Understanding water hardness

[Fish]

Rocks, substrate, wood etc can all have an impact by leaching. It's not huge tho but measurable from the kits.

I have wood, tetra complete substrate and sand so maybe that’s why.

[John Linklater]

So my ph readings are as follows. This one is out of the tank:



And this is straight out of the tap:




Do I need to do anything about the tank ph at all when it’s finished cycling? I added tetra complete substrate under the sand to help the plants grow so not sure if that’s what is changing the ph reading from the tap water?

Not that I can easily read which colour it matches up with, but I can see the tank results are higher than the tap.

The drop in ph is likely due to you cycling your tank. Make sure it doesn’t drop below 5. If it looks like it’s heading that way do a big water change.

When the tank is cycled do a big water change.

[Fish]

So my ph readings are as follows. This one is out of the tank:



And this is straight out of the tap:




Do I need to do anything about the tank ph at all when it’s finished cycling? I added tetra complete substrate under the sand to help the plants grow so not sure if that’s what is changing the ph reading from the tap water?

Not that I can easily read which colour it matches up with, but I can see the tank results are higher than the tap.

The drop in ph is likely due to you cycling your tank. Make sure it doesn’t drop below 5. If it looks like it’s heading that way do a big water change.

When the tank is cycled do a big water change.

The lower reading is the one straight out of the tap. I don’t know if chlorine has anything to do with it but I can smell it when I get a glass of water (I do have a strong sense of smell though).

[plankton]

Chlorine doesn't affect it (just means you must use conditioner), it'll be the rocks/sand leeching carbonates to raise the ph.
Unless they pop CO2 in to soften the water in the pipes.
Try getting a (clean) glass of water and leaving it to stand overnight and then test that.

[Fish]

Chlorine doesn't affect it (just means you must use conditioner), it'll be the rocks/sand leeching carbonates to raise the ph.
Unless they pop CO2 in to soften the water in the pipes.
Try getting a (clean) glass of water and leaving it to stand overnight and then test that.

Ok thank I’ll try that for the ph. I might actually buy a water hardness test kit too, just to see if it’s the same as they state on their website.

[fr499y]

I've known the tetra stuff to raise the GH and PH of the water until its exhausted, so it might be that causing it. Regular water changes once cycled will keep it under check anyway.

As plankton says, get a class of tap water and leave it out overnight and then test. You might see it raise slightly or it might stay the same.

[John Linklater]

So my ph readings are as follows. This one is out of the tank:



And this is straight out of the tap:




Do I need to do anything about the tank ph at all when it’s finished cycling? I added tetra complete substrate under the sand to help the plants grow so not sure if that’s what is changing the ph reading from the tap water?

Not that I can easily read which colour it matches up with, but I can see the tank results are higher than the tap.

The drop in ph is likely due to you cycling your tank. Make sure it doesn’t drop below 5. If it looks like it’s heading that way do a big water change.

When the tank is cycled do a big water change.

The lower reading is the one straight out of the tap. I don’t know if chlorine has anything to do with it but I can smell it when I get a glass of water (I do have a strong sense of smell though).

Apologies, I misread your post.

[Fish]

Will do, though I did forget to put a glass of water out so will do that now.

I was mulling over this hard water thing last night and got quite annoyed. If the majority of the UK is hard water, especially south/east, why do all aquatic shops stock tetra? I know for a fact our local pets at home do, and the local aquatic shop. Do they keep them in the hard water before they sell them? Unless people research this how on earth do they know? Isn’t a case of they don’t care because people will come back to buy more when they die and it’s a little cash earner? Surely it seems more sensible to only sell fish that can tolerate the water hardness in that area? Neither my pah or the aquatic shop sell their fish online (apart from koi) so what are they playing at? I do know with the aquatic shop I saw signs stating that you had to show them a pic of your tank (and possibly water readings, I can’t remember) so they must care to a degree.

I guess I’ve also got the hump as I can’t have what I wanted now

[fr499y]

They pretty much sell what people want, regardless of the fishes needs. I've known fish shops to keep their stock in RO/Tap mix for the softer fish and straight tap for the hardwater fish.

[Fish]

They pretty much sell what people want, regardless of the fishes needs. I've known fish shops to keep their stock in RO/Tap mix for the softer fish and straight tap for the hardwater fish.

I just googled RO water, reverse osmosis… sounds complicated! Just a thought, but could you use bottled water for softer water (if it actually tests as softer?). I’ve just ordered the API GH and KH test kit because I’m interested in what my water actually tests as.