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Making friends with new water
Hi, I am newish to the list and new to my current tap water, and new to
trying to keep anything more difficult than java moss & fern, amazon sword,
riccia, & the like. My water out of the tap here in Bryan, Texas has a pH >
8, KH ~ 27+ degrees, GH can not be measured with Aquarium Pharmaceuticals
test kit (it's that low.) I am used to Houston water, with pretty much the
opposite type of hardness, and apparently so were the plants I brought
here, because all of my riccia has died, and my java ferns melted. They're
coming back, though, but with the weird tips that I see on the Krib
indicate calcium shortage.
My big (relatively big: 29 gal) planted tank has Fluorite on peat as a
substrate, and CO2 injection using yeast, and most other tanks have gravel
over peat or are bare tanks for spawning or raising fry, & just have java
moss (and fragments of java fern.) Java fern started to make a small
comeback with regular addition of Fluorish, but looks like it needs
calcium. Things are doing pretty well in the designated "plant tank", but
giant hygro lost all it's lower leaves, and Jordanella floridae kept
ripping apart the wisteria, so they were removed recently. I have 120 watts
of light on that tank, in 3 bulbs.
I have on hand Fluorish (not Fluorish Iron.) I am wading through the
articles on the Krib, and will no doubt eventually (or sooner) get
something like Tropica or do the PMDD, but for now, can anyone just suggest
what to do about the lack of calcium and magnesium? I have Epsom salts on
hand, also, but am not sure about dosing, so haven't added any. I also am
not sure where to get CaCO3 or whatever one adds. Is there a brand of
fertilizer that would be appropriate to my situation? Fluorish isn't
helping the giant hygro, but they have 120 watts of light & they're on
Fluorite, so I don't know what their problem is. I am also worried about
the java fern, which I've *never* had a problem with before. And I was just
crushed that my riccia died, because I used it in all of my fry tanks. A
killie person is sending me some more, but I want to give it whatever it
was missing.
I am adding RO water more and more to different tanks to lower the pH, so
what would be something that would fix *any* water? All recommendations
considered, especially if they fit a student's budget (although a student
who spends way too much money on plants and fish.)
Thanks in advance for your advice,
Rebecca...