Search results for query: "tap water"

Day 2 - Planting So after we finished the hardscape we filled the tank with cold tap water, just to get everything water logged and ensure it was all glued down - I really had my doubts but my son was quite insistent he had glued everything on his side, and I was pretty sure I had glued...

Hi all, Honestly that is your problem, you aren't supplying <"at least one of the nutrients necessary for plant growth">. When you were dosing the TNC Complete the green algal growth tells you that all the nutrients required by plants were present in the water column. The Green Algae have the...

How long do you estimate it was in there sealed for? Take a small cup, dig down carefully deep into the substrate, and bring the cup out and sniff test. See if the smell intensifies for that substrate. Lastly, anything died in there?

Bioload - I only have snails and plants. The ammonia read between 0.2-0.5. I have tested tap water and that is zero for ammonia. Just retested tank after the WC and that seems to be zero now. But the smell is still there. My previous filter was an internal one - Aquael pat mini. I removed...

What was your old filter? Was it a canister? If so, assume the filter media was kept wet, and exposed to the air during the transition? (i.e. did not turn the old filter off for a few hours and leave without air). It depends on your bioload. What was your Ammonia reading? 0.5, 1 or 3 PPM etc...

It is difficult to describe, but certainly not like it did previously, slightly bitter smell I guess. My old filter only had one sponge so I added this into the first compartment of the the new filter. Water is not cloudy. I always add Seachem Prime to any water I add to the tank. I’ll check...

What did it smell like? Is the water also gone cloudy? (Send a picture if you can of the full tank). Was it like for like when added the sponge? i.e. did you have (as an example) 3 sponges in the old filter and added them all in the new one? If ammonia is high, you must (as you say) change...

dKH of 3 is fine for neocaridina, but is on the high side for caridina. I still haven't found a convincing use for measuring TDS. 😉 The GH and KH values you listed do not correspond to what I would describe as 'very hard'. What does your water report say / where in the UK are you located?

No, just tap water with Seachem Prime.

GH= 8d KH=3d TDS=based on water supplier, about 400 (I don’t have a test for this). Bear in mind my test figures are based on the dip-strips so may not be entirely accurate! My tap water is very hard though.

Hi All, I read a few threads on this, but I still need a bit of confidence and direct advice! Today is maintenance day and I need to do something with the plants which have grown, and either touching the surface or very nearly doing that. They are becoming thick, so also worried about...

Hi all, I'm pleased you have found it useful. I always like to think that the answers to all? possible questions are hiding in the UKAPS forums <"High GH and "softening filter""> & <"British summer time">. I've always been a rainwater user, and soft water definitely makes plant growing more...

What a cracker response Darrel, as a kid in Belfast late 1960s early 70s, a friend of mine grew plants very successfully on under gravel plates with two domestic T8 tubes, relatively shallow tank, maybe 15 inches. But of course Belfast tap water, from then the Mourne mountains, from granite...

Hi all, Fair enough, they probably are right. If you understand <"the scientific method"> and get reproducible results? Then that is good enough for me. There certainly are breaches of the 50 mg/L limit for NO3- in tap water, but Thames Water should have reported them. Unfortunately "should"...

Thanks Darrel, and I will follow the links. Appreciate the time and interest from you. I certainly I have found test strips very hit and miss, I have had a dodgy batch or two and some manufacturers seem to be consistently better than others, and, all test and drop kits, are actually hard to...

Really good question, suspect you are more scientific than me. I follow the box instructions, using the little spoon, which is one 5 ml to 5 litres for the solution, 750 g box, 5 g spoon. But after that I go really gently. I tend to add only a litre of the solution to my 250 litre tank and...

Funnily enough, I was reading about Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) found in water. (Both rainwater and treated water as water plants cant really address PFAS yet). Doesn't make for great reading as an indictor of our environment. There does seem to be some directive for 2026 for water...

