# Akadama for coldwater tank



## Aeropars (14 Apr 2008)

Hi guys,

I'm after a cheap substrate for a coldwater tank and i thought of Akadama. I understand it changes the water perameters initially so I wondered if my goldfish would have a problem with that? Unfortunatly, I can't house them elsewhere and i'm considering changing this to a tropical tank once they pass away. The tank is not planted apart from a couple of huge Java Ferns. Currently running th tank bare bottom as something in the substrate decided to start killing fish.

Failing this route its going to be getting inert gravel of some description.

Whats your thoughts?


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## Dan Crawford (14 Apr 2008)

Hiya, if your not intending to grow plants then i'd stick with an inert substrate to your liking.
Have a read through James' thread on akadama and see how it alters the water chemistry. (i can't remember off the top of my head)


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## Garuf (14 Apr 2008)

Yeah I'd just use sand for goldfish and then once they've "gone" then think about setting the tank up as tropical, especially since you'll end up stripping the tank down anyway to get rid of all the goldfish mulm. 
You do know they can live up to 20 years if well looked after?


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## Aeropars (14 Apr 2008)

I actually prefer the look of the akadema as wel, plus it has its price which is attractive also. I may end up planting some plants suitable for room temperature so i dont want to completly rule it out.


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## JamesC (14 Apr 2008)

Akadama lowers KH initially but with plenty of water changes this effect is minimised. After a few weeks it settles quite nicely. If you do this before adding the goldfish then you'd have no worries.

James


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## Aeropars (14 Apr 2008)

Thats my problem really, nowhere to put the goldfish apart from a bucket and i've been told thats a nono by her that should not be mentioned . Lowering KH might not be a bad thing though with my water. I'm lead to beleive fancies prefer softer water and they thrive in the LFS RO tanks. I suppose I could add the substrate over time to minimise the drop.


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## Garuf (14 Apr 2008)

I think you should send "her" out for the weekend and build a pond.   
I would think fancies are just more resilient rather than preferring of soft water since at the end of the day they're just a deformed carp.


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## JamesC (14 Apr 2008)

Or you could pretreat the Akadama before using it. This is what I did before adding it to my tank and it works a treat. Details are in my Journal - http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=860. You could probably use about half the amount of the chemicals that I used for pre treating.

James


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## Ed Seeley (14 Apr 2008)

Goldfish will be fine in soft water.  They don't need hard water at all, they can just cope fine with it.

BTW a number of Koi keepers now use RO water as they have found that it really increases the growth rate of the fish and improves the white and red areas of the koi's colour.  They definitely seem to prefer the soft water.


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## Ed Seeley (14 Apr 2008)

Just in case you're interested here are couple of great articles on using RO water for Koi by Mike Snaden.  (This guy _REALLY _knows his stuff with koi!)

Reversing a trend

Softly does it


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