying. For example- In the 29gal I neglected to mention this. I don't know much worse I am making it but I will tell you anyway. I add 5 gallons of RO water along with about 3 to 4 gallons of water from tap into a water filter to help get rid some of the contaminants every week.
 

 
What exactly is meant by this "water filter?"  Some of these can add all sorts of minerals or worse, salt, to the water.
 

I would venture to guess that I have the tank overstocked in there as well. So I guess in turn based on what you are saying, I am using a band-aid instead of a more stable solution?
 

 
Overstocked will add organics, lowering pH (and likely increasing nitrate, another bad thing).  The rising pH is going to be due to mineral getting in somehow.
 

I also use Prime to clean more of the metals out.
 

 
Prime, like most conditioners, will detoxify heavy metals.  However, this is not going to make much difference with what we are discussing.  I have communicated directly with Seachem on many issues, including this one of the heavy metals, and they assure me that Prime will deal with temporary influx of metals but after 24-36 hours it is no longer effective.  But the main point is that "heavy metals" are not "hard minerals" so the effect on water chemistry is frankly irrelevant.  Calcium and magnesium  will not be impacted by Prime (or shouldn't be...).
 
[This is sort of off-topic, but I will just mention that I'm not a fan of Prime, mainly because it messes too much with things better left alone if one doesn't have a problem.  Unless you have ammonia, nitrite or nitrate in the tap water, there is no need to be using a conditioner that detoxifies these.  Add to that, Seachem have admitted to me that they really don't know how Prime detoxifies nitrate, and this causes me concern when I am adding such a substance to an aquarium.  I know from having gone through a few "problems" that water chemistry can be significantly affected by such miniscule things that we are not even aware of, and the safer course is to add as few substances to the water as necessary.]
 

The setup with the AquaClear 70 is regular sponge, chemipure elite rated for 50 gallons and Matrix from SeaChem and air wand.
I use the same setup except I am using the Carbon from AquaClear, no air wand, and using water from tap and unfiltered. It's probably safe to say the 55gal is somewhat overstocked as well... I do try and do about 25% of the water each week. Hmm... I do also use stability after each water change... So I am guessing that might have something to do with it as well?
 

 
The Matrix should not be an issue, but the ChemPure Elite is a very different thing.  This product alleges to keep pH at "a consistently safe range," but I've no idea how this works.  I personally would not use this product.  Both of these products also claim to remove certain metals--and here again, unless one has the initial problem, why?  I don't know if you have or intend plants, but all of these additives can mess around with them too.

 

[hudsona85]

The "Water filter" being used in the 29gal is the Brita water filter. As I have said, I really don't know how much worse that is doing to the tank.
 
The overstock issue is part of the reason as to getting the 75gal and putting some of the SA cichlids in there (Severum and maybe the german rams depending on what other cichlids I get, but seeing as the severum will get pretty big, probably not). The Nitrates are on the high side (around 40-60ppm, maybe a little more), if that is considered high.
 
As far as Prime is concerned, what other product can be used to help with water changes that you can suggest?
 
With the ChemiPure, it was recommended by a person in the aquatics business and he used to work in aquatics in a museum. However, this is something I am recently trying and not really seen a difference positively or negatively. I do have plants in the 55gal but not very much since having cichlids in there. I only have 1 plant in the 29gal. It was something I thought would help with nitrates but also something I would try as part of the aquatics hobby.

 

[Byron]

I wouldn't bother with the Brita...you probably have good water and so far as I am aware, the kitchen tap filters don't do much if anything to improve water for fish.  You might check just what it does; if it is just filtering through some sort of charcoal/carbon, it won't hurt, but won't help anything.  The Chem-Pure I can't say much about, other than what I already have from the online data, but again if you don't have the issues it is best left out.  In the absence of anything to the contrary, I suspect this may be one cause if not the cause of the higher pH.  You don't need to tell me, but given your water data I am thinking you might be in the NW US, just south of me, and we have probably the most perfect water for soft water fish in all of this continent, and it is extremely pure.
 
