Bbroom89's Tank/s Log

[Gingerlove05]

My water is harder than Rocky Balboa out of the tap but not adverse to working with it if needed!

435 mg/l (or parts per million) :Calcium Carbonate
174 mg/l (or parts per million) :Calcium
30.276 °C :Degrees Clark
43.5 °F :Degrees French
24.708 °dH :Degrees German
4.35 mmol/l :Millimoles

That is really hard! Does it come out of the tap as ready mixed cement?
You’d have to soften quite a lot of keep the corys happy long term (below 10-12dgh)

[bbroom89]

Greetings & welcome to

Thanks Martin!

[bbroom89]

That is really hard! Does it come out of the tap as ready mixed cement?
You’d have to soften quite a lot of keep the corys happy long term (below 10-12dgh)

It offers me out in the car park when I turn the tap on

I was thinking of the API softener pillow and maybe some peat moss as well in a bag in the filter, also Tetra EasyBalance says it balances KH so if anyone knows or has experience with this it would be much appreciated.

I would rather avoid R/O, especially at the moment but not sure of other options.

[plankton]

Welcome to the forum.
The water looks best for Rift Lake cichlids and synos......

[Martinspuddle]

I had to double check your water companies name wasn't 'Blue Circle', thought my water was bad enough at 302 ppm but Norwich iron brew!



@bbroom89 always remember the water companies are only interested in one issue, whether or not their water quality meets the Drinking Water Inspectorate guidelines.

The water looks best for Rift Lake cichlids and synos......

Think even those species @plankton would need swimming aids.

[bbroom89]

Welcome to the forum.
The water looks best for Rift Lake cichlids and synos......

Thanks Plankton!

Cichlids have always been a divisive fish for me, they are very beautiful (I had some yellow labs at one point and they were great) however the aggression of some always makes me a bit nervous. I love most bottom dwellers so definitely not against Synos.

I do think I was leaning towards a community tank setup with a big shoal, a couple of centerpiece fish and a nice active bottom community. Just making it work with the water, i just cannot fathom the hassle of getting 100 litres of R/O water back home every week for changes.

[bbroom89]

I had to double check your water companies name wasn't 'Blue Circle', thought my water was bad enough at 302 ppm but Norwich iron brew!



@bbroom89 always remember the water companies are only interested in one issue, whether or not their water quality meets the Drinking Water Inspectorate guidelines.

The water looks best for Rift Lake cichlids and synos......

Think even those species @plankton would need swimming aids.

And my OH doesn't understand why I drink bottled water only!

[jammedfool]

I had to double check your water companies name wasn't 'Blue Circle', thought my water was bad enough at 302 ppm but Norwich iron brew!



@bbroom89 always remember the water companies are only interested in one issue, whether or not their water quality meets the Drinking Water Inspectorate guidelines.

The water looks best for Rift Lake cichlids and synos......

Think even those species @plankton would need swimming aids.

Does that say "Aggressively hard"? Out in the car park might be right then!

Hi and welcome!
If you were thinking about adjusting water parameters, could you go down the line of your own RO unit? Would save turning your car into a mobile aquarium?

[Martinspuddle]

Does that say "Aggressively hard"? Out in the car park might be right then!

It sure does, it's from Harvey water softener company website for Norwich, I thought it was somewhat amusing.

If you look up Anglian water it shows the same results.

[Stephen]

I was thinking of the API softener pillow and maybe some peat moss as well in a bag in the filter, also Tetra EasyBalance says it balances KH so if anyone knows or has experience with this it would be much appreciated.

I would rather avoid R/O, especially at the moment but not sure of other options.

This is what API say about the so-called API Water Softener Pillow

Rinse pouch under tap water. Place pouch in path of water flow in the aquarium filter. Activity of the pillow lasts 48 hours. After 48 hours, recharging is necessary.
API Water Softener Pillow can be recharged and re-used up to 4 times.

This is what Tetra say about the Tetra EasyBalance

Details
Stabilises important carbonate hardness (KH) and pH water values
Simplifies aquarium maintenance: no need for monthly partial water changes with a moderate fish stock
Extends the period between (partial) water changes
Sustainably reduces phosphate and nitrate
Contains essential vitamins and minerals for healthy fish and plants
Minimises tap water consumption
Suitable for all freshwater aquariums
Ideal for simplifying the maintenance of soft water aquariums, such as those containing discus fish

In my view neither product will really help to soften your very hard water.

The real solution for keeping soft water fish species is mixing tap water with RO water.
Soft water fish species will not do well in the wrong water.
If your tap water is 24.7 dGH (German) then the aim is for something below 12dGH.
The ratio for mixing tap water with RO water would be something like 40:60 (40% tap water with 60% RO water) to give approx 10dGH (lower would be even better).
On a 240L aquarium then that equates to approx 140L of RO water + tap water as a start.
If you do 20% weekly water changes then you will be changing approx 48L per week which would consist of approx 30L of RO water + 18L tap water.

The simplest answer is to keep fish species that are suitable to your water.

The water looks best for Rift Lake cichlids and synos......

Rift lake cichlids (either Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika, which can not be mixed, it's one or the other) can be very colourful, I personally have admired these fish in the LFS (local fish stockist).

All the best