Anyone know how to drop my aquariums water hardness considerably? no quickly so I don't harm fish but from about 250 GH to 75 GH. I've heard of peat bags but I don't know about it. anyone with experience on the peat bag subject can you share the experience? also, how would I immediately drop the hardness in the batch of new water in a water change situation?
dropping water hardness
- Thread starter GBaker1130
- Start date
peat will slowly drop the tank water but will tan the water a tea color. can remove the tea color with carbon or purigen. then you can use R/O water for your water changes for the immediate hardness removal for your water changes. may require blending of your tap water to achieve desired hardness levels
Hello; I may show a limited understanding about water hardness here but that can mean I will learn some interesting stuff. First my take has been that water hardness has to do with dissolved minerals in the water. To me that means that if your source water is loaded with dissolved minerals then you are stuck except for running it thru some device such as a RO unit. The water could also be distilled to remove minerals.
It is unclear to me how peat can lower hardness. I get that pH can be affected but will be interested to learn how adding peat to a setup can change dissolved solids. Back when I raised carnivorous plants I used a peat bed but also had to be careful to use distilled water and not tap water with them.
It should be fairly simple to check if RO water is the way to go. Some fish shops sell RO water. I would buy a small supply and test it. Do a test on the tap water to see if there is a difference.
A third way to have a supply of soft water might be to collect rain water. This has issues to be overcome.
I will watch this thread with interest in hopes of learning.
It is unclear to me how peat can lower hardness. I get that pH can be affected but will be interested to learn how adding peat to a setup can change dissolved solids. Back when I raised carnivorous plants I used a peat bed but also had to be careful to use distilled water and not tap water with them.
It should be fairly simple to check if RO water is the way to go. Some fish shops sell RO water. I would buy a small supply and test it. Do a test on the tap water to see if there is a difference.
A third way to have a supply of soft water might be to collect rain water. This has issues to be overcome.
I will watch this thread with interest in hopes of learning.
I used to have 250 ppm hardness in my Wisconsin water, and considered it only slightly hard, and fine for a large number of species.
I agree with Jeff, that peat doesn't really lower hardness, hardness can really only be diluted, or by removing minerals, with something like reverse osmosis water.
So the OP basically has a couple choices for low mineral water species. Either to invest in a reverse osmosis unit (which means periodic maintenance and replacing cartridges (this wastes tap water, and I consider it expensive), or buy DI (deionized water) from the grocery store.
The very soft water Amazonian species like Altum Angels were problematic for me in my Wisconsin liquid rock (my golden fleece cichlid would have been Uaru fernadenzeppizzi), but it would have been terrible investments in my case) or....like beating my head against wall trying to keep them healthy, much less try to get them to spawn
The other choice for we liquid rock tap water aquarists, is to get fish that live in the tap water we are dealt with, the many and varied species that live in hard water.
Any Central American, or African rift lake species are hard water fish, even those South Americans from west of the Andes, or south of Brazil would be fine in 250ppm hardness water.
I agree with Jeff, that peat doesn't really lower hardness, hardness can really only be diluted, or by removing minerals, with something like reverse osmosis water.
So the OP basically has a couple choices for low mineral water species. Either to invest in a reverse osmosis unit (which means periodic maintenance and replacing cartridges (this wastes tap water, and I consider it expensive), or buy DI (deionized water) from the grocery store.
The very soft water Amazonian species like Altum Angels were problematic for me in my Wisconsin liquid rock (my golden fleece cichlid would have been Uaru fernadenzeppizzi), but it would have been terrible investments in my case) or....like beating my head against wall trying to keep them healthy, much less try to get them to spawn
The other choice for we liquid rock tap water aquarists, is to get fish that live in the tap water we are dealt with, the many and varied species that live in hard water.
Any Central American, or African rift lake species are hard water fish, even those South Americans from west of the Andes, or south of Brazil would be fine in 250ppm hardness water.
Last edited:
if ur KH is low enough the peat will drop the GH slightly but is unstable with PH swings. only real way to lower GH is dilute the water with R/O. wow 250 is high do u live at the bottom of a mountain??? LOL
Peat Moss
A popular method for reducing GH is peat moss. Peat moss is available at most aquarium stores, and we wouldn’t recommend buying it from anywhere else unless you are absolutely positive that the peat is intended for aquariums. Peat moss naturally reduces your aquarium's PH and GH. It also helps with binding some heavy metals in the water, thus reducing the GH even further.
