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07-18-2008, 03:51 PM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: North Carolina
Posts: 65
|  Big problems with PH I have my tank up and running. I have been testing for PH, and readings are high. They have been reading between 7.8 and 8.2. Water changes do nothing for me. I finally tested my water at the well because I have a water softener system inline with the house. The test at the well (bypassing the softener) is reading about 7.4 on the high range test, and at low range test it is reading about 7.6 which is last color on low range chart. I am using the API test kit. I have been trying to use the Acid Buffer for the last two days now with no luck. Am I correct to assume that my water softener is what is causing the high readings? I was looking at a Tap Water Purifier Unit to hook up at the faucet. To try to bypass my softener, I would need to do some routing of pipes.
__________________ 55 gallon now cycling. Will update as soon as it is able to have fish! 5 goldfish in 100 gallon pond along with a new monster Plecostomus. |
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07-18-2008, 08:14 PM
| #2 (permalink) |
| Little Fish Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 169
| I have very hard well water too, and also have a softener. So I run all my fish water thru a charcoal filter and it makes the harness around 0 and the pH about 6.5-6.8. It is always easier to raise low numbers than to lower high ones.
__________________ 30g-2 Bolivian rams, 2 emerald cories, 6 neons, ghost shrimp, 2 bamboo shrimp, 1 guppy, 6 otos, moneywort, frill, elodea, dwarf hairgrass, aponogeton, subulata, java fern |
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07-18-2008, 08:34 PM
| #3 (permalink) |
| Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: North Carolina
Posts: 65
| Mercury, Please tell me how you do it! What type of system do you use to run the water through. I was considering installing another water spigot outside the house that bypasses the softener, but it will get a little complicated and expensive. Not to mention labor intensive!
__________________ 55 gallon now cycling. Will update as soon as it is able to have fish! 5 goldfish in 100 gallon pond along with a new monster Plecostomus. |
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07-19-2008, 10:54 AM
| #4 (permalink) |
| Little Fish Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 169
| Sorry, I was wrong. I checked the filter, and its actually not charcoal. Its a reverse osmosis filter. The brand is kinetico.
__________________ 30g-2 Bolivian rams, 2 emerald cories, 6 neons, ghost shrimp, 2 bamboo shrimp, 1 guppy, 6 otos, moneywort, frill, elodea, dwarf hairgrass, aponogeton, subulata, java fern |
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07-19-2008, 11:31 AM
| #6 (permalink) |
| Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: North Carolina
Posts: 65
| Mercury, I am very familiar with Kinetico. I am friends with one of the scientists there. I do not have a RO system, nor do I want to put out the cost for it either. Thanks for the reply.
__________________ 55 gallon now cycling. Will update as soon as it is able to have fish! 5 goldfish in 100 gallon pond along with a new monster Plecostomus. |
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07-19-2008, 11:59 AM
| #7 (permalink) |
| Little Fish Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 169
| Yeah, RO systems are expensive. Fortunately, mine came with my house. You might want to steal from a nearby municipal water system. Maybe a friend's house, or a public building's hose. I tried using unfiltered well water, and the hardness was over 300, pH was 8.5, and sulfur in the water turned it yellow in a day. Great for rift valley cichlids, if the sulfur is removed. 
__________________ 30g-2 Bolivian rams, 2 emerald cories, 6 neons, ghost shrimp, 2 bamboo shrimp, 1 guppy, 6 otos, moneywort, frill, elodea, dwarf hairgrass, aponogeton, subulata, java fern |
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07-19-2008, 12:56 PM
| #9 (permalink) |
| Little Fish Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 169
| I think most people's hoses are not connected to the water softener, so you shouldn't have to do anything at all to bypass the softener.
__________________ 30g-2 Bolivian rams, 2 emerald cories, 6 neons, ghost shrimp, 2 bamboo shrimp, 1 guppy, 6 otos, moneywort, frill, elodea, dwarf hairgrass, aponogeton, subulata, java fern |
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07-19-2008, 04:10 PM
| #10 (permalink) |
| Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: North Carolina
Posts: 65
| My system is "whole house". That means everything and everywhere there is a water outlet, there is soft water. I had the system put in that way on purpose. Every time I washed the car or my pick-up, I got those white spots all over the paint job and windshields. When I had this house built, I had it designed with that feature in mind. I wanted everything softened. Now it seems I have to pay the price for that. I may have to bite the bullet and install an outside spigot just for my fish tank!
__________________ 55 gallon now cycling. Will update as soon as it is able to have fish! 5 goldfish in 100 gallon pond along with a new monster Plecostomus. |
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