Search results for query: "tap water"

Hi all, I've read a few posts on here about dosing ferts when there is phosphate in source water. I've had a bit of an algae bloom so decided to do some water tests and my phosphates were very high in the tank possibly getting towards 10ppm using an API test kit. I tested my tap water and...

They need nutrients one way or another, yes. There are many potential sources of nutrients besides fertilizer (tap water, fish waste, soil, certain rocks), but all these sources are highly variable and can be hard to quantify. Some nutrients are harder to come by through these routes than...

Ah, not true. Recall that KH is titratable alkalinity from any source. Usually this mostly means from bicarbonate but hydroxide (which they are adding) also counts. The added hydroxide won't stay as hydroxide once the water is exposed to atmosphere, it will convert to bicarbonate as the...

Thank you so very much for your reply. It had been a while since I'd checked my water so I was assuming pH 7 or thereabouts. Therefore I was adding KHCO3 14mg/L to obtain KH of around 1. I am also adding CaSO4.2H2O and MgSO4.7H2O to get to a GH around 3.6. I was just reading about phosphoric...

Hi all, You are welcome, I think your reply should help sort out your issues. Difficult to say, it would depend a little bit on what the plants are. Ferns, mosses, Anubias barteri and most Cryptocoryne spp. will grew in <"very gloomy places">. Ok, so not <"really a fertiliser">. Have a look...

Hi all Now for the good news really, you don't actually need to do anything drastic and you can carry on using your tap water, which is still soft and without any dKH, but possibly with a minimal amount of dGH via the added calcium (Ca++) ions. If you did what to add a bit dKH? You could use...

I have little experience in this hobby. I have little knowledge too. When I first started reading the site, I found a lot of great content to read. Honestly it was amazing… but a lot to take in. I decided to distill a few things I picked up over this past year, in the hope it helps someone...

Hi all, Welcome to UKAPS, when you have time, just go through the <"linked threads"> (and links in them) and it should help. I'll split it into a couple of answers as there is quite a lot of chemistry. So this is the case for all of the UK with soft tap water, pH is raised and phosphate (P)...

Hi all, @ElleDee that is fantastic and has certainly fleshed out: I'm definitely going to refer people to @Happi's thread when this comes up again as topic. It is just a perfect answer. cheers Darrel

I apologize to you, @Genahanney, for the slight digression from the topic, which resulted in developing the discussion in a somewhat different (for you probably rather undesirable) direction. It was probably best answered by @Happi in post #30. The microelements that are in the water will be...

What are the usual values for trace elements in tap water? The water data for my tap water is somewhat incomplete. There is only data for B, Cu, Fe and Mn. Nothing about Zn, Mo. B = 0.1 mg/l Cu = 0.00001 mg/l Fe = 0.02 mg/l Mn = 0.005 mg/l I do not assume that toxic levels of trace elements...

I think I am at both, simply because I have such hard tap water. And, I refuse to go down the RO route and then remineralise. And with hard water even modest water changes can make a big difference. I struggle to achieve my desired KH, and then I want to hit 20-30 ppm of CO2 for plant supply -...

So all trace elements from tap water (except iron) are available to plants at pH 6.5? What factors influence recovery reactions?)

In hard water with a high pH, many trace elements including Fe are often precipitated, making them less available to the plants. The high pH can cause certain nutrients to form insoluble compounds that are not easily absorbed by the plants . Additionally, in oxygen-rich environments, many of...

I grow it in hard Bristol water with high lighting and CO2 - it's grown well and is one of my favourites.

Thanks for reply, I just use normal treated tap water, I will see if my lfs has it.

SICKLY CORY UPDATE Hi all, finless is back in the main tank! He is looking like his usual finless self, however is much plumper and happier following 3.5 days of gorging in solitary confinement. He is swimming at quite a nippy pace (video here), and is back to sassing the tetras when they get...

But when we use CO2, the water becomes softer, does it mean that the availability of elements becomes higher? I want to understand, is the process of oxidation of trace elements final or can plants use them? If so, how does their recovery work?

Yes, when I need I can to do ICP-test for that goal.

It depends on the element. Iron is always at the top of the list when you are talking micro deficiencies, not because there isn't iron in the tank, but that it's often not in an available form. Yes, root hairs can modulate the soil that immediately surrounds them to increase availability of...

Many certainly are. Copper for example. If your tap water is soft you may be fine. In terms of the garden, if you try to grow acid loving plants in even mildly alkaline soil you will need to use some commercial micro fertiliser, chelated Iron. If your tap water is hard, pouring hard tap water...

