# new tank high ph hard water cardinal tetras



## JAMESC1 (Sep 15, 2010)

Hello i hope someone can help me. i have a new 36 gal freshwater tank i want to do live plants and cardinal tetras, my problem is my ph is around 8.4 my alkalinity is extremely high and my general hardness is also high. someone told me to do a quick fix take out about 15 gallons of my water and put in about 15 gallons of distilled water to lower everything then use a discuss or ph buffer to get it around 7.0. thats my goal, but will this work? also another person told me peat granules along with black water api extract will work with tiger nerite snails to eat the calcium in the tank. i need help i don't want to waste my money on products or ideas that aren't going to work. please if anyone knows a solution let me know asap. i appreciate your time. and i look forward to your reply.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

try just using the distilled water swap and test water before using any buffers.Buffers will eventually cause trouble , so try to "cut " your water with distilled or RO.Find the right mix to get your numbers,and remember that you will have to mix for all water changes,possibly evap.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I had my Cards in 8.2 water for a couple of months. Can't really say how affected they were by it, but none died and the colors were unchanged. I did a very slow drip acclimate to get them there though.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Forget the distilled water idea. Once you begin to doctor water, you must always doctor water. Since you should change 25-30% weekly, the amount of work involved suddenly becomes major - you will be carting around a lot of distilled water.
Buffers are a chemical nightmare, bouncing the pH like rubber balls. You have to aim for stability to have a healthy fishtank.
High alkalinity and a high mineral content are not great for cardinals. They are adapted to the opposite. Part of the issue will be which minerals make for the water hardness. I lived in a village for a short time that had very high mineral content, and a pH in your range, and neither neons nor cardinals could survive more than a few weeks. In fact, no Amazonian fish could survive (but Central and North American livebearers were very happy). I have also heard many people talk like jrman. It leads me to believe there is no rule - and that all hard water doesn't contain the same minerals. There are some minerals cardinals are fine with, and others they may like less. 

You will simply have to try it, if that's the direction you want to go in.


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