Water Readings

[Sambo]

these are my readings

Ammonia = o
Nitrate = 10mg
Nitrite = 0

I know these are all ok however:

General Hardiness = <3
Carbonate = 0
ph =6.8

are those ok? carbonate and hardiness should be higher shouldntthey?

will these readings harm the fish?

Any thoughs appreciated

Thanks

Sam

 

[Liam]

I think you do need some carbonate hardness to buffer the water and keep the ph stable. Usually a KH of 3 is considered enough. Is your ph remaining stable if it is there shouldn’t be a problem with the fish you have they like very soft water anyway. A few coral chips in your filter would give you some carbonate hardness or a product used for reverse osmosis water like Kent RO Right would give you enough hardness. If you do use something to buffer the water, make sure any changes in hardness are done very gradually and that you can keep the hardness consistant.

 

[Snick]

yeah you probably want to increase the Ph.... that is pretty soft. Probably something around 7 will be ok for most fish.

 

[Sambo]

I think you do need some carbonate hardness to buffer the water and keep the ph stable. Usually a KH of 3 is considered enough. Is your ph remaining stable if it is there shouldn’t be a problem with the fish you have they like very soft water anyway. A few coral chips in your filter would give you some carbonate hardness or a product used for reverse osmosis water like Kent RO Right would give you enough hardness. If you do use something to buffer the water, make sure any changes in hardness are done very gradually and that you can keep the hardness consistant.

Ph tends to change slightly each week but have been doing 25/5 water changes each week so i dont know if that affects it. what general hardiness are my readings too low? o rwould carbonate harness increase htat too/.