Rainwater mixed with tap water does work well, it is my standard go to. Many authorities warn of contamination from roof materials, never been an issue for me. Collected now from the house roof, clay tiles, but at times in the past of assorted garden buildings. But from the roof of the house...

Hey Andy, Thank you very much for your well detailed answer ! In my case I do not measure the tap water (or RO water as I only use RO water). I let sit tank water for ~48h, have a reading of 6,5/6,6 pH fully degazed and measure a ~6 pH during injection. Anyway, if I understand correctly nothing...

Hi all, Perfect. I was just about to post my own, much less coherent (and probably scientifically jumbled), answer to this question, but now I'm going to remember @Andy Pierce's <"answer">, so that I can refer any-one, who ever asks this question again, to Andy's post. cheers Darrel

Having had it with my Blue Acara formed couple (Andinoacara pulcher, electric blue variety), who loves to pull out all my plants when they get in the mood for romance, I convinced the missus that a separate tank for breeding them could be a source of mild income. I'm not sure she was convinced...

If you are injecting CO2, then only the pH drop caused by injected CO2 counts. Decreasing the pH by equilibrium methods other than CO2 injection doesn't change the levels of dissolved CO2 gas in the water column, although the decreased pH might be beneficial for other reasons. So if the...

Hi all, I use <"really big black foam blocks"> ( in the background, below), but I have <"no interest in aesthetics"> and <"very weedy tanks">. I use the same sponges on Powerheads etc. They are ~£10 for a 12" x 4" x 4" drilled block. cheers Darrel

I had this 'problem' as well. Tap water was pH7.6, aquarium water with Tropica Aquasoil was pH7. So where is the 1pH drop? In the end I done two things: Took the average between the aquarium water and the tap water. (pH 7.3, so aimed for pH6.3 for 1 pH drop method). Used my Dropchecker to...

Aquasoil (AS) with its Cation exchange capacity (CEC) buffers the tanks nutrients and pH, there can be a decrease in pH with some AS and this is normal. This drop in pH can be beneficial esp when your tap water is on the hard side as the decrease can improve the Fe availability to the plants...

Hauling water is never pleasant, but is easier if you buy more of the 10L drums than less of the 25. You can carry and manouver 2 x 10 much more easily than a 1 x 25.

I’d suggest using RO or rainwater for that.

This is what I’m thinking, thanks. I think the other problem I have, and which is probably why I get algae, is less and less frequent water changes. I’ll be doing 50% weekly while the tank beds in (using old filters so fish-in cycling) so that should mean maybe 100L of RO a week will be ok, and...

If you’re thinking ion exchange softener that uses salt, then no, as it’s bad for the fish. Calcium and magnesium is replaced with sodium. Either live with the hard water, use rainwater as you suggest or use RO which you can remineralise with some of your tap water. Many people on this forum...

Hello I am looking to see want is the best Remineralise for my plecos i have super red long fin my tap water is so bad i cant use it for anything atm looking to see what is the best salt/Remineralise products are available on the market i have cherry shrimp in the same tank would i need to...

Well my tap water had 120ppm Ca and 5ppm Mg when i did Olympus is Calling so there should be no excuse for any Ca:Mg ratio in some ways, but softer water and Ca:Mg ratio of 3.0:1.0 and easier in many ways. you plants was CO2 limited and had enough ferts and plants was fine as they are use to...

How important is it to account for the Ca & Mg in tap water? All I know about my tap water in my country is that the pH is around 5-6 and is always safe to drink. That being said, they have ranges for acceptability. I know with nitrate I need to be a bit careful as my 1 tank is heavily stocked...

Yes... for sure! Even for topping up say 5% in a 200 Liter tank (thats 10 Liters) adding 1L of near boiling water to a bucket of cold (16 C) water and stir it would take the temp to ~23 C... Cheers, Michael

Afternoon folks. I'm after a bit of advice/reassurance if anyone has a moment. I am currently using TNC Complete at the recommended dose of 1ml/10l/week in all my tanks. However as the budget conscious aquarist that I am, I would like to swap to @Happi self-mixed Solufeed concoction (not the...

