"Lily" wrote in message
...
I have 9 guppies in an 80 litre tank (about 20gallon I think??) just a
corner filter, light, heater, plants and gravel. I bit the bullet and
coughed up $60 for a test kit for all the usuals. Acidity is 7.5,
Nitrites
0ppm, Ammonia .25. What is really stressing me is that my waters
hardness
is off the scale (the test kit reckons if you add 11-22 drops of
reagent to
the sample, this goodfor rift cichlids I gave up counting at 30! )
My tap water is about 9 drops, but obviously the minerals have built
up.
I have just done a 50% water change (I know adding MORE minerals) but
my
problem is that I wont be able to buy water softeners for another week.
Is there any way I can bring down the hardness with stuff I may have
around
the house?

Any advice much appreciated.
Cheers
Lilly


If you are using the Aquarium Pharmaceutics test kit, then each drop is
1dgH, and yes, 30dgH is high for Guppies (I try to keep my Africans below
30dgH). If your tap water is only 9dgH then water changes will bring
everything down. I don't see any need for a softener, just water changes
and an investigation as to what is leeching in your tank, or have you
just been replacing evaporation for a long time?

Your pH of 7.5 seems low to have had over 30dgH of hardness naturally.
Did you test your tap pH or your tank pH? Fresh well water pH will often
change after being aired out. I'd worry about your ammonia a bit. That
should always be zero, so something is not 100%.

mildly confused *sorry*
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