AMurry24537
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2019
- Messages
- 417
- Reaction score
- 154
- Points
- 43
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Country
- United States
Hey all,
Like the title says, I just moved and need some recommendations with managing the new water parameters. Previously, I have only ever used SeaChem Regulator to manage high ph and to control chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals as it does all of that (to be honest, I extra loved using this because I don't really like dealing with SeaChem Prime due to the smell and difficulty in measuring the drops. Recommendations?) Here's the problem: I still have high ph, but the water is apparently very soft, and I'm not sure how to manage this in an axolotl-safe way.
It should be noted that I have not actually tested the water hardness myself, but there's an online article from 2011 talking about how my new town reduced their water hardness from 24 GPG to 5 GPG (impressive, but not helpful to me, lol). Assuming that this is accurate, this is obviously not ideal. I am planning on purchasing a test from API to verify this. I've heard of some people using SeaChem Equilibrium to help increase the hardness, but is it okay to use this even in a non-planted tank?
I know that soft water usually corresponds with low ph, but I tested some water from my tank and it came out with a ph of ~7.8 (tested with API freshwater master kit). It should be noted that this test was even AFTER the water had been treated with Regulator. I did also to a test of water straight from the tap, which oddly seemed to be a little lower, more like 7.4. Can/should I continue using Regulator since it doesn't seem to be reducing the ph beyond acceptable range or should I switch back to using Prime instead along with Equilibrium/other things?
Like the title says, I just moved and need some recommendations with managing the new water parameters. Previously, I have only ever used SeaChem Regulator to manage high ph and to control chlorine, chloramines, and heavy metals as it does all of that (to be honest, I extra loved using this because I don't really like dealing with SeaChem Prime due to the smell and difficulty in measuring the drops. Recommendations?) Here's the problem: I still have high ph, but the water is apparently very soft, and I'm not sure how to manage this in an axolotl-safe way.
It should be noted that I have not actually tested the water hardness myself, but there's an online article from 2011 talking about how my new town reduced their water hardness from 24 GPG to 5 GPG (impressive, but not helpful to me, lol). Assuming that this is accurate, this is obviously not ideal. I am planning on purchasing a test from API to verify this. I've heard of some people using SeaChem Equilibrium to help increase the hardness, but is it okay to use this even in a non-planted tank?
I know that soft water usually corresponds with low ph, but I tested some water from my tank and it came out with a ph of ~7.8 (tested with API freshwater master kit). It should be noted that this test was even AFTER the water had been treated with Regulator. I did also to a test of water straight from the tap, which oddly seemed to be a little lower, more like 7.4. Can/should I continue using Regulator since it doesn't seem to be reducing the ph beyond acceptable range or should I switch back to using Prime instead along with Equilibrium/other things?