EagleC EagleC
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  • Posted on: 28/3/2007 12:29
New Setup - tap water concerns #1
Hi,
Tomorrow I should recieve my new 100gal tank. Thats either a shed load of trips to the fish store for water (15 at least) or I have to use treated tap water. A problem I have with this is that the tapwater in the area is quite hard (South East Hampshire) and has a Ph of 8 naturally. Boiling or Britta-filtering the water can reduce this hardness but for 380liters thats a lot of time and energy.

I've heard I can add something to my filter media to soften the water over time but I'd like to hear from someone with personal experience in changing water hardness and Ph. Obviously I'd like the end result to be stable too!

Fishy-Fishy Fishy-Fishy
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  • Posted on: 28/3/2007 12:31
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #2
Hi Eagle, wow a 100 gall tank!! I am so jealous

I am not a fan of messing with pH and hardness and for me, the best way to go is RO. With a tank as large as yours you would probably be better off getting your own unit. You can get them for about £70 I think, although having never had one I'm afraid I can't advise you on brands etc.

What fish are you planning on?
EagleC EagleC
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  • Posted on: 28/3/2007 12:42
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #3
Initially I'm going to get a few neon tetras to test the water, then I have to re-home my sons tetras, corys and mollies so I can repair his tank... after that I've not decided! I'm still trying to plan an interesting community that works well together.
Fishy-Fishy Fishy-Fishy
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  • Posted on: 28/3/2007 12:48
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #4
The corys and tetras will prefer slightly lower pH but mollies will probably thrive in your tap water. There are loads of fish that will suit a community with tetras and corys, it's just personal choice really. Have a gander at our caresheets, see if there's anything that takes your fancy
Coralline Coralline
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  • Posted on: 28/3/2007 13:12
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #5
yeah the best way to lower the pH will be to mix part tap water with some ro, this will dilute the minerals present that are buffering the water to 8. you will need to test the carbonate hardness (KH) and general hardness (GH) of the water as this will determine the pH, so you may need to sit and do a bit of maths to work out what percentage of tap to ro water you need to mix.

Gill

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Swanny32 Swanny32
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  • Posted on: 28/3/2007 13:13
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #6
Watch out for those Mollies, they are horny little buggers! Before you know it your 100gallon tankk will be swarmed with the little buggers!
EagleC EagleC
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  • Posted on: 29/3/2007 10:11
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #7
oops, lost this thread nd started a new one on the RO unit! I bought it, fitted it and now trying to figure out what 100 gallons per day actualy means, I think it means at 125psi at 25C its 100gallons per 24 hours... currently it seems closer to producing closer to 2.5 gallons per hour.
Coralline Coralline
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  • Posted on: 29/3/2007 11:12
Re: New Setup - tap water concerns #8
yeah you will get better results with warmer water, and at higher pressure. i want a pump to pump water through my ro unit, but not much point as its stuck in my moms garage until i move and can use it!
Gill

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