Peat can be administered into the aquarium in several ways. For example, it can be placed into an external filter in a fine mesh bag; however, it will need to be replaced regularly. In conjunction with the peat in your external filter, you may choose to add peat moss to your water before adding it to your aquarium. Place some peat in a fine mesh bag and let it soak in the water for approximately 1 hour before you put it into your aquarium. Although peat moss will make your water's color light brown, this discoloration will not harm your discus. While the precise amount of peat moss to be added to your aquarium is debatable, in general you should simply add enough so that you can make a bed that your water can run over or through before it re-enters your aquarium.
Reverse Osmosis System
To reduce GH, you can add reverse osmosis water to your tap water before putting it into your aquarium. A Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) System is a machine that connects directly to your tap and purifies your water to 1 GH or less. However, R.O. water alone isn’t suitable for discus, as it depletes the water of vital nutrients that discus need. Therfore, mix R.O. water with normal tap water. The amount of R.O water that you must add to your tap water will vary depending on the type of aquarium you’re running. However, the following is one commonly used equation is:
(Desired GH / Current Tap GH) x 100 = % of tap water added to R.O water.
However, RO systems are not necessary. RO filters are very expensive. You can expect to pay anything upwards of $250 at the very least for a very low grade R.O unit.
RO units also work very slowly. A cheapter RO systems requires at least an hour for 6L of water. Some people spend over $1,000 on their RO unit, yet it still filters no more than 15-20L per hour.
Rain Water
Although using rain water in your discus aquarium may be risk, it can be safe if the right measures are taken. Clouds act as a natural purifier for water, and thus the GH of rain water will generally be quite low. Before you consider adding any rainwater to your aquarium, there are several precautions you must take. First, do not collect the first several minutes' worth of rainfall, as this stage is considered to have more toxins than the later parts. Waiting a few minutes will also help to wash away any loose debris in your gutter that may otherwise get caught in your collection container. Another thing to remember is that if you’re collecting water from drains or from a rain water tank,keep your gutters clean. There are numerous contaminants in your gutters that could severely deteriorate the water, such as rotting or decaying leaves or animals. Once you have collected the rain water, agitate it for at least 24 hours before adding it to your aquarium. You can do this by adding an air stone or filter to your storage containers.
Discus Buffer
Discus buffer is a commercially available form of water softener. Discus buffers replicate the conditions that discus encounter in the wild. They generally buffer the water to anywhere between 5.8 - 6.8 PH and slightly reduce the general hardness. Note that this is commonly used in conjunction with an acid buffer if you need to achieve a lower PH.
Blackwater / Peat Extract
This is a liquid form of peat moss. It reduces the GH and KH of your water by 1 each time you add it to your aquarium. Depending on the brand, you usually add peat extract to your aquarium once every two weeks. Blackwater / peat extract will discolor your water; however, this will not harm your discus. Also, if you’re using any chemical filtration like Seachem Purigen, the extract will probably be absorbed by those products and therefore rendered useless. Therefore, first remove teh chemical filtration before you use blackwater or peat extract.
A popular method for reducing GH is peat moss. Peat moss is available at most aquarium stores, and we wouldn’t recommend buying it from anywhere else unless you are absolutely positive that the peat is intended for aquariums. Peat moss naturally reduces your aquarium's PH and GH. It also helps with binding some heavy metals in the water, thus reducing the GH even further.
Peat can be administered into the aquarium in several ways. For example, it can be placed into an external filter in a fine mesh bag; however, it will need to be replaced regularly. In conjunction with the peat in your external filter, you may choose to add peat moss to your water before adding it to your aquarium. Place some peat in a fine mesh bag and let it soak in the water for approximately 1 hour before you put it into your aquarium. Although peat moss will make your water's color light brown, this discoloration will not harm your discus. While the precise amount of peat moss to be added to your aquarium is debatable, in general you should simply add enough so that you can make a bed that your water can run over or through before it re-enters your aquarium.
