Paul195
Member
- Joined
- 31 Dec 2012
- Messages
- 162
Hi
I'm trying to choose the right substrate for my 2nd tank setup. I'm leaning towards a complete substrate because I don't want to go cheap and regret it later.
My tap water is PH 8.2 after resting, KH 11, GH 13. On the Oliver Knott Nature Soil PDF it says :
Can anyone make sense of this? Am I right in saying that I can expect:
PH 6.8 - 7
KH 5 - 7
GH 9 - 12 ??
My questions..
1) If the substrate alters the parameters of the water, wont this cause a problem for the fish when doing a water change with new water from the tap?
2) When doing water change every week, wont this just bounce the parameters back up again over short period of time?
3) If no to above, how long could I expect the substrate to keep the parameters steady at the lower values? long term ? indefinitely?
4) How does this substrate lower these parameters, and why necessarily should I want a substrate that does this (other than type of fish being kept) ?
5) Will the ADA / Oliver Knott soil substrates stay in their granule form over the long term or will they start to break down eventually?
Any help much appreciated
Cheers
Paul
I'm trying to choose the right substrate for my 2nd tank setup. I'm leaning towards a complete substrate because I don't want to go cheap and regret it later.
My tap water is PH 8.2 after resting, KH 11, GH 13. On the Oliver Knott Nature Soil PDF it says :
- IMPORTANT for customers with hard tap water (from KH12 / GH 18 and more): NatureSoil provides in a natural way that your aquarium water was softer than your source water, few hours after filling. So you have 1-2 days after set up an aquarium water with a KH of about GH 5-7 and 9-12, depending on how hard your tap water is. It also reduces the pH value on the neutral or slightly acidic range (6.8 - 7.0). - If you use softer tap water your aquarium water will stabilise to similar values as when you using hard water (balance the system). But this depends on the hardness of you source water and the frequent of the water change.
Can anyone make sense of this? Am I right in saying that I can expect:
PH 6.8 - 7
KH 5 - 7
GH 9 - 12 ??
My questions..
1) If the substrate alters the parameters of the water, wont this cause a problem for the fish when doing a water change with new water from the tap?
2) When doing water change every week, wont this just bounce the parameters back up again over short period of time?
3) If no to above, how long could I expect the substrate to keep the parameters steady at the lower values? long term ? indefinitely?
4) How does this substrate lower these parameters, and why necessarily should I want a substrate that does this (other than type of fish being kept) ?
5) Will the ADA / Oliver Knott soil substrates stay in their granule form over the long term or will they start to break down eventually?
Any help much appreciated
Cheers
Paul
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