My approach to water conditioners is to select the one that does what you need, and as little more as possible.  I'm currently using API Tap Water Conditioner because I only have chlorine to deal with; I have tried some that do not detoxify metals, but they often cloud the water.  The API is highly concentrated so you use very little; 5 ml (which is just one teaspoon) treats 100 gallons for chlorine, so 1 ml treats 20 gallons--I use a 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon which is .5 ml and this treats 10 gallons which I find easy to deal with when adding water direct from the tap.
 
Nitrates.  This is an issue that needs to be dealt with.  Cichlids are now believed to have issues with nitrates above 20 ppm long-term.  I will assume these are occurring solely within the aquaria, and not present in the tap water (correct me if I am wrong).  So, the answer is larger water changes and not overstocking.  Easy to fix.  My nitrates run between zero and 5 ppm and have for years.  I have well-stocked tanks too--my 29 gallon has 64 fish in it, though admittedly they are all small.  This can work if one is aware of the needs and requirements of each species and they are identical so you can provide for them, collectively.  The fish will be healthier for this.

 

[NickAu]

 
The API is highly concentrated so you use very little; 5 ml (which is just one teaspoon) treats 100 gallons for chlorine, so 1 ml treats 20 gallons--I use a 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon which is .5 ml and this treats 10 gallons

I use a syringe to measure out additives, Go into your local pharmacy and buy a 1 ml and a 5 ml syringe they are cheap as. It makes it so much easier.

 

[AmtotheBurr]

You get to do the SA like you wanted to the whole time

 

[Far_King]

Far_King,
I have been checking through Amazon.com and looking up info from there. I will check further into it as the new info you have given me has shown me some perspective on the situation. Thank you.
 
 

 
You're welcome  I hope it works out for you whichever filter you decide to go with. 

 

[hobby5]

Hello! Interesting discussion going on here. There is no point in using the Brita for preparing tank water, it is rather bad as it will leak toxic silver ions to the water.

 

[hudsona85]

I wouldn't bother with the Brita...you probably have good water and so far as I am aware, the kitchen tap filters don't do much if anything to improve water for fish.  You might check just what it does; if it is just filtering through some sort of charcoal/carbon, it won't hurt, but won't help anything.  The Chem-Pure I can't say much about, other than what I already have from the online data, but again if you don't have the issues it is best left out.  In the absence of anything to the contrary, I suspect this may be one cause if not the cause of the higher pH.  You don't need to tell me, but given your water data I am thinking you might be in the NW US, just south of me, and we have probably the most perfect water for soft water fish in all of this continent, and it is extremely pure.
 
My approach to water conditioners is to select the one that does what you need, and as little more as possible.  I'm currently using API Tap Water Conditioner because I only have chlorine to deal with; I have tried some that do not detoxify metals, but they often cloud the water.  The API is highly concentrated so you use very little; 5 ml (which is just one teaspoon) treats 100 gallons for chlorine, so 1 ml treats 20 gallons--I use a 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon which is .5 ml and this treats 10 gallons which I find easy to deal with when adding water direct from the tap.
 
Nitrates.  This is an issue that needs to be dealt with.  Cichlids are now believed to have issues with nitrates above 20 ppm long-term.  I will assume these are occurring solely within the aquaria, and not present in the tap water (correct me if I am wrong).  So, the answer is larger water changes and not overstocking.  Easy to fix.  My nitrates run between zero and 5 ppm and have for years.  I have well-stocked tanks too--my 29 gallon has 64 fish in it, though admittedly they are all small.  This can work if one is aware of the needs and requirements of each species and they are identical so you can provide for them, collectively.  The fish will be healthier for this.