When I need to add cold tap water to one of my Nano’s I heat a jug of it up in the microwave if needed. Not so much an option though if you have a large tank!

All commercial ferts/AIO are based in recipes that have been around for long time, with each product having slight tweaks/differences. So if your after tweaking what you have been using Just set the targets slightly higher/lower and the IFC will do all the maths. We added the compare next to...

Indeed, I agree (when looking at my water report at least) that heavy metals are very much not present.

Hi all, So a water conditioner that contained EDTA could potentially complex lead (Pb++), zinc (Zn++) and copper (Cu++) ions <"Sodium calcium edetate - Wikipedia">. Whether it actually does, or not, will depend on all <"sorts of factors"> &...

My concern isn't the mixed temperature, I usually use a jug for top up and pour it through a sponge so it doesn't disturb the substrate later. Initally pouring it in you can see the denser cold water sink to the bottom and hitting some fish and shrimp, was worried incase it could cause...

Interesting . Don't think l have ever had an issue , one address had lead water pipes, think the advice was to run the cold water for 5 minutes. The other houses have and present one the blue "plastic" mains ones, l have always added warm tap water to get desired temperature. I think the...

Just to add my input, I have had two API Master Test kits and noticed that the Nitrate tests are the first to 'go off' and give very high readings - and this was in an established tank where the math did not make sense. Two seperate test kits (one was NTLabs and cannot remember another one)...

I’ll also test my Tap water as it’s a new house but same area so although hard water should be ok

API Master Freshwatet Test Kit… I agree those levels seem off. I’m going to let things settle anyway and I want plants to root in and get some growth. I did the dark start method to avoid massive amounts of water changes but I’ll prob do 2x 50% over these 2 weeks to be sure.

Something isn’t right there, it’s a new setup, how can you have nitrate so high? Unless you have high nitrate in your tap water…… You surely have a dodgy test set or high nitrate in your tap water, which is to me unlikely.

If I understand this correctly, you said you just changed 90% of the water and measure 100 ppm (!) of Nitrate (NO3) ? That sounds way off... What sort of level do you see straight out of the tap / water source ? and what test kit are you using? Yes, nice scape! Cheers, Michael

Agreed. The EPA clearly discourage people from using the water from the hot water tap for drinking or cooking as the hot water supply may contain unhealthy sediments such as heavy metals. A dechlorinator or water conditioner will not remove heavy metals - only an RO system or similar will be...

Perfect - I’m off looking for some then! How long is fairly long? Not sure how I’ll be able to soak it though, I have a water butt full of rain but emptying that and hoping for rain seems OTT? Edit - just been and collected a couple of pieces via a saw, this is prob the nicest piece. Really...

Is it bad to mix hot and cold water so I dont use very cold water when I need to top-up? Just curious if there is anything I need to be aware of. Been using cold water so far to be safe in terms of water quality from tap.

Then again.. The vallisneria is managing to grow now somehow... I will see what happens over the next few weeks I did have this problem too before I even dirted the tank as well.. Sand substrate with water changes and fertilisation and so on. The plants grew 10x better not caring at all and...

Update on the second Kew scape! Got it planted on Friday just gone (apart from 2 plants that were out of stock). Everything is looking great upto now and has stood up with no signs of melt 🤞. There's a couple of areas I want to tweak, the main being the riccia on the stones I want to replace...

Hi All, I purchased some ramshorn snails for the high tech CO2 injected tank and all seemed fine and they've even had a bunch of offspring but then the big ones started to die and I couldnt figure out why. My shrimps were fine and breeding and my fish seem to be fine, nitrogen levels are in...

Sounds right to me.