Can you access a water report to see what’s in your tap water?

Hello. It is believed that micros are already present in tap water. Most likely it is, but aren't there oxidized elements? Are they available to plants? Do I understand correctly that they do the restoration of elements using root cilias? Thank you a lot.

Nutrients don't cause algae - algae comes from spores. They are one factor that can influence the growth of algae, but the relative importance of that influence depends on the overall environment. You can load up a tank with nutrients, but if there's no light, you won't get algae. On the flip...

Hi all, Light is by far the easiest plant growth factor to remove. For those who <"like visual methods"> you can also see when you don't have any .......... For the mineral nutrients I'd guess phosphate (PO4---) and iron (Fe), particularly as you can <"remove both at the same time">. cheers...

Just look at my old post and yes you did tell me so 😂😂😂

Thanks Darrel, I will take a look at those threads later, I am definitely going to keep the floaters (amazon frogbit and dwarf water lettuce) as I do feel they are a real benefit and will also shade out some of the slower plants I will add such as anubias.

Hi all, That is <"often the problem">. I'm not going to say "I told you so", but you have a thread ...... <"Ideas for stems"> Because I'm not interested in aesthetics I use the <"two submerged floating plants"> as my "stems". That is the route I've gone down, basically the <"slower growing...

I can't really help with any solutions but I have the same problem with my old eheim. It's been running 24/7 since 2004 and for over a decade of that it was salt water, which is far rougher on filters than even our normal rock hard tap water that it's been used with since. I'm on the first...

Please don't take my last comment as any kind of criticism of your tank husbandry, it was more a nugget of information to add to the memory bank of aquatic information! I also use soft water, rain & tap mix. I do small water changes so measuring dechlorinator needs, literally, a couple of drops...

So if I just use a GH buffer, would that work as well? I’m planning on doing the rescape today and I’m still super torn on what to do and what works best for my fish (and Nerite snail), plants and the tank long term. Sorry if I’m being a bit dumb or not understanding properly, like I said, I’m...

Hi all, It is definitely possible <"Soft water tank">. These "active substrates" were developed for <"Bee Shrimp keepers">, who want water with low carbonate hardness. Not exactly, the substrate won't add any hardness (dGH), what will happen is that the initial H+ ions on the exchange site in...

So would you think that using the Fluval stratum and then only adding minerals for the GH as the stratum would take care of the KH? If it’s possible to run a tank on 0kh, then I’d be okay doing that, I think.

Hi all, You can remineralise your RO water with a minimal amount of tap water. All the other mineral nutrients you add with your fertiliser addition, it honestly is as simple as that. Cheers Darrel

I won’t go back to using my tap water sadly, it’s just too hard to use with my betta, RO is the only way. I’m just wanting to rescape my tank with soil and inert sand, but it just seems to get more and more confusing and frustrating. 😂😭

Hi all, Buffering and pH are <"fairly complex concepts">. A lot of people will use this to try and sell you useless (or minimally useful) products to counter a problem that doesn't really exist. Have a look at <"Aqua Noob"> distilled in <"Bedside Aquarium"> Personally I'd recommend just using...

Hi all, OK that makes a bit more sense. It won't, ion exchange doesn't work quite like that. If you want stable dKH you need a <"carbonate buffer">. Normally that would be limestone (CaCO3) which will go into solution until you reach about 18 dGH and 18 dKH, when the water is <"fully saturated...

But it must be because my tap KH is 18, but the soil isn’t keeping it stable, in my opinion anyway. 🙈 It’ll be going into a tank with a KH of 7 (in theory I’d like it at 4), I tested a little in tap water first and that was the effect it had. Genuinely curious how it will effect my tanks soft...

All Cambridgeshire tap water, tds 470, gh 22 and think kh is around 11-14 if I recall so very hard.

Hi all, That is a lot. Perfect. Only the carbonates of group 1 metals <"are soluble">, and it will sodium (Na), not potassium (K), I should have thought of that. I think that is right, water derived from limestone aquifers tends to have <"some sodium (Na) content"> &...

How long did the batch last? The values quoted in the IFC was the figures we was advised should be enough, doubling the dose makes sense if it works and its a relative very small increase once its is dosed. The added cost is also irrelevant and worth it if it prevents the mold.

I think this level is somewhat high, but plants also have different sensitivity to sodium. I have 10-12 mg/l in my tap water, and most plants do fine in it. However, I also think that the toxicity of sodium depends on the presence of other ions like K+ and maybe Ca++ and Mg++. Adding more of...

