Need Help to Correct water!

[Deaths Sting]

The tap water here has 0 Alkalinity and 0 Hardness, which is slowly killing my fish.

i am not sure if crushed coral would provide me with everything i need to sustain life in the long term?


how much crushed coral would i need for a 120 gallons?

would i just need to add it once?

thanks.

 

[Deaths Sting]

anyone?

 

[TwistedPenguin]

Tap water shouldn't be devoid of minerals. You're not using RO water, are you? Coral won't help you if you've got '0' alkalinity (kh). Your water has no buffering capabilities. Without buffering (kh) it doesn't nothing. If you put coral in the water can't hold it at a higher pH/kh.
1st tell us if you're using tap water or RO water.

 

[Deaths Sting]

Tap water shouldn't be devoid of minerals. You're not using RO water, are you? Coral won't help you if you've got '0' alkalinity (kh). Your water has no buffering capabilities. Without buffering (kh) it doesn't nothing. If you put coral in the water can't hold it at a higher pH/kh.
1st tell us if you're using tap water or RO water.

i did its the first sentence in the thread.. lol

 

[12 Volt Man]

what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrite levels?

your tapwater, even if it is very 'soft' wouldnt be killing your fish..

 

[Deaths Sting]

what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrite levels?

your tapwater, even if it is very 'soft' wouldnt be killing your fish..

Water hardness affects fish health because it influences osmoregulation. Being open systems, fish are affected by the makeup of the surrounding water. As a consequence of osmosis, freshwater fish are subject to a continuous influx of water, while marine fish have to live with a continuous outflow of water.

Against this continuous movement of water into or out of the body, fish have to maintain a constant internal body fluid concentration – a process called osmoregulation. The greater the difference in concentration between the fish’s body fluids and the surrounding water – the greater the osmotic effect. As hard water is more concentrated than soft, there will be less difference and therefore less water influx and consequently the fish will not have to work so hard at osmoregulation. This is particularly important in cases of bacterial ulceration where water can flood into open tissues.

basically what that says is:
having 0 alkalinity and 0 hardness with cause fish to die in the long term.

i have

0 ammonia PPM
0 nitrite PPM
5-10 nitrate PPM

in my tank

to answer ur question.

 

[rodfarva]

ok 0 alkalinity means water is nuetral or acidic. check ur ph. and to make ur water hard overtime add sandstone rock to ur tank it will desolve slowly over time making the water harder

 

[Deaths Sting]

ok 0 alkalinity means water is nuetral or acidic. check ur ph. and to make ur water hard overtime add sandstone rock to ur tank it will desolve slowly over time making the water harder

should the sand stone be crushed up or just a solid slab?

would u recommend putting it in the filter or just let it sit in the tank?

thanks.

 

[Bawb2u]

The problem with using crushed coral is that it takes time to leach into your water, so it's a slow process to raise KH and every time you do a water change your essentially re-setting your KH back and dropping your pH. I use a mix of baking soda, epsom salt and sea salt to get a consistant GH, KH and a stable pH.
Here's the formula I use: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/buffer_recipe.php

 

[Rockydog]

Limestone (not sandstone), aragonite, and crushed coral is used to buffer Kh but it is a very slow process as it has to dissolve in the water.

First off determine what your fish require. If they require a higher Ph and hardness you will need

1) bicarbonate of soda to raise Ph (will only raise to a max of 8.2) and Kh which is your buffer to keep Ph from fluctuating called Carbonate hardness best if kept between 5 dH and 10 dH

2) Epson Salts to increase your hardness of the water which is called General Hardness - again depends on fish requirements

3) Sea salt - for overall fish health and recovery from injuries and to replace trace elements.

Take a 10 gal container (I used my hospital tank) with fresh tap water and add 1 tsp soda, 1 tsp epson salts and 1 tsp sea salt, aerate for 30 minutes and check your Carbonate hardness and General hardness.

Add more soda and epson salts to get your Carbonate and General hardness at the level you want. No need to increase the sea salt, 1 tsp / 10 gal seems to work for me.

Once you determine the formula you need prepare the solution for the size tank you have in a separate container and slowly add to the tank (over the course of 24 hours).

When water change time comes predetermine how much you are changing ie 30 gal and have prepared the formula necessary and add gradually as your refilling the tank.

Do not add salts when replenishing evaporated water.

Hope this helps.