Well then. It turns out that some of the stone in my tank is limestone/seiryu. I've had it since around 2010 when I set up my first tank. I've just tested a bit that's not being used and it fizzes under white vinegar. So that's the Ca+ sorted then,! If I wanted to add 5mg/l Mg+, that would be...

Hi all, That is a good point <"KH, GH and aquasoil">. I managed this, in reverse so to speak, by soaking Moler clay cat litter in hard tap water <"Can old tropica soil exposed to hard water raise the KH of soft water?">. cheers Darrel

Agree this - measuring KH is easy with the right kit, but there are a lot of ways to generate what you think are water chemistry data that don't actually have much connection to reality. If you dig deeper into your water report you might find an actual measurement of alkalinity, but if not the...

Please excuse my question, I'm not as experienced as most posters on here. I'll be looking to put in ground level ponds, I wish to bypass using tap water & use clean, fresh rainwater. I wish to make the water hard, ph suitable for Axolotl. Would crushed oyster shell grit be all that's needed to...

Purigen should not affect the shrimp. Some of the Brita filters use ion exchange resin to strip out the hardness and heavy metals and replace them with sodium. That includes calcium and magnesium. It is worth checking which type of cartridge you use and whether it does this so you can plan...

It’s a Brita under sink filter. I’ve been using the same regime of rain/tap water for years. Then some months ago the shrimp in one tank started dying off, but not in the other tank with the same mix of water. I wasn’t bothered at the time as they were all natural coloured shrimp. I’d now like...

Hi, I noticed you posted the above on another thread today. Do you mind elaborating as to what type of filter you use as it might (or might not) have a large bearing on what you need to add to your water for shrimp and in some cases the filter itself might make the water unsuitable. Ion exchange...

From a thread of mine MichaelJ He's a clued up chap who keeps shrimps .. You don't need expensive salts. Considering the cherry shrimps only, you just need CaSO4 and MgSO4 to target ~27 ppm of Ca and ~9 ppm of Mg - this will yield a GH of ~6.0. The amount you need to add depends of course...

My tap water goes through a filter so I’ve never bothered with a conditioner. I do use Sodium Thiosulphate though after regenerating Purigen.

Hi all, Not really, you could try a new test kit? I just think that buffering and pH are <"quite problematic areas">. So something doesn't quite add up there. In carbonate buffered water the pH goes to ~pH8 once you get more than about 3 dKH. This is the pH equilibrium point of the CO2 ~...

Morning, I’ve just done some testing on my tank water and I’m not sure if I need to address matters. I have a journal thread on this website but thought I’d post this query here. So, my tanks pH is coming up paler than the colour for 6.4 (so pH is lower than this) and KH is the same colour as...

Thanks. I'm going to go with adding as little to the water as necessary.

Yes, you need Mg - 5-6 mg/l would be my recommendation with the water change - you can just front load it. If you want to keep shrimps you should add additional Calcium as well, I'd say 10 ml/l to give you 20 ppm of Ca. in total. Now, a couple of things; Your phosphate level is pretty high...

If your intention is to target 7dGH and 5dKH from Edinburgh tap (3dGH 1dKH) then the easiest way I would do it would be to add 2dGH of Calcium Carbonate and 2dGH of Magnesium Carbonate, both compounds have a dKH that equals their dGH (1:1). The tank water may be a little cloudy for a couple of...

Thanks everyone. Going through the local water quality reports plus my phosphate measurement kit, my tap water parameters are: I can't find the Potassium value and neither do I have a way of measuring. So if I was to have to add anything to this at WC before considering ferts, what would it...

Hi All, so I'm cycling my new 60ltr tank atm which is running CO2 and moderately planted with mostly slow growing plants. I'vw done a dark start and now I've nearly completed a week of 40% daily water changes. I plan to reduce the water changes to 40% every other day week 2 then I might consider...

