Mugwump's Fish World

..thanks OP......

http://www.membranes.com/docs/papers/04_ro_water_chemistry.pdf (http://www.membranes.com/docs/papers/04_ro_water_chemistry.pdf)

I used to be all in to water chemistry.  I got over it once I figured out what worked for me with my own water.  My pH is either 7.2 or 7.4.  I can't remember which and no longer own a meter.  My gH is 0.  They say on Simply that one must add minerals to water with 0 Gh or the fish wont grow.  Not true.  My fish told me that they, like humans get their minerals from their food.  My kH is 4.5 but I no longer measure it.  I've found that if I add Roobios tea to the water I can get wigglers.  On Simply they say that TDS is more important than pH.  If I remember correctly my TDS is 90.  According to them eggs should hatch in that TDS but mine don't.  The tea lowers the pH and increases TDS.  Shows how much the experts on Simply know.

When we have a glass of water all we notice is if it tastes good.  For fish who live in it it's way more complex, but for your average fish breeder who is not obsessive it all comes down to making your water work for your own fish.  Some folks are blessed being able to do WC from the tap.  I could get away with that with my Angels but not my Discus.  Some folks are doubly blessed by not having to mess with their water to breed.  God help the poor souls whose water is pH 9.

A few years ago I stopped believing anything I read on a fish forum about water chemistry and cycling, unless I have tested it myself... and even then I try not to generalize too much. Forums can be echo chambers of misinformation when it comes to this stuff... some are better than others though. I usually have 3 experimental tanks going for testing various ideas and I'm still learning new things.

I have such crappy water from the well I had to figure out what to do with it, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten so interested in water chemistry... water has become a hobby in itself almost - some fish just happen to be swimming in it.

Did you ever tap into the stream for fish water?

I'm still trying to figure out the details of doing that, and I haven't had much time to put in a big holding tank. The well can't give any more water, its max'd out with the RO waste water and I can't set up any more tanks at the moment... very limited on the water.

Quote from: LizStreithorst on November 12, 2017, 06:34:05 PM


When we have a glass of water all we notice is if it tastes good.  For fish who live in it it's way more complex, but for your average fish breeder who is not obsessive it all comes down to making your water work for your own fish.  Some folks are blessed being able to do WC from the tap.  I could get away with that with my Angels but not my Discus.  Some folks are doubly blessed by not having to mess with their water to breed.  God help the poor souls whose water is pH 9.

I am on a well. My pH is 8.3. My GH and KH are over 300 ppm.  I do water changes right from the tap.  I have little trouble getting Angels to spawn in my water.  Some batches of eggs do not hatch, but that is mostly due to weak parents as near as I can tell.  The biggest problem I have is getting them to free swimming.  They seem to want to die off the day they are supposed to go free swimming.  But even there I suspect it is more my methods than the water. I am experimenting with different methods.  Not parent raising though as I don't have any parent raisers.