So if want to target: dGH=6, and dKH=4, by cutting my tap water with RO By starting with tap water report (mean values): Ca = 82.1 mg/l, and Mg = 3.73 mg/l gives 82.1/7.14+3.73/4.34 = 12.4 dGH Alkalinity = 273.5/17.86 = 15.3dKH To lower dKH from 15.3 to 4, is 4/15.3=0.26 dilution. To keep it...

I think I have found a recipe which works very well. This is my second batch and still no mould 🎉 Even old mould in tubing is slowly disintegrating. So I’m washing my containers using flourish excel diluted with tap water. I use 0.5 gram of ascorbic acid per 500ml of water (instead of as per IFC...

Hi all, I don't see it as a big problem, it is a relatively straightforward to make <"water harder and more alkaline">. You can use "Oyster (or Cockle) Shell Chick Grit", it is still CaCO3, but a lot cheaper (about £2 a kilo from P@H etc) and more environmentally friendly. You also get a...

Hey, welcome to the forum. I am by no means a water chemistry expert, but it took me a good few years to come to my current level of understanding of hardness/alkalinity relationships and I would say that everything the bot told you is 100% correct. Yes, it is true that most tap water in the...

Hi, This my first post on this forum, after reading it for a year or so. I have hard water, and have always been struggling with all forms of algues since starting the hobby. I am re-doing a tank. I have invested in an RO unit. I am still trying to decide how to proceed next: 1) easy solution...

Interesting, I use RO from my closest Maidenhead Aquatics and their help there has been above and beyond, can’t fault them. I wanted to avoid tap all together so I don’t have to faff about with dechlorinator and such 🙈

Like many others on here I have very hard tap water and use spotlesswater for my RO. I do 70% ro and 30% tap (sprinkle some epsom salt) and its been great for me, both fish and plants are healthy and grow well. I do this for top ups and water changes.

I aim to remineralise to 3KH and 6GH; I take out 40% (roughly 10l) of water weekly. How much tap would you recommend? If it’s the products harming my betta, is there any alternatives to the Seachem products that you recommend apart from tap water? Thanks!

Hi all, I'm lucky our tap water is pretty clean and consistent in parameters, it comes from a deep limestone aquifer, but even if it wasn't so nice? You only need a very small volume of tap water to add both calcium (Ca++) "dGH" and bicarbonate (2HCO3-) "dKH". cheers Darrel

Hi all, It is <"certainly true"> of fish-keeping, you can <"lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink">. I've thought about it as well, but as you say not a sensible option for me either. I just couldn't. I really like floating plant .... I like to think my advice has got better...

I was hoping to avoid tap water altogether 😂 I’ll definitely look at that thread and see others experiences! Thank you!!

Hi all, I know it sounds strange, but I think that is your problem. My own (<"jaundiced">) view is that Seachem aren't interested in your tanks, or their well being, they are only interested in extracting as much money as possible from you. Have a look at <"Who needs a tank for a dark start…...

I remineralise with Seachem equilibrium and Seachem alkaline buffer, I use their dosage calculator on their website. When my betta was in hard water, his fin tips almost “melted” away and as soon as I began using RO, he began to heal. Now it’s happening again, even with fin rot medication...

Thanks Darrel, I have in the past suggested floating plants and even donated some Indian Fern, and advised against letting plants slowly die in water but old habits die hard, and my old mum used to say 'that if people want your advice they will ask for it, but just because they ask doesn't mean...

Hi all, I'm a <"rainwater user">, I have really hard tap water as well. What / how much do you remineralise with? That is a really strange one and I don't have an easy explanation for it. I'm sorry to hear that. In what way? cheers Darrel

I currently use RO, remineralised due to my tap water being so bad (25gh and 18kh). I put a small amount of Fluval stratum in a jug of tap water and it plummeted the ph to 6.5 and the kh to 0. I’d assume it would have a different effect in soft water, correct me if I am wrong! The fluctuating...

Hi all, The tank looks lovely. Assuming you use tap water? Where do you live in the UK? It will help with working out what your tap water is like <"Some handy facts about water">. A lot of people run their aquariums at very low dKH values <"Soft water tank">, it will make pH "unstable", but...

