Just a curious little thought for some of you out there. I have a 12 gallon eclipse tank with community fish. I am trying to soften the water with r/o water. It started around 300 ppm of hardness on my test strip when I started and I managed to get it down to about 100-150 with weekly 20% water changes but once I reached around 75 to 100 ppm it appears that even with consequent 20% changes with pure r/o water my hardness hasn't dropped any further. It has stayed at this hardness for about 3 water changes (or maybe I just can't see a difference anymore because it is one of those "jungle quick dip strip" tests and the colors are hard to differentiate sometimes). Where it is at now is a good softness for me but I just figured that if it is making no difference in the water specs I may as well just use r/o for water changes instead of tap because of the purity difference. My guess is that I must have some pieces of shell or mineral releasing gravel in my gravel and that is the reason it stays about the same now. Any other ideas?
softening hard water
- Thread starter schoch79
- Start date
Generally speaking, having hard or soft water doesn't matter all that much to aquarium keeping so long as it is within the "normal" range. The only time it matters is when you either have it off the charts, or when you're dealing with very specific fish requirements.
So I would say that unless you're trying to keep discus, or to spawn soft-acid loving fish, your hardness is just fine and doesn't need to be played with at all.
The easiest way to soften and acidify water safely is with peat filtration. But I only ever recommend this to people who are interested in keeping "blackwater" aquariums.
With what creatures is your tank currently stocked?
So I would say that unless you're trying to keep discus, or to spawn soft-acid loving fish, your hardness is just fine and doesn't need to be played with at all.
The easiest way to soften and acidify water safely is with peat filtration. But I only ever recommend this to people who are interested in keeping "blackwater" aquariums.
With what creatures is your tank currently stocked?
Chances are your test strips don't go low enough, really dropping the hardness too low is a dangerous game. Anything lower than 80 ppm TDS and you risk a tank crash and it can happen just from uneaten food.
If you are playing with RO water in your tank you really should invest in a TDS meter. They are not that expensive on Ebay.
If you are playing with RO water in your tank you really should invest in a TDS meter. They are not that expensive on Ebay.
I've found that acid-loving fish will spawn just with addition of the peat before you even see a drop in pH or hardness. When i first introduced it in my tank a year or so ago, my harlequin razzies went nuts - turned a deep, beautiful red color and started rubbing all over my crypts like crazy.
As far as steadying the hardness and keeping everything stable, a slight amount of peat filtration will do a sort of opposite buffering. That is to say, it will keep your tank stable at a lower hardness and pH as opposed to something like crushed coral would do to keep the tank stable at a high level of these parameters.
Thus I can say with some confidence that using this method is generally safe and effective. But it still requires care and keeping up with testing to ensure you aren't overdoing it and predisposing yourself, as Pure has stated, towards a tank crash.
For a 12g tank with relatively hard water, what I would suggest is getting a filter bag or an old nylon knee-high and putting in about two or three tablespoons of peat. (make sure you're using the pure stuff - no additives, compost, fertilizers or other crazy stuff) Rinse it well in running tap water for a few minutes and then drop the bag in your filter area.
Test the water immediately and record your readings.
Do it again the next day.
And the next day.
So forth and so on.
In about two weeks you will know if you need more or less peat, and if the parameters are remaining safe and stable.
It sounds like a lot more work than it really is. But it's rewarding. I've been running two blackwater tanks for quite a while and there really is a great difference in the look and behavior of acid-loving species in these tanks. It is also said to stave off bacterial infections and also reduce the incidence of algae. I have also noticed that plants do very nicely in blackwater tanks, probably due to increased available organic matter in the water column.
As far as steadying the hardness and keeping everything stable, a slight amount of peat filtration will do a sort of opposite buffering. That is to say, it will keep your tank stable at a lower hardness and pH as opposed to something like crushed coral would do to keep the tank stable at a high level of these parameters.
Thus I can say with some confidence that using this method is generally safe and effective. But it still requires care and keeping up with testing to ensure you aren't overdoing it and predisposing yourself, as Pure has stated, towards a tank crash.
For a 12g tank with relatively hard water, what I would suggest is getting a filter bag or an old nylon knee-high and putting in about two or three tablespoons of peat. (make sure you're using the pure stuff - no additives, compost, fertilizers or other crazy stuff) Rinse it well in running tap water for a few minutes and then drop the bag in your filter area.
Test the water immediately and record your readings.
Do it again the next day.
And the next day.
So forth and so on.
In about two weeks you will know if you need more or less peat, and if the parameters are remaining safe and stable.
It sounds like a lot more work than it really is. But it's rewarding. I've been running two blackwater tanks for quite a while and there really is a great difference in the look and behavior of acid-loving species in these tanks. It is also said to stave off bacterial infections and also reduce the incidence of algae. I have also noticed that plants do very nicely in blackwater tanks, probably due to increased available organic matter in the water column.
Last edited: