Hi all,
The water here is super soft with 0-1 degree of GH and zero Carbonate hardness. I have a planted tank with neons and will be stocking a few more tetras and a pair of apistos.
i have read that you need some gh/ch for healthy plants and fish so I did start to dose with equilibrium but its a pain when you do a lot of water changes and is it necessary?
You can make your own bespoke mix with potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3), calcium chloride (CaCl) and Epsom Salts (MgSO4.7H2O). These are all easily available via ebay, because they have food or medicinal uses. The other option is to add some <"
oyster shell chick grit"> (CaCO3).
Naturally you tend to get similar amounts of dGH and dKH, because they both originate from <"
dissolved limestone (CaCO3)">. The derivation of the various units is in Larry Frank's article at <"
the Krib">.
A lot of
Apistogramma keepers use water with very low dKH/dGH values, in fact it is a prerequisite for long term maintenance of "black water" fish (like
Parosphromenus) and the <"
Rio Negro basin">
Apistogramma species. Have a look at <"
All the leaves are brown">, written by Colin Dunlop, it is a very useful reference for
Apistogramma keepers.
An essential read is <"
TomC's web site">, he has been frequent visitor to S. America and has taken <"
pH and conductivity readings"> at the sites he has visited.
The same applies to plants as to the fish, some of them are adapted to very acidic conditions and don't really thrive away from them.
@Roland has grown a lot of them and can tell you about the <"
water parameters and plants he uses">, the water parameters are similar to those recommended by
@JamesC at <"
James' Planted Tank">.
Because <"
pH isn't a very useful measurement"> in very soft water, I use <"
a conductivity datum">, where I add enough hardness and nutrients for some plant growth, but still maintain soft water.
I'll have to disagree with the statement above regarding the so-called danger of sudden pH decrease. Tanks using injected CO2 experience sudden pH decreases every day without any ill effects to fish or plants. In our experience, pH stability is highly overrated.
I should have said I agree with Clive. There is more explanation in the linked threads, but once you know that you can raise and lower the pH values by one unit (and pH is a log10 scale) using CO2, without damaging your fish, you know that there is more to it than just pH.
cheers Darrel