How to Soften Aquarium Water (Decrease Hardness)

Hey guys,
Today's video will be looking into water hardness, also known as general hardness (gH) and how to decrease/soften it in your aquarium. This is often overlooked but is extremely important in improving the best environment for your fish or for breeding purposes. We will go through methods with both strong and weak effects that can be used either during or after the setup of your tank. Please note, some of these methods will also effect your pH and your kH.
If you have any aquarium questions or have any future video suggestions, please comment below!
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Music:
Stratosphere by Adam Vitovsky www.adamvitovsky.com/
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[@jojyp]

Helpful Video!! Thanks for the info!!

[@ScooteX]

Very informative.

[@brittanywilliams4174]

Great video thank you 😊

[@queenie3046]

Thank you, I have move house and now dealing with excessive levels of water hardness. This was very helpful

[@queenie3046]

If I ever move back to Sydney I will come visit 😊

[@PaulsFishroom]

It is important to mention the Carbonate hardness (KH) of water in the discussion about hardness and pH. KH also called alkaline hardness has a buffering effect on pH. For example, the methods used to acidify water can at best only have a temporary / short-term effect as the KH level will gradually increase alkalinity of the water.

[@ProjectExias]

If I were to use distilled water , what’s a good amount to use ex . If I were to fill with 5 gallon should I use 1 gallon of distilled to that mix ?

[@millerwhale]

You know what sucks about north Texas? Tap water ppm in the area I live in is around 200 - 300 ppm, making it very difficult to lower the hardness of water. However, SOMEHOW, tetras, who usually prefer soft, acidic water, utterly refuse to die in tanks around here.

[@BlatentlyFakeName]

Where I live in the UK it's over 400 as it's a limestone base. Tetras and most other things still do fine. It's better to keep it stable.

[@thepeoplesvoice757]

Does this work for saltwater tanks?

[@Wijnfles]

my rainwater has a ph of 9 so for neocaridna its way too high how do I lower this and raise the kh? Cause the KH is like 3-4

[@thee-wastegamer4044]

Thanks! I just moved literally 10 minutes away from my old place and my tap went from 100PPM (5°) to 180PPM (10°). Ridiculous.

[@worldofaquariums5534]

Yea jeez, that difference is heaps!

[@surendarkumar-rs1og]

@@worldofaquariums5534 My tap water hardness is around 750 ppm. Still my discus fishes survives on it without any issues. So water hardness doesn't matter for fish survival. It needs the required amount of minerals in it. and they require proper filtration and food to survive better.

[@Aveeguides]

Bro 😂 My water hardness is 400ppm in Ohio

[@thee-wastegamer4044]

@@AveeguidesGreat Lakes or river water? Im in Florida it's pretty much liquid limestone but the GH level isn't too high

[@Aveeguides]

@@thee-wastegamer4044 oopsie, I’m an idiot. I was thinking of the 22 drops for the API KH test I did. The chart shows °kH and GH side by side with drops. So I was confusing the 22 drops as 400ppm instead of °kH. Our well water hardness is 170ppm 😂

[@Bucephalandra]

Thank you for sharing softening water focusing on GH. How about KH? I would like to know also about KH. Would you have already shared video about KH as well?

[@worldofaquariums5534]

Hi, i have done another video on water parameters as a whole, which includes gh, kH and pH. As kH and pH are connected together

[@Bucephalandra]

@@worldofaquariums5534 That's fine. I will check it up. Thank you!

[@johnfadds6089]

@@worldofaquariums5534 it's the high KH that negatively affects plants (increases pH), not the GH.

[@cherrypoutines6269]

@@johnfadds6089 thats true, i have soft water 3gh and 0kh and the only plants that survives are anubias/buce and crypts. All stem plants die, even the easy ones.

[@laurenatkin2136]

Hey really curious what the first fish is Id put a picture up but it wont let me attach it. Black markings just round the face and red and blue colourings almost like a painted mask

[@AbdulRahman-vg1tb]

Rummy-nose Tetra

[@sashakta]

what about planted tanks... should we go for hard or soft water ,,,,,thanku

[@worldofaquariums5534]

Generally around the middle/ mid soft is what is recommended. But different plants have different tolerance and ranges for hardness levels

[@chihironiich.9335]

I have angelfish and live in a place with very hard water and a pretty high PH. I got five angels from PetSmart and two from a local small shop. The two from the small LFS died very quickly. The ones from PetSmart are all still doing well. I'm worried my water could be hurting my fish and am thinking of cutting my tap with some distilled water next time I do a water change. Should I leave everything the same or try to soften things?

[@worldofaquariums5534]

I think softening the water will be better, just because they will like that type of environment more. You will need to soften your water slowly over time. However, it could also be other issues besides just very hard water that could have caused your fish to die

[@davesuals]

I have a tank with tap water that just started and I want to soften the water bc I did a test and its too high, can I mix distilled water into the tank and itll fix it or do I have to fully drain the tank and refill with distilled water.?

[@worldofaquariums5534]

definetly recommend mixing distilled water. Never fully drain tank and refill with distilled

[@komag69]

I have 15 GH water, can Acid (like API PH Down) lower the GH as well?

[@worldofaquariums5534]

Hey, no it won't. It's different

[@vinhle3272]

Hi. My 6 neon tetra and 4 glo tetra died after I added Topfin aquarium gravel to my 3 weeks 75gallon tank. Is it the gravel that increased water ph and hardness and kill the fishes?

[@NolanShaw2k]

Was your tank cycled properly? 3 weeks doesn’t seem long enough.

[@bolulembut1132]

is it possible to soften water hardness with tannins for long term? like adding tannin water from indian almond leaves? or is it better with rainwater? i live in middle city and my house is on the side of the road alot of cars and motorcycle passing everyday..im worried the rainwater is bad idea for me im thinking to use ceramic filter to filter rainwater before dump it to my tank or it still bad idea?

[@brittanywilliams4174]

Tannins can always be added as time goes on and Fritz even makes a black water add in, but be careful if your fish like more higher ph/alkaline water as the tannins make it slightly more acidic

[@DTruth-cz3dh]

Once you soften your water , does it stay soften?

[@elosh3175]

No shit

[@frazerfoster8330]

Actually that could depend on what hard scape you have in your aquarium, I use RO water and my fish tank creeps up to around 300ppm from a couple of my rocks leaching calcium and other things into the tank(this can also happen with some substrates), if that’s your case good luck I recommend trying peat granules in your filter or spagnum moss in there as well and capatta leaves to all help break it down and reach a balance

[@augukern9708]

Hi. Well distilled water seems pretty costly for the amount of water a tank needs, then it seem impossible in a small space. If only goverments help people more filteringr their water .(

[@worldofaquariums5534]

Yea, would depend how much you use. I go through 200L a week so makes sense getting a rodi unit. Otherwise can buy it from most aquarium shops (5-20L)

[@zedbeevor3337]

Why add tap water to RO water, for buffering. Tap water has a certain amount of chlorine in it. Bad for fish and the beneficial bacterial within a Filter.

[@worldofaquariums5534]

Because you shouldn't use pure RO water, all fish require some amount of minerals in the water, which depending on your area, tap water should have. If you are able to mix tap water and RO water to achieve softer water, there is not much downside in doing so compared to using gH powders. Yes you will need to dechlorinate tap water if doing it this method

[@JCampbell91x]

Its much better to use RO water and then add powder rather than add tap water to then add more chemicals to dechlorinate

[@braddishner8597]

My tap water is harder than Mike Tyson...