# Water Cycling



## ItWasnValentine (Feb 15, 2004)

Hi, I'm new in the forums (a weirdo living in germany) but anyways, to the point. I'm cycling my new 14g tank and my water seems a bit hard: reads 15kh and bove 16gh; ph is 7.2ish, and no no2, no3. (Since I'm a bit new I just have the strips atm) Water seems to be a bit cloudy and I'm guessing its the algae issue so I'll visit a lfs to get something to fix that. MY real question:

I dunno if you are familiar with Brita filters for tap water, I was just wondering if that would be allright to fix my water hardness issue. I tested the filtered water and it seemed to be allright, except the ph level dropped tremendously. Is it a possibility to mix tap water and filtered? Hope I'm not too confusing.

Plus: I'm reading all over the place of people putting carbon in their filters. Does it have to be a specific kind of filters? Cuz Right now I got one of those stupid kit-filters with a sponge. I don't know, but something tells me thats no good and I want to get something else.


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## Guest (Feb 16, 2004)

I have the Brita pitcher with the filter in the middle. If your Brita filter is anything like mine, it's only an activated carbon filter. It removes certain chemicals from the water, but it will not noticeably lower the hardness of your water.

It's safe to mix the 'filtered' water with the tap water. I'm not sure why the pH dropped when you filtered the water.

I'm not sure what kind of aquarium filter you're describing. Is it the sponge filter powered by your air bubbler? If so, those are alright for lightly stocked tanks. Just be careful of ammonia/nitrite spikes when your cycling your tank.


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## ItWasnValentine (Feb 15, 2004)

The filter is just a plastic compartment with a spongelike material in the middle. Takes the water in thru the bottom and then releases w/ or w/o bubbles at the top. Made by Eheim, Model no. 2008. Not sure what other qualities to describe...

I also have 3 plants and a driftwood (not plastic) there. Would those help soften the water?


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