Tested KH - 179ppm!

FWIW, I have tetras (rummy nose & red phantom), and Botias (yo-yos), and both living over 2 years in my tank with a KH of 8 degrees which is about 142 ppm (oh, and most plants will grow also).

Are you using water softener water in your tank?

A water softener changes water composition rather than removing the hardness component. You may want to look into it a bit further, I've no experience with softened (Na rich) water in tanks. I'm not thinking its a good thing.

Wow...those are great pics Tom! Massive pearling going on on everything! I hope to get there one day

In regards to the thread tho forddna, the API tap water filter is junk! It costs almost as much for the replacement filters as the whole unit itself costs, and with those numbers coming from you tap, you would prolly have to replace the filter after two water changes

Sorry Im no help with the other issues you have, but I def. wouldnt go buy the API tap water filter

Good Luck:thumbsup:

Thank you all. I guess I won't worry about it.

Yeah, you don't want to monkey with your water too much, most fish will adjust, it's the stability they prefer. Your mysterious deaths were probably just due to the tank being so new, or maybe even some prior issues they had.

I would recommend not using water that is going through your softener though. Plants and fish don't care for the extra Na in the water. Most likely only your hot water is softened but if thats not the case try and find a outlet that is not softened to fill up your tanks (any that are outside should be good).

Do a search for "softener" and water softened etc, I had a bunch of Q's on that when I got into it, some other folks as well...

but, I've just used the water softened water, even though some folks said not to in my 55g, seems to be okay...EI

It is a known fact that sodium can affect the plant's ability to take in nutrients. The degree to which this affects the plants varies a lot depending on a lot of things, like how much sodium is actually in the water and what type of plants you have. But it is generally agreed that it is never a good thing. That's why many people with planted tanks use unsoftened water or use potassium chloride in their softener instead of sodium.

Fish on the other hand have widely varying preferences for sodium, some will do better with a little sodium and others will do worse. But for plants it's pretty much all bad, although you can often get away with it without major effects. Tetras are one example of a fish that it is said does not really appreciate sodium in the water, although I get away with it with mine. I also get away with it with my plants, but I'm having some unexplainable troubles lately so I'm going to scrap the salt and see if things improve.

Carissa said:

But for plants it's pretty much all bad...

Click to expand...

This is not true, depending on the plants some plants have varying degrees of tolerance to sodium from marine salt. To name just a few:Anacharis, anubias, hornwort, java fern, and water sprite, among others, are all known to do well in brackish water tanks, although they may require a gradual acclimitization to increased salinity and will not tolerate anything above 1-3 ppt salinity.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/bracplants.htm
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1944&articleid=3299
http://www.iowas.co.uk/Brackish.html
http://www.aquariumforums.net/Brackish_plants_recommendations-ttopic4047.html

Nbot said:

Do a search for "softener" and water softened etc, I had a bunch of Q's on that when I got into it, some other folks as well...

but, I've just used the water softened water, even though some folks said not to in my 55g, seems to be okay...EI

Click to expand...

I started a thread asking about it a couple weeks ago.

Anyway, I really can't avoid the softener. The well is a couple hundred feet away from the tank, and there is so much iron in the water that my tank would be solid orange/clay color even if I could use it.

Homer_Simpson said:

This is not true, depending on the plants some plants have varying degrees of tolerance to sodium from marine salt. To name just a few:Anacharis, anubias, hornwort, java fern, and water sprite, among others, are all known to do well in brackish water tanks, although they may require a gradual acclimitization to increased salinity and will not tolerate anything above 1-3 ppt salinity.

Click to expand...

I didn't mean that there were no plants that could tolerate salt, I just meant that, unlike fish, there is no benefit to plants by adding salt and there can often be detriment.