As already mentioned in my article on the water chemistry , each species of fish (and plants!) is accustomed to water parameters characteristics of its natural environment. These settings may differ from those of water driving the aquarium.
The easiest way is to choose your fish depending on your tap water. The converse is more complicated: it is working your water to match the needs of fish you prefer.
Some think that all this is unnecessary, and that fish farming supports almost all waters. I do not endorse this approach, although successful cases exist. However, it is clear that some Beginners can do more harm than good by trying to work their water, not well controlled.
I nevertheless chose this path, point me to a container species in South America are accustomed to fresh water and acids, as my tap water (from the Paris basin) is (very) hard, basic: GH = 16 KH = 11 and pH = 8.
The first thing to do is address the hardness.
By mixing my tap water with low mineral water (GH = 2), in a 1/3-2/3 ratio, I divided as provided by almost 3 GH's water tank: GH = 6, with KH = 5 and pH = 7.5.
The KH also fell (divided by 3 to the accuracy of measurement?) In a range where its buffering the pH becomes low enough, I started filtering over peat to reduce pH (filter through peat with a KH of 10 (or more!) is pretty useless).
Indeed, peat has an action on the GH, KH and pH. It releases humic acids which have their own buffering. The pH obtained remains stable even if the KH is low.
why I used peat JBL Tormec (6.80 € in Paris Bercy Animalis ). These are small beads to put in a sock (a pocket of fabric) at the end of the volume of filtration. Nevertheless provide a layer of Perlon above to avoid excessive water color
It is also possible to use the peat (much cheaper) but I have not tried yet.
I only put 1 gram per liter of water real, about 170g (1 / 3 of the 500g box) to avoid too large a variation. I did well!
J: = GH 6, KH = 5, pH = 7.5
J +3: GH = 5, KH = 3, pH = 7 + J
10: GH = 4 = KH 2, pH = 7 -
J 14: GH = 4, KH = 3, pH = 7 - 20
J: = GH 3, KH = 2, pH = 7 -
There is progressive action peat (it should however be renewed after a while, but I have not yet reached that point, I read that some people change after a month or two).
The pH decreased definitely. The latter measure does not seem to indicate still 6.5 but the trend is there (hence the value 7 -).
As expected, GH and KH also fell. A little too much in my opinion, even if the humic acids are supposed to dab. I prefer one or two more points. I will increase the proportion of my tap water in future water changes.
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