# Hard Water



## rross2007 (Feb 1, 2010)

Where I live had very hard water. What am I to do?

Also, the water is very cloudy. Could this be an effect of the hard water?


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## dave in Iliamna (Aug 15, 2009)

Most hard water is still clear. Usually cloudy aquarium water comes from overfeeding fish. Does your water come out of the fauset cloudy?

There are various water treatment options out there. Are you haveing problems with your aquarium?


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

Where I live has very hard water too and as a result I also have a high pH. But the fish I keep prefer hard water over soft/acidic water so I'm ok. If you want to lower the hardless/alkalinity add peat moss or driftwood to the aquarium. Avoid using medications.

Is it a newly set up tank? The cloudy could be a bacteria bloom. Just give it time for the tank to cycle and it will become clear. Dont feed too much because if this is a new tank you dont have the adequate amount of bacteria yet to eliminate all the ammonia the fish are producing.


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## rross2007 (Feb 1, 2010)

The water does not come out of the faucet cloudy. It might be from over feeding. I'll try feeding them less.

Yes, its a fairly new set up.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

rross2007 said:


> The water does not come out of the faucet cloudy. It might be from over feeding. I'll try feeding them less.
> 
> Yes, its a fairly new set up.


Alright it must be because your tank isnt done cycling yet and is caused from a bacteria bloom. You must have put too much fish (which needs a lot of fish food) and overloaded the bio-load in the tank. The bacteria that feeds on these excess food and poop is what makes the water cloudy. 

It takes about a month or so for the tank to finish producing 2 good sets of bacteria that breaks down both Ammonia and Nitrite

What is the size of your tank and how many fish do you have. Remember to not put too much fish too early. When I cycled my tank, I had a 20 gallon only used 3-4 fairly small 1 inch fish to cycle my tank.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

Also what will probably happen next is an Ammonia spike because you dont have the sufficient amount of bacteria to break down all the fish waste and food. And ammonia spikes arent good. You might lose some fish. From today and on, start doing water changes every day about... 10% to keep the ammonia level down. Do you have a test kit that measures ammonia?


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## rross2007 (Feb 1, 2010)

I have a 10 gallon tank with 2 small red bellied piranha. 

I have an API 5 in 1 test strips that measures pH, nitrite, nitrate, carbonate and general hardness. Not ammonia.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

How big are they and what do you feed them. Goldfish are considered heavy eaters and I bet you piranhas are considered beyond that level. How big are they and what do you feed them. If you are feeding them live food, maybe thats what gets it messy. 10 gallon I think is too small for those 2 fish.


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