Reverse Osmosis System
To reduce GH, you can add reverse osmosis water to your tap water before putting it into your aquarium. A Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) System is a machine that connects directly to your tap and purifies your water to 1 GH or less. However, R.O. water alone isn’t suitable for discus, as it depletes the water of vital nutrients that discus need. Therfore, mix R.O. water with normal tap water. The amount of R.O water that you must add to your tap water will vary depending on the type of aquarium you’re running. However, the following is one commonly used equation is:
(Desired GH / Current Tap GH) x 100 = % of tap water added to R.O water.
However, RO systems are not necessary. RO filters are very expensive. You can expect to pay anything upwards of $250 at the very least for a very low grade R.O unit.
RO units also work very slowly. A cheapter RO systems requires at least an hour for 6L of water. Some people spend over $1,000 on their RO unit, yet it still filters no more than 15-20L per hour.
Rain Water
Although using rain water in your discus aquarium may be risk, it can be safe if the right measures are taken. Clouds act as a natural purifier for water, and thus the GH of rain water will generally be quite low. Before you consider adding any rainwater to your aquarium, there are several precautions you must take. First, do not collect the first several minutes' worth of rainfall, as this stage is considered to have more toxins than the later parts. Waiting a few minutes will also help to wash away any loose debris in your gutter that may otherwise get caught in your collection container. Another thing to remember is that if you’re collecting water from drains or from a rain water tank,keep your gutters clean. There are numerous contaminants in your gutters that could severely deteriorate the water, such as rotting or decaying leaves or animals. Once you have collected the rain water, agitate it for at least 24 hours before adding it to your aquarium. You can do this by adding an air stone or filter to your storage containers.
Discus Buffer
Discus buffer is a commercially available form of water softener. Discus buffers replicate the conditions that discus encounter in the wild. They generally buffer the water to anywhere between 5.8 - 6.8 PH and slightly reduce the general hardness. Note that this is commonly used in conjunction with an acid buffer if you need to achieve a lower PH.
Blackwater / Peat Extract
This is a liquid form of peat moss. It reduces the GH and KH of your water by 1 each time you add it to your aquarium. Depending on the brand, you usually add peat extract to your aquarium once every two weeks. Blackwater / peat extract will discolor your water; however, this will not harm your discus. Also, if you’re using any chemical filtration like Seachem Purigen, the extract will probably be absorbed by those products and therefore rendered useless. Therefore, first remove teh chemical filtration before you use blackwater or peat extract.
I had tried earlier with attempt to reduce pH in my tank. Tried with eHeim Peat Moss, Katappa leaves, drift wood etc. But nothing worked, for me. I used to monitor water hardness and pH, and it stayed high without any changes when I was trying these.
Finally I went with advise received, to leave pH as-is. It's better to get the fish adjusted to the water available, than doing experiment to alter water parameters to suit the fish. And it's not easy to get a desired hardness with manual attempt, and mixing water of different hardness. Mostly, I hear that majority of fish will get used to the available water.
Coming to hardness of water, my source water hardness is around 170 to 200. I always monitor the source water and tank water hardness prior to doing WC, ensure that it's not drastically off the range.
We also have RO+UV water purifier for drinking water purposes and the hardness come down to 50 approx, when source is around 200. So if you are looking for having 75 and is a must in your case, I would suggest going for RO unit. Some RO units I have seen has a control for hardness levels also. But like someone said already, RO waste a lot of water during processing.
Finally I went with advise received, to leave pH as-is. It's better to get the fish adjusted to the water available, than doing experiment to alter water parameters to suit the fish. And it's not easy to get a desired hardness with manual attempt, and mixing water of different hardness. Mostly, I hear that majority of fish will get used to the available water.
Coming to hardness of water, my source water hardness is around 170 to 200. I always monitor the source water and tank water hardness prior to doing WC, ensure that it's not drastically off the range.
We also have RO+UV water purifier for drinking water purposes and the hardness come down to 50 approx, when source is around 200. So if you are looking for having 75 and is a must in your case, I would suggest going for RO unit. Some RO units I have seen has a control for hardness levels also. But like someone said already, RO waste a lot of water during processing.
Thank you for the advice. have you ever tried keeping things like german blue rams or other fish that are notorious for dying in hard/ high ph water? would an incredibly slow acclimation process help? like over the course of several days?
TBH no experience with those fishes in particular. Was sharing my experience with pH and TDS when I was trying to change them.