# HARD water!!!!! D;>



## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Hey guys.

As a few of you already know My fish Genie has had finrot for close to three months now.

When I got him he was missing his entire right ventral fin and 3/4 of his right pectoral fin as well.

His pectoral grew back by mid-July.

His caudal unfortunately had a BIG chunk taken out of it about the time that his pectoral finished growing back.

Since then he hasn't really healed all that much. =[ The rip has healed some but not much.

I'm wondering if this is because of my hard water?

I've been testing my water and it's the hardest it can get. =[

I just did a water change 20 minutes ago with 1 gallon of tap water and 1 gallon of distilled (1/2 and 1/2) thinking it would help soften it.

In all truth it did... just not much. My hardness went from off the charts to 120. Which is just below the end of the scale.

I can't afford to keep buying britta filters like this and every time I try collecting rain water I don't catch any. =[ Well at least not much. not even enough to fill a drinking cup. =[ and it rains a lot here! >.<

Does anyone know a good way to soften your water without hurting your fish? Also an easy one if at all possible? 

Thank you for reading and for whatever help you can give me! =]

A good method of rain collecting not involving gutters would be great! =]


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## kuklachica (Dec 23, 2009)

Try buying some indian almond leaves from ebay (grade D) and boiling it to make betta spa. I think you can search here and find more info on IAL in some threads... or google it. It takes about 2 weeks to arrive via mail (ships from overseas) but is about $12 for a whole BUNCH of it. Then just follow directions on how to make the spa (I believe ebay seller that I buy mine form, amy-lin, has a tutorial on ebay, or find it on bettysplendens). I have been told this softens the water. I have wicked soft water so I can't confirm it, but I'm sure someone here can.


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

The tannins found in driftwood also lower pH, but I don't know how helpful this is to you unless you have a thorough supply of tannin-heavy driftwood on hand.


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

My PH is fine actually. =/ It's 7. It's just that the water is so hard. I mean we have serious hard water stains on everything here and it clogs our showers too. I really should have thought about that more before I bough Genie. =[

As for the IAL and Driftwood tanins, I'm trying to do that with oak leaves. =/ I just haven't got the hang of it yet. I've been reading instructions on here though and I'll check out that instructions page on betty splendens! =] Thank you guys. Hope it works!

Any other suggestions are still welcomed! =] I don't have an oak tree near by and not much cash so anything cheap and easy would be best. =]


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## Kittles (Feb 8, 2010)

I thought hard water meant a high pH reading. :shock:

_The More You Know!*_


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## Kokonoko (Jul 28, 2010)

No, hard water is that which contains a high mineral content. Its often found outside of citys and such where the water doesn't come from a tower. Thats just a small exception though http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_water

So! Theres two possible solutions that I can think of.

1) The hardness in the water might be evaporated through boiling the water? Depends on the actual minerals contained int he water

2)Second idea turned out to be false hope -.-

I'm sorry I couldn't help more...


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Kittles said:


> I thought hard water meant a high pH reading. :shock:
> 
> _The More You Know!*_


Your not alone there :lol: I think its the KH and GH, I never paid attention in school though lol

Peat moss softens water and reduces its hardness. The most effective way to soften the water using peat moss is to aerate water for 1-2 weeks in a bucket with the peat. What you could do is get a huge piece of peat, boil it so that the stuff sinks and put it in a cloth bag or something similar, put it in the bucket and make sure the bucket has a air pump, in 1-2 weeks the water should be softer but will be more acidic, you can then use the water to do your partial water changes 

You can buy peat at your LFS but its more expensive so maybe you can check out your local gardening stores but read the fine print for fertilisers or other additives


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## peaches3221 (Jun 1, 2010)

you could use bottled water, but that might get expensive.


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## Cutar (Aug 3, 2010)

For rain water just get a barrel or a big garbage bin and put it outside and cover it after. That way you have a ton of fresh rain water to use numerous times.


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## Welsh (Apr 13, 2010)

Not really, rainwater contains contaminants from factory emissions, smog and other pollutants and also tends to be very soft which isn't suitable for some fish. I think for it to be suitable to use it would need to go through an RO system, i'm sure someone will correct me if im wrong lol


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

The best natural way I know to soften water is the method posted by Welch, peat moss, Canadian peat moss is the best for this IMO/E.


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## kikuhoshi (Mar 26, 2010)

We have hard water. I haven't tested it, but there's a significant difference in our untreated & treated water. My parents put in water conditioner salts, and I use a water conditioner and aq. salts as my major additives, plus a little bettafix just to be safe.  My fish both seem to be happy, though the boy has been exposed to this longer.  My girl has stress strips, though I presume that's from having been moved to a container where she can see her "boyfriend" a lot more easily (split 10-gal).


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

Man we live out in the country, we have a well and are water is hard hard. Like you go to take a shower the water hit's you in the face and knock's you out its so hard lol. 
But anyway I dont have any problems, I use aquarium salt. If there's infection thats bad enough and not letting the fin repair, you might have to do a antibiotic, and then aquarium salt. And if you have IAL I would be using them the whole time...


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## FloridaBettas239 (Jun 29, 2010)

R.O water is the best water to use. Ask any highend saltwater or fresh water keeper.


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

YAY! =D Discussion!

I'll try the peat moss but I think I'll hold off on that till I get to college and have my tank cycled. I think it would be easier for me that way because then I wouldn't be using it as much and it would have time to aerate. =]

LOL FB I know how you feel! XD I live out in the country too and I like to think the reason I stay so clean is because my water scrubs for me. :'D All our pots and pans have calcium buildup. :'D It's hilarious that I haven't grown much considering all the calcium I'm taking in! XD

I don't think the boiling would work for that reason because that's what gets left in the water/pot... If I had a way to catch the evaporate then it'd be a great method! =] Who knows? I might just do that one day If I can work out a system.

Water comes from Towers in Cities? I never did understand how it got up there when they explained it in science. =/ Something to do with pressure and the fact that water clings to stuff and moves up. Similar to how land plants take in water. But that was about where my understanding stopped. =/ I didn't care though because we have ground water treated by a plant! XD 

Wait... wouldn't it still be ground water then? I think I'm wrong. Do the towers collect rainwater? XD

So does Aq. Salt soften water? If so how much would I put in because I definately have that available right now. =]

I actually stopped using it a week ago because I'd been using it so long. I don't want Genie's kidneys to fail. =[


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