Indy Water Parameters and then some

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OMGdickkemp

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 9, 2010
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indy
I am new to Indy and really excited to start my first P tank. Before adding Ps I want to make sure the water is right and in general check my plan.

I found this info posted about a month ago here

Meridian-Kessler Indianapolis H2O

pH 7.3
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est378.0
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm... 0.63
Cations/Anions, me/L 6.6 / 6.7

ppm
Sodium, Na....................................... 22
Potassium, K..................................... 3
Calcium, Ca...................................... 74
Magnesium, Mg.................................... 23
Total Hardness, CaCO3............................ 281
Nitrate, NO3-N................................... 1.0
Sulfate, SO4-S................................... 21
Chloride, Cl..................................... 39
Carbonate, CO3................................... < 1
Bicarbonate, HCO3................................ 258
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3.......................... 212

According to this it would seem I have a 15.7gH? How much do I need to lower this for Ps?

2nd, what other trouble areas are there for a P tank?

Long before Ps are introduced into the tank I will have a water softener. It is a sodium softener I believe, will this be a problem as the water is so hard it will be adding some sodium?

What do others living in Indy use for softeners? Recommendations over a sodium softener?

The planned Tank if this is helpful
-150g tank with under gravel filter an aquaclear 70 and 2 aquaclear 50s
-Amazon swords and micro swords added next. I was planning on using fertilizers but no CO2
-lots of Ghost shrimp or maybe 2 crayfish to help clean up leftovers. The only reason I am leaning away from the crayfish is because I am not sure how I would feel if one of my baby P disappeared at the hands of a crayfish. If the ghost shrimp need to be restocked from time to time I will sleep just fine :).
-Finally once everything else is established and stable 12-20 baby RBP.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice.
 
i have sodium softener and my p's are just fine. most important is to keep everything stable and your fish will adjust to you. just accumulate them properly when you get them.
as for the filter, I wouldn't recommend under gravel filter. you better off with a large canister filter (or two depends on size and number of fish you'll be getting or end up keeping) and if you want additional mechanical filtration then get one or two AC110.
 
Hello, I might suggest checking your water yourself for nitrates im gettin between 10 and 15 ppm on the north side like 86th and michigan.
 
under gravel filter uses gravel as filter media once its clogged you have to pretty much take the whole tank apart (all the decor and such) to clean it out and it's just a nightmare to clean for something big like your 150g. a large canister filter will be much easier to keep clean and with proper media it can do a better job than just gravel and a lot of bio media today are engineered to provide huge amount of surface area (can very well be more than all the surface on your gravel) for bacteria to colonize. for a small tank, like 1g betta tank or something using under gravel filter is ok but not in a big tank.
you can also find these info online, a quick search and 1st link that came up, http://www.bestfish.com/ug.html
as for will p do fine in your hardness? I have no idea, I've had p in well water, in hard water with water softener, never had problem with them. if you are concerned then get maybe small number of p to test out before you buy more.
also your tap water contains nitrate?? like BMcAfee said, check for nitrate yourself with a reliable kit, if you have high nitrate then it won't help to use the water for water change cuz in the end you want to remove nitrate from your tank not adding more in.
may have to go with DI/RO system.
 
I just set up a meeting with a culligan guy, they are coming out to check my water stats and plumbing. Is there a reason I can not find the pricing on an in home RO filter?
 
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