I am actually down in NC.So not sure of how "pure" the water is down here. The brita filter was mainly used to help with some of the metals and chemicals and somehow through testing lowers the pH. I would still put Prime in there and wait a few days to a week before using it. But nevertheless will test just doing water change without.
Did a 50% water change on the 55 and 50% on the 29 a few days ago. I went for the RO and regular tap water for the 29. Will be testing the parameters today to see how it looks with the nitrates. I have yet to determine if the fish tanks are actually overstocked. I have just about the same amount of fish in each tank but the 29gal's fishes only grow to a max 3.5in on some of the fish with the exception of the dojo loach, twig catfish, and banjo catfish. I have cut back on my feeding with the 29gal when I noticed food still being left on the bottom from lack of food consumed by the bottom feeders. The 55 have bigger fish in there and does not seem to be any overfeeding based on nothing being left behind and gravel vacuum hardly picks anything up and that including taking out all of the decor.  I at least know it will be overstocked with the Severum when s/he grows full size but is only at 3ish inches. Could be something I am missing? OR at least I am hoping the larger water changes will help bring it down.
 
I am looking into the API tap water as of right now. I know my local petsmart for them are expensive So i prefer to order them online.
 

 

 
The API is highly concentrated so you use very little; 5 ml (which is just one teaspoon) treats 100 gallons for chlorine, so 1 ml treats 20 gallons--I use a 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon which is .5 ml and this treats 10 gallons

I use a syringe to measure out additives, Go into your local pharmacy and buy a 1 ml and a 5 ml syringe they are cheap as. It makes it so much easier.
 

Jeez and I thought the 10mL of prime for every 50gallons was highly concentrated!
 

Hello! Interesting discussion going on here. There is no point in using the Brita for preparing tank water, it is rather bad as it will leak toxic silver ions to the water.

 
Hmm... and you would think that a Brita filter would have taken care of things like that!? Good info. I figured that the Brita filter lowering the pH would have helped bring the pH down in the 29gal on top of the low pH in the RO water and yet it still remained around 7.4-7.6. Of course through discussion on here helped me realize pH is not the only culprit here thanks to Byron.
 
 
Amber- it certainly looks that way! I am certainly looking into what SA cichlids I will be getting into! I think for the time being I will starting a discussion in that regard. The thought of having a 75gal really excites me but taking my time in making a good selection with a good "ecosystem" will make it even more exciting. Between cycling the 10gal and trying to get the Nitrates down on both the 55 and 29, I think I have my hands full at the moment LOL
 
Thank you Ladies and Gents!

 

[hudsona85]

 

Far_King,
I have been checking through Amazon.com and looking up info from there. I will check further into it as the new info you have given me has shown me some perspective on the situation. Thank you.
 
 

 
You're welcome

 I hope it works out for you whichever filter you decide to go with. 
 

 
I didn't skip over you on purpose in responding to the post being made. I apologize and thank you!

 

[Byron]

J

eez and I thought the 10mL of prime for every 50gallons was highly concentrated!
 

 
The numbers I cited are for chlorine only; if one has chloramine, then you need to double (I believe this is the case for Prime and others, but doesn't matter).
 

I am looking into the API tap water as of right now. I know my local petsmart for them are expensive So i prefer to order them online.
 

 
I do this (online) for most of my major items, like water conditioner and plant additives.  Not only is online usually less expensive, but for some products you can get larger sizes which are less expensive per volume so you save even more.  I bought a 1 gallon jug of the API which will likely last me a few years, even with seven tanks, but this cost me much less than half what buying the smaller sizes would be for this year alone.  I am however lucky to have one local store that sells at "online" prices, so if they carry it, I shop there.  I would prefer using local stores more, but when it comes to costing literally hundreds of dollars more, I just can't afford it on my income.
 

I am actually down in NC.So not sure of how "pure" the water is down here. The brita filter was mainly used to help with some of the metals and chemicals and somehow through testing lowers the pH. I would still put Prime in there and wait a few days to a week before using it. But nevertheless will test just doing water change without.
 

 
I've no idea about NC water, lol...most areas in NA have harder water, so you're lucky (from the soft water fish species perspective).
 
Water from the tap is likely OK, with a good conditioner.  I will be interested in numbers without the Brita.  But aside from this, all of the conditioners will instantly dechlorinate (and deal with chloramine if they say this) without any waiting.  I use a "Python" connected directly to a faucet to fill my tanks (buckets on a 115g tank are quite the business) and once the water begins entering the tank, I just add the conditioner.
 
