Our water supply is VERY soft with minimal GH and no KH to speak of. The problem is, with the way our town treats our water it can come from the tap at up to 9.0 PH! I've found that letting it age for 48 hours or so, it'll drop down to 7.2 and pretty much stick there. That is, until you start adding driftwood and waste, which, since there is no Gh or KH, will cause the PH to just plummet in a heartbeat, going as low as 6.0, which is the bottom of my test kits limit. Definitely not good for the fish, especially as the PH would yo-yo by doing water changes.
By experimention, after reading a formula I found on the internet for African cichlids, I've concluded that by adding 1 TBSP of Epsom salt, 1 TSP of marine salt and 3/4 TSP of baking soda per 5 gallons of water, I can get my GH to about 80 ppm, my KH to about 90 ppm and my PH to about 7.2 with no measurable salinity by hydometer.
So the big question is, do you think a large shift in GH and KH but not PH will cause any affect to the fish?
By experimention, after reading a formula I found on the internet for African cichlids, I've concluded that by adding 1 TBSP of Epsom salt, 1 TSP of marine salt and 3/4 TSP of baking soda per 5 gallons of water, I can get my GH to about 80 ppm, my KH to about 90 ppm and my PH to about 7.2 with no measurable salinity by hydometer.
So the big question is, do you think a large shift in GH and KH but not PH will cause any affect to the fish?