bobthesushiguy Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 Hello, So at the moment the water out my tap is 4 kh and 12 gh. This is for my neos.... I do want to lower the gh and I was wondering if I should. I have a very... weird machine that filters water (idk why my family has it) I tested the gh and kh of it and it comes out to 2 kh and 4 gh. Would it be a gud idea to mix this with my tap? The ph for the tap is 8.2 and the ph from the machine is around 6.2 Im willing to continuously test the mix of water for the ideal kh, gh, and ph even though I use a buffering substrate for the ph. Additionally, if I want to get a tank for taiwan bees, can I use the water from the machine and then somehow add gh/kh to it for them? that seems a bit easier than mixing water in the future for taiwan bees. Thank you for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aotf Posted November 18, 2017 Report Share Posted November 18, 2017 You seem to already know this but gH 12 is a bit high for neos. If they're breeding in your tank, that's really good (and impressive). Most people recommend a range of gH 6-8. Your kH is good. If you can mix the two waters to a known ratio and get the kH 3-5 and the gH 6-8, go for it. You should not be using a buffering substrate with non-RO/DI water. It will fight your water every step (pulling down pH and kH) until its buffering ability is exhausted (probably like a year or less depending on your water changes) and the pH and kH will start to rise to your tap's levels, which might wreck havoc in your tank depending on your shrimp and what they are used to. Then you have to figure out how to deal with that and you've wasted some money on expensive substrate. Buffering substrate is great for RO/DI (kH 0, gH 0) water and Caridina since they require lower pH and very low kH but it's not awesome for neos. If you want to set up a TB tank down the road, you could try using the water from your "machine" but the kH is already a bit high for them (they prefer kH 0-1). You might be able to get away with it by using a buffering substrate. You can remineralize just the gH and you could be ok. bobthesushiguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthesushiguy Posted November 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 On 11/17/2017 at 5:17 PM, aotf said: You seem to already know this but gH 12 is a bit high for neos. If they're breeding in your tank, that's really good (and impressive). Most people recommend a range of gH 6-8. Your kH is good. If you can mix the two waters to a known ratio and get the kH 3-5 and the gH 6-8, go for it. You should not be using a buffering substrate with non-RO/DI water. It will fight your water every step (pulling down pH and kH) until its buffering ability is exhausted (probably like a year or less depending on your water changes) and the pH and kH will start to rise to your tap's levels, which might wreck havoc in your tank depending on your shrimp and what they are used to. Then you have to figure out how to deal with that and you've wasted some money on expensive substrate. Buffering substrate is great for RO/DI (kH 0, gH 0) water and Caridina since they require lower pH and very low kH but it's not awesome for neos. If you want to set up a TB tank down the road, you could try using the water from your "machine" but the kH is already a bit high for them (they prefer kH 0-1). You might be able to get away with it by using a buffering substrate. You can remineralize just the gH and you could be ok. hmmmmmmm. okay thank you. That was really helpful. Im going to focus on the tank i have right now. and yea, im worried about the buffering ability that will run out. hmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthesushiguy Posted November 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 On 11/17/2017 at 5:17 PM, aotf said: You seem to already know this but gH 12 is a bit high for neos. If they're breeding in your tank, that's really good (and impressive). Most people recommend a range of gH 6-8. Your kH is good. If you can mix the two waters to a known ratio and get the kH 3-5 and the gH 6-8, go for it. You should not be using a buffering substrate with non-RO/DI water. It will fight your water every step (pulling down pH and kH) until its buffering ability is exhausted (probably like a year or less depending on your water changes) and the pH and kH will start to rise to your tap's levels, which might wreck havoc in your tank depending on your shrimp and what they are used to. Then you have to figure out how to deal with that and you've wasted some money on expensive substrate. Buffering substrate is great for RO/DI (kH 0, gH 0) water and Caridina since they require lower pH and very low kH but it's not awesome for neos. If you want to set up a TB tank down the road, you could try using the water from your "machine" but the kH is already a bit high for them (they prefer kH 0-1). You might be able to get away with it by using a buffering substrate. You can remineralize just the gH and you could be ok. oh yea, the water from the machine is a ph lower than 7 the last time I check. So if I mix it, it should come out to a decent ph level that wont be as bad on the substrate. I will be aiming for the right gh and ph if possible. WAIT, do you think I shud just use the water from the machine and somehow increase gh by using something else? I think that might be easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 Yes you can definitely use the water out of the machine and raise the gh to a desired level. I think this would be best as your tap water will change through out the year because the water company/water plant will add chemicals to clean the pipes periodically to make it safe for people. not necessarily safe for shrimp. I do not use any tap water in my water, because in the past I have lost all of my shrimp. also wait for 24 hours or so to test your newly made water's ph. it will change as it gases off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthesushiguy Posted November 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 2 hours ago, chappy6107 said: Yes you can definitely use the water out of the machine and raise the gh to a desired level. I think this would be best as your tap water will change through out the year because the water company/water plant will add chemicals to clean the pipes periodically to make it safe for people. not necessarily safe for shrimp. I do not use any tap water in my water, because in the past I have lost all of my shrimp. also wait for 24 hours or so to test your newly made water's ph. it will change as it gases off. thank you so much! thats exactly all I needed to hear. Shall begin my research on raising gh safely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted November 19, 2017 Report Share Posted November 19, 2017 salty shrimp the one for only gh or sl aqua blue wizard. it is sold by @bostoneric with discobee bobthesushiguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthesushiguy Posted November 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 12 hours ago, chappy6107 said: salty shrimp the one for only gh or sl aqua blue wizard. it is sold by @bostoneric with discobee omg ty! okay luckily, I slowly added in water to the tank and the KH is 2 and GH is at 9. I will be reaching for 8 atm. Then, I will save up some cash for those products xD TY TY TY it worked out I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy6107 Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 cool. sounds like you are on the right track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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