Another point on testing tap water for pH...you should let a glass of water sit 24 hours before testing pH.  This will allow gasses to settle in/out, and some of these like CO2 can affect pH tests.  You can out-gas the CO2 by vigorously shaking the water first.  If there is sufficient CO2 in the tap water as it comes out of the faucet, you will get a lower pH reading that if you out-gas it first.  The latter will be more accurate.
 

Did a 50% water change on the 55 and 50% on the 29 a few days ago. I went for the RO and regular tap water for the 29. Will be testing the parameters today to see how it looks with the nitrates. I have yet to determine if the fish tanks are actually overstocked. I have just about the same amount of fish in each tank but the 29gal's fishes only grow to a max 3.5in on some of the fish with the exception of the dojo loach, twig catfish, and banjo catfish. I have cut back on my feeding with the 29gal when I noticed food still being left on the bottom from lack of food consumed by the bottom feeders. The 55 have bigger fish in there and does not seem to be any overfeeding based on nothing being left behind and gravel vacuum hardly picks anything up and that including taking out all of the decor.  I at least know it will be overstocked with the Severum when s/he grows full size but is only at 3ish inches. Could be something I am missing? OR at least I am hoping the larger water changes will help bring it down.
 

 
First, test the tap water on its own for nitrate (and ammonia and nitrite too, if you haven't already).  It is worth knowing if any of these are present.  No need to out-gas anything for these three.  This will tell you where the nitrates are coming from.
 
Each aquarium can have quite a different biology within, which is one reason why problem solving can be involved.  What happens/works in one tank may not in another, biologically speaking.  The more fish, or the larger the fish, the greater the biological impact, obviously.  How much they are fed impacts too; there is no need to feed any fish more than once a day, and minimally at that, except for fry and a few tiny species.  Missing a day each week, or even two days, also won't hurt healthy mature (non-fry) fish.  If you see food hours later that is not being worked on, you are overfeeding; my loaches and corys can nibble on tablets for several hours before they are gone, that's fine, but not letting the food sit being ignored.
 
On water changes--at least once a week, and in your case with what I've seen, I would do 50-60%.  Test nitrates before and after, and during the week (alternate days, depending what you see).  At the same time, check the pH (no need to out-gas tank water).  If the tanks are overstocked, more will be needed (more often, not more volume), so your numbers over a period of a few weeks should settle this.  You want nitrates no higher than 20 ppm.  Vacuum into the gravel substrate in the open areas.  I never go under rock or wood, or among some plants.  You actually want anaerobic areas; the nitrogen cycle is only complete when it has gone full circle: ammonia to nitrite to nitrate (the first part, called nitrification), then nitrate to oxygen and nitrogen gas (the second part, termed denitrification).  There are species of bacteria that will colonize the substrate to do the de-nitrification, and the water changes help out.  Plants rooted in the substrate also help.
 
Byron.

 

[hudsona85]

Based on what you are saying, it sounds like I am on the right track. I use the python as well. One of the best investments I could get since having my transplant and having strict instructions lifting.
At any rate, I only tested the pH on the tap water and Brita. 8.6 on tap and 6.5ish on the Brita. I will check the Nitrates on both later. I do have some plants, not much. I think I have Anubis plants.
From what I can see online, the API tap water conditioner does both. I don't really see the directions on there as to how much it needs for both but will find out when i get it.
 
I knew having a colony of bacteria was a good thing which is why i don't go deep into the gravel. At most 1.5 inches but usually less than an inch. Ill have to keep in mind about moving around the decor.
 
As far as your statement on foods for the fish, This was part of why I cut back on the foods in the 29gal and not so much on the 55gal seeing as I have baby kribs in there (and yes they are separated from all of the other fish) and they are growing very nicely. They are almost at the point of eating flakes but for now daphnia seems like its working well.
 
So my question now is the SA cichlids and which ones to get. Should I start another post under that category? Wasn't sure since this post really all over the map. Just in case, uploaded pic. Thank you