Hi all, A lot of people use hard tap water, it does limit what you can grow, but many plants don't care or do better in hard water. If you look at a chalk stream it has plenty of plants in it. Same with pH, it is going to be ~ pH 8, but so is a chalk stream. CO2 injection will help. Cheers Darrel

Thanks all, I won't worry about a test kit then other than ammonia maybe. Would it be bad to only use tap water? Should I worry about pH? Are there any carpeting plants worth considering over other or are all okay? Just want something that is manageable to maintain. Are there any good water...

Hi all, Well done for re-starting. That is about 17 dGH (and 17 dKH), the calculation is here <"Hardness convertor">, but basically most of us in <"southern central England, the SE and E. Anglia"> will have similar water hardness. You can mix in <"RO or rainwater">. I use about 10% tap water...

Hi All, please let me know if this is the wrong area for this post. I'm starting a new tank after a few years hiatus. I've run a few aquascapes for myself and others with varying levels of success. I've decided to go with an Iwagumi layout, I know this is very tough to achieve (creating a...

Hi, I'd say they're 12 days old. It's likely they will go straight in the main tank to start with and maybe moved later.

I've always used tap water that's been treated, rather than tank water, for the container fry are in. With no problems. Are you putting them straight into the main tank? What age are they now?

Hi again, sorry but have a question again. So my son is still nursing the fry in a tupperware tub in the top of the tank and they appear to be doing well. He's currently doing daily water changes using water from the main tank where the tupperware is situated. He's noticed a fungal infection on...

Absolutely Darrel, and a few years back I bought organic root sticks, far from ideal, lots of urea, but thankfully the pants mopped up any problems. However, like most folks who have use CO2 I have had losses of fish, never that many, only larger heavier bodied fish, in hot weather. I...

Reading on here and listening, I am starting to think that iron (low in both TNC and tap water) with my 10 dKH / 15 dGH water could be part of the problem.

I have used TNC Complete without problems, but is it an expensive product. NPK 1.5-0.5-6. I have a suspicion, no more than that, that a large dose of Potassium relative to Nitrate is good but how large that dose should be I'll leave to Darrel's expertise. Chempak Tomato Feed is cheap to use...

Is that the TDS of your tap water it appears to be rather high? Using 2 membranes inline will further reduce the TDS but I'm afraid I don't understand what is going on, most people (including myself) will get a permeate reading of around 10 to 12 TDS (excluding extremes) from their hard tap...

Hey @Bradders I had BGA in all my scapes. It’s usually was getting noticeable after 6th month since scape start and usually disappeared after 2 - 3 month after weakly scrapping it from in between front glass and gravel and being vacuumed. I think it’s always there in my tank but so tiny...

Maybe Chihiros WRGB II? The red, green and blue spectrum of this light is very well regulated, especially the red plants look especially bright. It can also be dimmed with a phone app.

It's been 10 days since I last posted (aquarium is 72 days old), so I thought I would post an update on how things are going. Which, I believe, is not well, and I 'feel' I am sleepwalking into a disaster. What I am observing is (with pictures): Yellowing leaves, especially the 53Bs that also...

The main idea was to create two hills with sort of passage in between using mainly old school plants like microsorum trident, anubias, bolbitis , some buces and rotalas in the background for some detail Wood type is red moor and stone type is black lava rock For this project I had help from my...

A good friend of mine breeds some of the less unusual Corys in small planted tanks, sponge air operated filters, but no CO2, silver sand, and a bit of bog wood, he puts in three or four fish for a week or so when fully conditioned the females look much wider than the males, and he seems to...

Hi all, which fish would be a good species to breed in my planted aquascape? I’d love to get profits from each of my tanks but already have enough shrimp tanks, so i’d like to try a small fish species where I don’t have to separate the babies or eggs from the adults. I know Guppies, Mollies...

Aquarium Progress So, how is it going and what have I learnt? I have been keeping fish for 30 years but this is my first planted tank and it certainly hasn't been trouble free. There have been both good and bad aspects as follows: Positives The substrate method (copied from MD Fish Tanks)...

Returning to a planted tank after a few years and the choice of lighting is a bit overwhelming So the tank is 100 x 45 x 45 cm filtered by an external. CO2 will be added and a sandy substrate used. I have an RO so I can mix this with the hard tap water here in East Sussex if needed. I would...

Yes just the tank water. Sorry forgot to add I’ll also add an alder cone and a bit of Java moss.

And I take it you use tank water not dechlorinated tap water?

