My girlfriend's tank has a KH of 14 degrees and a GH of 24 degrees! Eeeek!

The hardness out of her garden hose (what we filled it up with initially) registered off the charts (I gave up at thirty degrees), but since then we have done three 50% PWC's with her softened tap water which has a GH of 5 degrees. I would have expected it to bring down the GH more than 24, but it hasn't. Furthermore, the first PWC brought it down to 26 from off the charts, but the remaining two have only lowered it 2 degrees.

I've got a water softening pillow in her filter right now, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Is there an easier way than distilled or RO water to lower the GH? Thanks!

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Those values agree with a planted tank I had with just a plain sand substrate.

When I started using peat moss in the substrate, kh was 4 degrees and gh 9 degrees. And the tank remained at those levels for years.

I did have problems keeping neon tetras untill I added the peat moss, but guppies and platies lived for years in the sand only substrate with kh and gh values you have and higher.

You could just try some peat moss in a bag setting in the water and see if hardness comes down.


Just a thought

worth .02 at most

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

What about some in the filter?

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Softened tap is not good to use in an aquarium. If it is a smaller tank, just add 50% RO during water changes.

The only issue I have with RO water is it costs money to make and use. The LFS by my house sells it for $0.05/gallon, but I don't want to be carrying ten gallons of RO water down to my gf's house every week.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

That might work also. But I have no experience with that. I think you might put the peat moss is some kind of bag to prevent fibers and twigs from entering the tank.

my specualtion

worth at most .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Why is softened water bad?

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

If there is a home softner system on the house, many of those use sodium in the systems and therefore can have a lot of that in the water.

I've been using softened water in my 29, 10, and 3 gallon tanks for years. Eeek! Maybe I should just take the plunge and buy an RO system.

Is there a difference between sodium in the water and salinity?

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!