Zerileous
08-01-2007, 03:11 PM
I am sure a few of you saw my thread a few weeks ago regarding my new citie's water supply (.05 ammonia, >8.8 pH). I have been working on solutions, but still have some serious issues. Thankfully, we still have the old house, and the tanks are still there and doing fine. I have been running a 5g test bed unstocked and uncycled to try to get decent params out of this city water.
A. I have found a product called AmQuell that effectively removes the ammonia from the tap, but requring a greater doese than the bottle suggests. My issue here is calibration. I fear that using too much of this stuff will damage the bio-filter and too little will leave toxic ammonia in the water.
B. I have found running sphagnum moss in the filter to do an acceptable job of regulating pH, however it takes my medium hardness water and makes it very soft. I fear the water may be too soft to maintain stability after running moss.
My big concern here is that the more chemicals used the more there is to go wrong, and the more potential of rebound and parameter fluctuations. I could always boost the hardness, but once again, this is more to go wrong. The main concern for me is simplicity. When I go back to school, my mom will need a simple and effective water change system for her tank. She has neither the desire nor the time to play chemist on a weekly basis.
This 5g tank is the major concern, my 10g could potentially be left at the old house until I move it back to school.
Stocking includes a few plants, a Ghost shrimp, a Male Betta, and 2 false julii corydras. RO would be a tolerable option, but thats just somewhere she has to drive to to get the water. Plus I have heard that RO is bad for FW, especially planted.
I will be honest. I fear that if the water change process is too complicated, it wont happen. I am really trying to look out for the wellbeing of thesee fish who I am partially responsible for.
What woud happen if the tap water was hit with some Prime and thrown in at WC after a long acclimation period. Could the livestock adapt to a basic pH and could the biofilter adapt to weekly doses of ammonia (via a 1 gallon change)? The acclimation period would start with a small ammt of this nasty water and go until the tank was taking 100% water changes with the new city's water. Then the tank would be carefully moved.
Any other suggestions?
A. I have found a product called AmQuell that effectively removes the ammonia from the tap, but requring a greater doese than the bottle suggests. My issue here is calibration. I fear that using too much of this stuff will damage the bio-filter and too little will leave toxic ammonia in the water.
B. I have found running sphagnum moss in the filter to do an acceptable job of regulating pH, however it takes my medium hardness water and makes it very soft. I fear the water may be too soft to maintain stability after running moss.
My big concern here is that the more chemicals used the more there is to go wrong, and the more potential of rebound and parameter fluctuations. I could always boost the hardness, but once again, this is more to go wrong. The main concern for me is simplicity. When I go back to school, my mom will need a simple and effective water change system for her tank. She has neither the desire nor the time to play chemist on a weekly basis.
This 5g tank is the major concern, my 10g could potentially be left at the old house until I move it back to school.
Stocking includes a few plants, a Ghost shrimp, a Male Betta, and 2 false julii corydras. RO would be a tolerable option, but thats just somewhere she has to drive to to get the water. Plus I have heard that RO is bad for FW, especially planted.
I will be honest. I fear that if the water change process is too complicated, it wont happen. I am really trying to look out for the wellbeing of thesee fish who I am partially responsible for.
What woud happen if the tap water was hit with some Prime and thrown in at WC after a long acclimation period. Could the livestock adapt to a basic pH and could the biofilter adapt to weekly doses of ammonia (via a 1 gallon change)? The acclimation period would start with a small ammt of this nasty water and go until the tank was taking 100% water changes with the new city's water. Then the tank would be carefully moved.
Any other suggestions?