My tap water is private well water supply, ph 7.6 kh 8 gh 9 I kept discus and another planted tank few years back didn’t have much of an issue growing plants with my water. Seachem root tabs are next to the vals aswell as flourish, was thinking this to with the left one but no sign of runners as yet

Vallis prefer hard water so if your tap water is soft, growth may have stalled.

Some people have a tendency to mix the CO2 indicator with tank water. It will probably not give you an accurate reading if there's any residual hard tap water in there but it's definitely not the problem. I suspect it could be a flow and distribution problem, what filter are you using? You don't...

No, I have 4 x 25L water containers which I either fill from Spotless Water's dispensary units, or, now we've had some rain, from the water butt. I'm a bit nervous about the potential to make a mistake with the chemical engineering, so will probably stick to adding a bit of tap water when the...

Great journal, really enjoying the journey and the tank is looking fab. Didn't quite understand this bit, do you have your own RO unit? Going down the tap water route you could feasibly reduce the percentage down to 80/20, 85/15 or even 90/10 just adding a couple of teaspoons of Magnesium...

Do you have much evaporation and do you top up any significant amount with tap water during the week?

Day 7 & 8 - Angels & Gin With my son home from university it was time for another trip to the local fish shop - my dream was to have a group of angel fish in the tank along with the other tetras and such, and so we went to find a small group of angels. While we were out I also picked up to...

Thank you @Bradders. I started googling immediately after seeing the eyes and just in case also asked here as I could attach some pictures to aid diagnosis. According to Gemini on google search this is a damage/scratch in most cases and cloudiness is direct response from immune system. There...

I used to use HCl this way as a temporary CO2 booster, but have abandoned that approach. If the goal is primarily to temporarily add dissolved CO2 to the tank then making fresh soda water and adding that makes sense to me (although just directly injecting CO2 gas is my preferred approach)...

With the Mg from the tap water and the TNC complete you are likely getting enough. Upthread it was stated that you are getting somewhere around 5ppm accumulated from the TNC plus the 5ppm from your tap water, which is obviously 10 or so ppm. It is safe to add more in the sense you are nowhere...

That is my approach as well. Filter and water stay in the aquarium, fail-safe and there is the added benefit of no tubes running in and out of the tank. That is one added benefit of the soda-water approach (or HCl), it is not easy for it to go wrong. I make the soda water myself, and it can't...

Hi all, @Roland keeps his tanks <"at 1 dKH">. Yes, any salts will raise conductivity. Personally I'd be bit worried about that "TDS" reading, it is lot higher than I'd expect. Just a range of TDS values that give you acceptable plant growth. You can <"use it as a source of potassium (K)...

Its does sound weird as ADA AS is supposed to be packed with nutrients So a Micro and K I would suggest a complete Fert as your not adding any NO3 or PO4 ( or Mg which if deficient slow just like a Fe deficiency - water report would help from supplier) But the Micro OP is using has Which...

Hey @timseren This looks like iron deficiency caused by hard (hence high pH) tap water. I’d look for some stronger iron chelate and try that first.

So just 1 week after restart, new plant growth slowed down and started to show deficiancy symptoms which is quite weird as I am using ADA amazonia. The new growth started quite strong but soon started to pale out, new leaves on rotala were quite twisted. Some data about the tank: 90x45x45 ADA...

Thank you for the detailed reply! Hmmm... Currently my tank has just 1 dKH. That's way too less headroom in terms buffer capacity to do such a test. I'll keep the method in mind if I go to full tap water of 10 KH. I'm not a chemist or expert in any way, but I tried to do some validations...

I have several tanks of varying sizes; the plants in my smaller betta tanks do fine, but my bigger tanks seem to be suffering. My java ferns are disappearing - used to be lush but now pin holes, brown leaves etc. Anubias also seeing yellow & brown leaves. Very little new growth on ferns or...

@Bradders 8 weeks in this is still an immature tank... all this, including some BGA, is very common regardless of tech level. Lower the light intensity a notch (not hours, but intensity) - light is really the main driver when it comes to the plants metabolism and they may need a breather...

Hi All, It's been around 8 weeks, and I'm starting to have some issues I would appreciate advice on. I have started to get some spots of blue/green algae on the sand. Siphon out, it comes back. Any thoughts? The stem plants are starting to look yellow on older leaves, as seen in the picture...

Even less tap water. I am not only enjoying plants but also have fish in the tank. Is it save to go much lower in KH? Yes, i have rain water has a tds of 4ppm. Pen is calibrated. I understand in this range accuracy is low. Tank itselfs is currently 370ppm. It raises each day with around 4ppm. I...