Next year , probably around June or so , I intend to set up a 16 gallon bookshelf display tank in the living room . I don’t want to mess around with growing in plants in this tank ; rather my goal is to use plants that are ‘pre grown in’ in a couple of farm tanks in my basement , and transplant...

Nice colour change which indicates that you have about 30ppm CO2, your pH readings indicate you have a more than a 1.0pH drop which conflicts with the DC. I would put the larger than 1.0pH drop down to the probe not reading the pH accurately. pH probes read the pH by proxy and the logarithmic...

No, unless you plan to breed picky soft water species or keep sensitive shrimps, a very gradual change from say 120 to ~200 ppm is not too bad if most of the delta is made up of fertilizers and not just decomposed waste. Natural water ways unless polluted or naturally very mineral rich, will...

The water from the tap contains CO2. Some tap water contains more, some less. Your degassed tank water also contains some CO2, depending on the time you left it on air, and also on many other things, like the amount of water in your cup, the surface of it, the CO2 in your room... So, whether the...

Hi @MichaelJ , Thanks for your reply. As I said i am quite new to this. So what is at all a reasonable tds value for life stock and/or plants? Is my tap water already on the high side? Currently my plan was to do 50/50% water/rain water changes of 30%, which will have an average tds of 110...

Hi all, Hi guys, sorry about another post but I was reading a lot recently about flows in planted tanks. I have a quick question about my water flow distribution. My information about tank is below from the post "Substrates" I put few weeks ago about my substrate absorbing PO4. Well last...

Right, ladies and gentlemen ......... back to me understanding the science with your help. (Thank you, by the way). 24-hour degassed tank water by leaving in a cup to stand, pH7.7 (almost spot on my tap water readings, and would make sense). Tank water when CO2 is off seems to settle/buffer...

Well it is of more interest what it measures in the tank. In the range of my tap water (220) and my tank (currently 365) it is quite reproduceable in what it measures. So it gives me some indication of the tank status. This TDS stuff is al quite new to me but it gives me a feeling that you have...

Hi all, I'll assume you have some calcium (Ca) from your tap water? I don't add a calcium compound as such, I just use our tap water (about 17 dGH and 17 dKH) as a calcium source. Cheers Darrel

Which makes sense. So, I have tap water at 7.5, tank water at 7.0 due to substrate buffering, and pearling at 6.3 with a lime green drop checker. Considering that a full pH should be 6 using tank water as a reference point, that is my confusion. Is that because the drop checker has a pretty...

The tank water and the tap water will not have the same degased pH in a planted tank, as the substrate and rocks/wood/ferts etc change the parameters of the tank water. A tank without substrate/rocks etc the tank water and tap water would be the same - until you add anything

I think that is what is confusing me somewhat. If I vigorously aerate the tank water (pH7), it kind of gets closer to the tap water. (ph7.5+). Which is expected, as the the tap water is 7.5, and the buffer in the water makes it 7 in the tank. I was told it relative to the water in the aquarium...

I see comments from people who track their pH profiles in a more precise way than I do, that the tank doesn't fully degas during the lights off period. So I would recommend that you further investigate the base pH of your water, especially since that is very relevant when using the 1pH drop...

Thank you, I'll head back onto the BAND app as well see if I can narrow down any that way as well Failing that I could always take the Mrs for a nice romantic drive to .... Runcorn 😀

Hi all, I'll be honest, I think you may have dodged a bullet there. I might try putting out feelers to <"Premier Aquatics">, Ste Chesters will know if they are likely to be available, and where you might get them from. A lot of less common fish pass around amongst specialist breeders and...

Hi all, A thought occurs that the softer, less alkaline water may have "unlocked" the availability of one of the other mineral nutrients that was limiting diatom growth? cheers Darrel

Hello all, Our tap water has a KH of 8, so I was thinking to do water changes with 50% tap and 50% rain water to lower the KH. Water change itself is 60L on 185L Total. So to say, I did this once and promptly I saw a brown layer on my anubiases leaves. My oto's are happy to eat it it seems. I...

