Hard water?

[poeticpyro]

so i haven't lost anyone yet, but they're all breathing rapidly. i don't know what to do. i have tossed in a long 18 inch air stone. how do i lower hardness? just change water? i did a 20% water change on saturday, the air stone helps, but they're still not acting the way they used to. no one's really out and about, they're all hiding and stuff. *all symptoms were posted in "make me fat" but no one replied, so i'm trying this*

water perams...
ph 7.1
temp 79
0 ammonia


also... how can i get rid of brown algae? i have an oto, but he can't keep up, and i don't want to add more fish at the moment since something's going on in the tank.

thanks in advance for your help.

[aquarioten.nl]

making your water softer just by adding new water only helps if the water is softer than in your aquarium. if it is... you can look in your aquarium why it is so high since the new water you add or have been adding is softer. maybe stone of your sand/gravel has a high levels of KH and should me removed since the problem wil return.

instead of adding air you kan place your exit of your filter/pump al litle above your waterline making a lot of stir in you aquarium en it will lower the CO2 level. i don't find bubbles very goodlooking en very unatural in an aquarium.

sorry for my broken english but i'm in a hurry and for a dutch person in a hurry there is no time for thinking if its spelled good or wrong in english

[worldrallynut]

how do i lower hardness? just change water? i did a 20% water change on saturday, the air stone helps, but they're still not acting the way they used to. no one's really out and about, they're all hiding and stuff. *all symptoms were posted in "make me fat" but no one replied, so i'm trying this*

water perams...
ph 7.1
temp 79
0 ammonia


also... how can i get rid of brown algae? i have an oto, but he can't keep up, and i don't want to add more fish at the moment since something's going on in the tank.

thanks in advance for your help.

What is your hardness? Also is there any nitrites or nitrates in the tank? As far as lowering the hardness, besides driftwood/peat (LFS recommended black water extract), the only other thing you can really do is add water that is softer. The best way to do this is with Reverse Osmosis water. I get mine at walmart by the gallon (one with green label should mention RO). They also sell it at Shoprite/Pathmark (Great bear with the green label). Or you could invest in an RO unit and not make weekly trips to the supermarket.

[aquarioten.nl]

never knew if you could buy osmose water in a store but there are al lot of things we cant buy here in the netherlands in a store in comparison to US.

above advise is the best way to do... if you arren't blest with ideal tap water... i get ph 6.5, kh 4 gh 4 nitriete 0 and nitrate 10 from the tap.