Re: RO unit, fresh carbon block and chlorine

["alex pastor" <alexp@idirect.com>]

I don't know what the water parameters are in Nashville.  Unless you are
intent on spawning neons etc.  why bother with giving them reconstitued RO
water?  Could you let us know what the hardness (GH and KH) is of your water
supply?

Also, a simple chlorine/chloramine remover at 1 drop per gallon is all you
need.  It's a pity that you ended up losing fish.  Furthermore, when you do
a water change, what percentage of the water do you change?  At 10 to 20%
even if there is a little bit of chlorine in the water, it becomes so dilute
that it shouldn't harm the fish.

Earlier this year I went through a whole lot of problems trying to provide
perfect water for my fish.  These days I let the plants handle the hardness.
In a heavily planted tank the GH decreases naturally because lots of Java
moss, watersprite, duckweed and salvinia for example,  take up minerals in
order to grow.  The tap water is pH 7.6, but the water in the tanks is 6.4.
GH goes from 7 to 4 or much lower if I don't do weekly water changes.
Unfortunately the pH goes down to 5.4 if I am remiss.

I've learned that the best way to keep fish is to leave them alone as much
as possible.  I now have a colony of Apisto cacatoides in a 65 gallon tank.
I'm not breeding for commercial reasons so I am not trying to maximize fry
survival, but whenever I sit down for a few minutes to watch the action,
there are always fish of various sizes swimming in and out of the java moss
and Anubias plantation.  They've got their territories staked out.  Big Papa
looks after his harem and the juvenile males know their place.  It's
fascinating to watch the interactions going on all the time.

G. Kadar




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