How to Reduces or Balance KH and GH?

[amirk7]

what is best way to reduce KH and GH?
its 55 gal planted tank currently KH is 12*(214.8 PPM)
and GH is 18* .

Thanks

[morpheus]

what are you planning to put into the tank that requires softer water? many fish that were born/bred around here are used to the harder water and higher pH...so they tend to still be ok. i am more on the mindset of stable params is better than the suggested ideal params for the species.

many locations in/around Houston have very hard water, and although creating a soft water tank is possible, you are fighting against the tap and it can be a struggle. if the params keep swinging, it can cause a lot of stress to your tank. the softer the water, the easier it is for your pH to swing quickly as well.

i would steer clear of chemicals that claim to soften it. usually those are band-aids and once their effects stop your water can shoot right back to where it was initially

but some general ways to lower the hardness more naturally are peat moss in the filter. some people use almond leaves as well

[troy tucker]

RO/ID filter is the safest way.

[ptran]

+1 on RO/DI. Peat moss and almond leaves also work.

[amirk7]

what are you planning to put into the tank that requires softer water? many fish that were born/bred around here are used to the harder water and higher pH...so they tend to still be ok. i am more on the mindset of stable params is better than the suggested ideal params for the species.

many locations in/around Houston have very hard water, and although creating a soft water tank is possible, you are fighting against the tap and it can be a struggle. if the params keep swinging, it can cause a lot of stress to your tank. the softer the water, the easier it is for your pH to swing quickly as well.

i would steer clear of chemicals that claim to soften it. usually those are band-aids and once their effects stop your water can shoot right back to where it was initially

but some general ways to lower the hardness more naturally are peat moss in the filter. some people use almond leaves as well

my tank is planted tank and its almost a year old it has plenty of plants and four black skirt tetra, red cherry barb, platys, white cloud,Guppies, Red cherry Shrimp and snail and this is my latest tank I am keeping fish from long time (and rarely they died) but what bothering me in this tank is i bought group of neon tetra twice and they died both time and also a Red Cherry barb died and as well few platys too , all fish looks healthy but it looks like to me they not swimming like very actively and some of plants doing good they growing and some are not that's the reason i test the water and only thing is issue of is GH and KH .
and where do i find peat moss and how should i use it?

[amirk7]

RO/ID filter is the safest way.

+1 on RO/DI. Peat moss and almond leaves also work.

RO/ID Filter are expensive and do not want to go that route...............probably try peat moss but need more info where to get from and how to used it?

[ptran]

Check out these video on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=peat+moss+for+aquarium

[morpheus]

if all your params looks ok (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, etc)....and the tank is already established, then the fish are probably used to the water by now. sometimes things just happen. the barb is more semi-aggressive to me, as well as the black skirts for tetras. i have two black skirts in my yellow lab grow out tank (maybe 30 of those in there). they easily hold their own with 2 inch juvis

in my experience, neons are a little fragile. i have heard of people drip acclimating them for hours before introducing to the tank. you buy them in groups since they are happier schooling, which can put some stress on your bacterial growth to keep up with the influx of bio-load. this can cause a spike in ammonia before the plants and bacteria get it under control again

[ptran]

Can also try drift wood. It release tanning that will help lower pH and make the water softer over time, so your fish and plants wont get shocked and stressed out.

What is the filtration in your tank?

[morpheus]

+1 on the driftwood. its in most of my tanks. some people boil the wood first to get that initial blast of tannins out or it tinges the water a beige color. depends on the type of wood

[amirk7]

i have driftwood in other tank will use that one ...................and i am running two canister filter with filtering media one is eheim and other is fluval but no carbon at all.

[ptran]

Yes, don't use carbon with drift wood unless you want to get rid of the tanning.

[EpikMuffin]

Neon should be fine in houston water. I know a lot of people including myself that keep neon without doing anything special. They need a longer time to acclimate. Try to buy big neon(adults) instead of small ones. Don't buy neon from petco/petsmart, none of the $1/neon sale ever survived in my tank.

[ptran]

I also have 10 neon and don't have any problem with tab water. I do have drift wood and java moss in my tank though.

[amirk7]

Neon should be fine in houston water. I know a lot of people including myself that keep neon without doing anything special. They need a longer time to acclimate. Try to buy big neon(adults) instead of small ones. Don't buy neon from petco/petsmart, none of the $1/neon sale ever survived in my tank.

I also have 10 neon and don't have any problem with tab water. I do have drift wood and java moss in my tank though.

First all sorry for delay .... did not got chance to log in little busy
i did kept neon before but it was in different tank and it was just regular tap water and planted tank, i bought it from petco and it did good probably last more than 2 years that's the reason i was trying to find out why not in this tank its already running tank and a year old then why my neon is dying in this tank and other thing is i have powerhead thats on 24 hrs in this tank ............. is this powerhead pump creating trouble?