# water hardness and ph question



## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

I went to Petco to return a fish that died when i got it home. They demanded a water test so i let them have their fun. Of course it was a stick test and have found out through here not to put much stock in it. The fish guy said my water was really hard, the ph was high and i had really high nitrates and nitrites. He also said that here in Houston all the water is really hard. So my first question is how do i lower the hardness and the ph in the cheapest way possible. I have been doing water changes ( I just did a 40% on the 10 gallon and another 20% on the 26 gallon). I don't have the numbers he just used really high a lot. I will be getting my own liquid test kit hopefully in the next 2 weeks when i get some money. Another question- are both nitrate and nitrite suppose to be high on an aquarium that has been up for 3 weeks? Thanks in advance!:fish10::fish5::fish10:


----------



## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

We really need to know what your water parameters are testing out at before we can recommend something to help bring it down. It could be they were using old test strips; the strips aren't known for their pinpoint accuracy when they're brand new, and it's very easy to send a bottle south.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Supposed to be? Maybe expected is closer. It's about the point where nitrites are showing high, if they spike.

How many fish are in the tank they tested? Are you cycling two tanks?


----------



## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> Supposed to be? Maybe expected is closer. It's about the point where nitrites are showing high, if they spike.
> 
> How many fish are in the tank they tested? Are you cycling two tanks?


I am cycling my son's 10gallon - the one they tested at Petco

and mine a 26 gallon that has been up for a week. 

Sorry this question is about the 10 gallon but i was assuming if all the water in houston is hard then the 26 gallon probably has hard water as well. 

10 GALLON::fish10::fish10:
3 weeks old
had one Zebra - now has 2
planted
black gravel
fairly good carbon filter
just did a 40% water change
Using Stress Zyme
Flourish tabs
20w lighting
Feeding fish every other day one small flake each
GUY SAID:
Water was very hard (which is supposedly normal for Houston)
High ph
High NitrAtes
High NitrItes


26 GALLON::fish10::fish10::fish10:
9 days old
had 2 Zebra's until yesterday when i added one more - was told to cycle with 3 so i added one
20% water change today
Flourish tabs
Stress Zyme 
Feeding every other day 1 small flake each
very low light


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Hard water is not your problem. Your tanks cycling more than likely is. A test kit will tell you what's going on. I'd do a 10-15% water daily until you get your test kit. How many plants in your 10g?


----------



## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> Hard water is not your problem. Your tanks cycling more than likely is. A test kit will tell you what's going on. I'd do a 10-15% water daily until you get your test kit. How many plants in your 10g?


3 very very small swords, 1 java fern and 2 small bunches of ambulia...which master test kit should i get at walmart? There are 2 and they have different tests in them.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

API freshwater master test kit.


----------



## Scuff (Aug 10, 2010)

Definitely get yourself a water test kit, preferably one with pH, hardness, nitrate, nitrite, and alkalinity. Ammonia would be another nice one to get as well, especially with you having a tank you're trying to cycle, but it's not as strictly necessary for a fully cycled tank.

Any time you run into a major issue with your aquarium (mass fish deaths, etc.) you should always automatically test the water to see what your parameters are. Having numbers to bring us gives us a lot of info to start with and a direction in which to go to help you out.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

It is not uncommon nor bad to have very high pH in a planted tank. PH rises as the plants consume the carbon dioxide.

It is also not uncommon to have nitrates initially in a planted tank. The plants at first get their nitrogen from ammonia and stop consuming nitrates. Then as the aerobic bacteria consume more of the ammonia, the plants start consuming nitrates so after a few weeks nitrates drop down.

I would stop adding food for a few days so nitrItes will drop down.

I have a slow rise in kh and gh (hardness) in tanks where I do not have peat moss in the substrate. But with peat moss kh stays at 4 degrees and gh at 9 degrees for years.

just my .02


----------



## GeminiPrincess (Oct 1, 2010)

mmmk i think i got it  i posted something on the plant forum but no one has responded yet. Maybe you could help...I recently bought a anubias a stemmy taller one then the ground ones and all the stems/leaves fell off so i puled it up and the large root was slimy green and mushy. Did i do something to it? Is it dead? It has one leaf still on it and lots of little off white roots.


----------



## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

GeminiPrincess said:


> mmmk i think i got it  i posted something on the plant forum but no one has responded yet. Maybe you could help...I recently bought a anubias a stemmy taller one then the ground ones and all the stems/leaves fell off so i puled it up and the large root was slimy green and mushy. Did i do something to it? Is it dead? It has one leaf still on it and lots of little off white roots.


As long as it still has one leave and especially if there are (off) white roots it is probably still alive and with normal conditions will recover.


It is not uncommon for plants (especially rooted ones) to go through a transplant shock.

I'm not an expert but I think anubias are slow growers and therefore can take some time (or a lot of anubias) to ballance out a tank.

Hopefully you have other plants (vals, various bunch plants especially anacharis, wisteria, sprite, etc) that are in there doing thier thing.

my .02


----------

