# Water Hardness GH



## jayrod

I have a few Water Chem questions?

First off my current tests read:

55 GAL, 4 LIVE PLANTS, Marineland Emperor 400 Bio-Wheel (400 GPH)

7 BABY RBP 2-3", 2 PLECO 2-3", 1 CATFISH 3", 5-7 FEEDERS (ROSY REDS)

TEMP -> 83 dF

Last full H20 change: 2 weeks

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Doc Wellfish Freshwater Master Test Kit:

AMMO -> 0.0 ppm (mg/L)
NO2- NITRITE -> 2.0 ppm (mg/L)
GH -> 43dGH (644.4 ppm GH)
PH -> 7.7
KH -> 7dKH (125.3 ppm KH)

1 Large Water Softner Pillow - has been 48hrs running in the filter

What is the ideal General Hardness (GH) value for piranha?

Does it really matter what the GH is if I do not need to change my PH?

Does the High GH of my tank affect to RBP?

All of my plants seem to be dying? Could the high GH or high nitrates be the case?

Is there anything else wrong with my water chem from the data presented that I have not asked about?


----------



## jayrod

affect = effect

i type too fast..


----------



## akio525

Your nitrite should be at zero unless your tank isnt fully cyscled or the dying plants could be causing the nitrite spike. Im not sure about the ideal gh and kh for piranhas so i use a ph neutral regulator that also softens the water when I do water changes.


----------



## Noe

It sound like your tank is not cycle, Your water parameters should read as follow to make sure your tank is cycle:

Ammonia..............................0 ppm
Nitrita...................................0 ppm
pH........................................6.8-7.6 ppm
Nitrate..................................20-40 ppm
Temperature.........................76-84 degree
General water Hardnesss.......3-15 ppm

Good Luck...........................


----------



## vlahos

the nitrite may be too high.


----------



## jayrod

Thanks for the info..

Still about the water hardness:

Will letting the tank cycle for a longer period of time bring it down?

Do I really need to bring it down?

Also, I read adding ionized water can bring it down too. Is this true? If so how do I make it and or where do I buy it?


----------



## akio525

your KH seems ok but to lower your General hardness you can add a water softener pillow,partial water changes with deionized water, or you can look for Sea chems ph neutral regulator its supposed to soften the water you add into your tank.


----------



## serrasalmus_collector

Wow&#8230; Water hardness&#8230; I am kind of studying that intensely now&#8230; There is a method you can bring it down in about a week&#8230; Do small water changes every other day&#8230; You have a 55 gallon correct&#8230; At all grocery stores they sell distilled water in 2 gallon quantities&#8230; Less that $2&#8230;.Every other day do 6 gallon water changes&#8230; Take your water out, and put 5-6 gallons distilled water in&#8230; Your general hardness should start to drop noticeably&#8230;Check daily, and continue for a week&#8230;Try to warm the water to your tank temperature&#8230; Changing hardness and temp spikes could give you fish ick&#8230;.

Always make adjustment to piranha tanks slowly&#8230;.

PS&#8230; are you putting any additives such as trace elements in your tank???

Once you get it down, run some form of peat in your filter, or use a blackwater extract during water changes... It should stay down


----------



## DonH

serrasalmus_collector said:


> Wow&#8230; Water hardness&#8230; I am kind of studying that intensely now&#8230; There is a method you can bring it down in about a week&#8230; Do small water changes every other day&#8230; You have a 55 gallon correct&#8230; At all grocery stores they sell distilled water in 2 gallon quantities&#8230; Less that $2&#8230;.Every other day do 6 gallon water changes&#8230; Take your water out, and put 5-6 gallons distilled water in&#8230; Your general hardness should start to drop noticeably&#8230;Check daily, and continue for a week&#8230;Try to warm the water to your tank temperature&#8230; Changing hardness and temp spikes could give you fish ick&#8230;.
> 
> Always make adjustment to piranha tanks slowly&#8230;.
> 
> PS&#8230; are you putting any additives such as trace elements in your tank???
> 
> Once you get it down, run some form of peat in your filter, or use a blackwater extract during water changes... It should stay down


 SC,

Your method will decrease the GH of his water, but keep in mind that distilled water is technically void of everything except H2O. There's more to water quality than just general hardness and trace minerals. More importantly, the constant replacement with distilled water will deplete your carbonate hardness (what keeps the pH stable). You MUST reconstitute it with either some tap water or commercially available buffers designed just for this purpose. You can also add some baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to increase the buffering capacity, but the sodium will increase your TDS (total dissolved solids = conductivity) which I don't think is a good alternative if you are planning on breeding.

I'm not saying that it's a bad idea... diluting your water with distilled or R/O water is one of the safest ways to soften water. But adding only distilled water while doing a water change will ultimately lead to a pH crash.

Like you said, adding a bag of peat will slowly soften your water and drop the pH a bit (if you like the tea-colored water).


----------



## serrasalmus_collector

I stand corrected.... Sorry for not the best answer... I kinda freaked... I have never heard of such hard water...

GH -> 43dGH (644.4 ppm GH)
I guess I was thinking 6 gallons 3 changes.. would be only 18 gallons of distilled water over a week... I think I will study water perameters a little more.... Thanks for pointing out my error...


----------

