water quality probs

[aaron l]

Hey everybody,
quick question, how do you get hard water soft? and if i can get it soft will the ph go down also? I have 6 black neon tetras that have been living in hard high ph water, the only thing that i can see with them is they breath pretty heavy. I do 50% water changes once a week in my 30 gl tank i also noticed that when i turn my light off at night in the morning they all seem to be stressed, they lose there black strip and are hanging out at the top of the tank, but in a matter of 2-3 minutes their stripe is back and they are swimming much more faster, could this be water probs?
thanks

 

[Dragonslair]

Hello Aaron,
You will have noticed that your topic has been moved into this section where I think it is more appropriate. I also notice that you haven't yet registered. If it's a lapse because you wanted to get your question out, then please take a moment of your time to register. If you are adamant that you do not wish to do so, quite frankly I can't see why. We are all friends in here.
Now to your question about water quality and water chemistry. If you have a look around, there have been a number of questions/answers given on this topic. If you can't find any I'm sure we'll do all we can to assist.