Inline diffuser. At present, the CO2 comes on 5 hours before the lights do. Moves from a pH of ~7, to a pH of ~6.32 when the lights come on. It then stays pretty steady (6.31 to 6.32). In short, long ramp-up, not quite 1 full pH but steady when the lights come on. To give an idea of...

Hi all, Suggests that you have <"plenty of nutrients">. Try reducing the fertiliser addition and see what happens. You can lean dose, as long as you supply all of the nutrients plants need. Don't get too hung up on what the test kit says, <"use plant health as your test kit">. I use a...

Many thanks. The green hair algae is growing on most surfaces, including on the plants which indeed are growing very well. I’ve tested my water and the nitrates are about 15-20 (same as my tap water). The only thing I haven’t tested for yet is phosphate. Is the algae just part of the cycling...

Don’t worry Edinburgh gets it’s fair share of Chloramination every summer when the population nearly doubles for the Fringe, especially if it’s a hot dry summer, not so much this summer because it was a bit of a washout, I usually notice it has been dosed when the TDS rises about 10ppm above the...

Welcome to our soft tap water.🙂 The only thing that is forgotten is in tap water, is NH4. In my tap it is in the range of 0.2-0.4ppm That is why I use RO, and of course high PO4 which is standard in the UK Sometimes I use tap water for a second tank where the water values are: Ca-5.64 Mg-0.95...

I have read that hot water increases the chlorine when bathing and can be an irritant for sensitive skin. Thats my primary motivation for filtering. But if it helps the tank (I dont have to add dechlorinators) and drinking water then they are bonuses. But yes I agree, trying to drink London...

Thanks, loads of useful comments. The S.repens and M.mattogrossense are from other tanks of mine which obviously helps, as are some of the Anubias. I wasn't aware that some Anubias are grown emersed, its something for me to be aware of. The S. repens has always grown slowly for me and it...

I live on the UK south coast, with hard water from the South Downs. When I do water changes, I have to mix it with rainwater so as to not upset my tetras. We've been to the Lake District many times for the past 50 years or so. Our experience is that the tap water there is wonderful for our skin...

Being from Cambridge with liquid rock, I'd kill for your water out of the tap! I'd always advocate using tap water (species allowing) as its so much easier than the PITA that is making or buying water, not having it when you need it, forward planning WC BS 🤬

Whilst not as complete or as rich as some more specialised fertilisers the contents of Microbelift Plants green is more than just micro elements, it does lack Nickel and Phosphate so can’t be classed as a complete fertiliser, it’s more an augment to what would naturally be found in municipal...

If those are the parameters you get all year long with very little fluctuations I would go tap! If you're in an area with little to no Mg in the tap water (which is likely) - you need to add that (MgSO4 / Epsom Salt) - like 4-6 mg/l or so. My snails and shrimps are fine at ~0.25 dKH. and a pH...

Hi all, <"JBL Aquadur"> - <"so all right">, other than the sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) and all that <"for a mere"> £83 / kg ........... You just need to add a <"lot less remineraliser">, have a look at @Roland's <"Soft water tank">. Basically you are losing all the <"advantages of RO"> by...

I do have a couple of nertite snails plus neocardinia and amano shrimp. Aside from the molluscs/crustaceans, isn't a kH of 1 just a bit too low to stabilize the pH?

What livestock do you have? Your tap water is good and you won’t need to increase GH or KH unless you have shrimp and/or snails, or livebearers who seem to enjoy harder water as well. If you do end up using your tap water, you just need to fertilise micros and potassium and nitrogen.

Thanks everyone for responding and sorry if I haven't made myself clear. Also - I didn't want to get too much into fertilization, as this isn't the forum, but all things are related anyway. I am using RO water with Aquadur, which adds just kH and gH - no macros or micros. I have been relying on...