water param confusion

[seastar0328]

Hey all,

I have been having a hard time understanding what happens to water as far as messing with RO water, tapwater, buffers, etc.

I have a planted tank and do add ferts to it. What I want is to replicate the best conditions for my apisto cacs and would like to see breeding. Here's a little bit about my tank set-up before I go into too much detail.

20 long heavily planted. Eco complete substrate (been in there since April so I know the initial issues associated with this substrate as far as raising the hardness of the water temporarily.) I dose macros and micros. I also inject diy CO2. My tapwater is extremely hard. After losing a few fish due to my high levels of gH and kH, I started doing complete RO only water changes without adding anything back to the water. I did about 50% water changes for 3 weeks once a week. I work at my LFS and got into a convo today about adding straight RO. My boss handed me RO right and said I should be using that to put back into my water what I'm taking out regardless of the contents of my ferts. ( I also use no carbon in my filter)

I am about to do another water change. I understand some evaporation has occurred and as of this moment, my gH is a 10, my kH is a 6, and my pH is still an 8.3 (with RO changes as well as CO2 injection). I have no doubt that the substrate and the ferts are adding to my hardness as well as the fact that remnants of my tapwater may still be in this tank. After water changes, my kH is usually a 2, my gH is about a 7.5 and my pH is usually at about a 7 - 7.2. When my CO2 is refreshed it can get down to a 6.5. This is a lot of fluctuation, more than I am comfortable with.

My question is, I thought I had a handle on water quality but I'm lost as to how to go about my water changes. The RO Right is by Kent and gives directions to add for different water levels required. For instance, for "very soft water ie Discus" it instructs to use a 1/2 tsp for every 10 gallons. From what I've read, the product adds back the TDS I take away by adding RO instead of tap. Is this defeating the purpose? What really needs to be in the water and what's the difference? I know a. cacs are supposedly more forgiving of water conditions than other apistos which is why I've stuck with them as my first dwarf since April and in all honesty the males did fine in our tapwater. I've read many articles stating that I can use straight up tap for them and not mess with my water BUT I want these guys to thrive and I think that having them spawn would be the coolest thing to see. I am not in this to make money but I think that would be the ultimate sign of whether or not I am keeping them correctly. I have witnessed spawning but the eggs went white (probably too hard of water), and the females always died after their 2nd or 3rd spawn. Nothing in my water besides the hardness could have attributed to it. It could have been bad stock or poor diet but I doubt both of these are the case as I feed very well and they lived just fine for months before they actually spawned. No aggression was seen.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

-Mandi

 

[fishgeek]

hard water + fertiliser = not really apisto water type

r/o water +( a little hard tap/small amounts of r/o right ) = more appropriate apisto water

those a re very big generalisations

and these are too
water if pure is just H20 , when we say it is hard we are making a statement about the dissolved mineral(divalent metal ions) content ( mainly carbonates bound to calcium or magnesium)

so your water is naturally high in some or all of these hydroxide,carbonate or bicarbonate salts of calcium,magnesium,aluminium,barium,copper,iron,strontium and zinc

r/o water is a n attempt to get close to pure water , assume it has 95% less dissolved stuff than the tap water that you presented the r/o membrane wiht

fertiliser will be a combination of macro and or micronutrients
this will be some of the above mentioned elements in differing proportions
probably more potassium, iron,manganese though than hard water

r/o right is again going to be similar and differing proportions

most apisto's prefer water with lower dissolved mineral content and lower pH , though the cac's you have chosen are more tolerant of higher pH and dissolved minerals

i think you are trying to do two things in one tank that maybe conflicting
ie fertilising plants in hard water
and breeding apisto's in soft water

i wouldn't bother with the fertilising nor the CO2 if you want to breed
maybe use some r/o with tap to get your hardness where you want it
mix a few ratio's in small volumes to see what you are happy with

then if your pH is still high, you could get a solenoid and use your CO2 to help a bit
or you could just use some peat to add the acid, in hard water it wont make as much difference, and for cacatoides that isnt so important

i have also very hard alkaline tap water and i just run it through the r/o and then store it in a butt with peat
i use this solely for my breeding tanks , plants dont do well in it
i use straight tap + fertilisers+C02 in a planted tank

hth
andrew