I've been having a lot of issues with my little guys health for many months, despite keeping pristine water, lots of tannins, and an antibacterial/antifungal medication. Talking to my apartment manager yesterday, I learned that the entire apartment complex uses a water softener that exchanges calcium and magnesium ions for sodium, which is apparently really bad for fish.
My guy has been *very* sick recently, and I'm looking to just swap out 100% of his water with remineralized distilled water. Normally I'd not do a 100% water change, but he's doing very poorly and this is a bit of a last-ditch effort to save him. (I will of course slowly acclimate him to the new water)
I'm having a hard time finding info on the best way to remineralize distilled water. I don't have access to Seachem products like is often recommended, as I live in Europe. (Specifically Switzerland, but get most of my aquarium products from Germany)
Any advice is highly appreciated, I'm hoping to head out to the store later today to get everything.
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Posted by PhotographyByAdri
3 Comments
Salty shrimp kh/gh is what i use, or any other minerals like that targeted at shrimp that adjust kh and gh. Do make sure you have reliable and accurate kh and gh tests. A tds meter is very handy too. The water will need to be mixed to the same numbers every water change.
Actually bettas are soft water fish but if you don’t have any minerals in the food either it can be too low- I have kept my bettas in pH 6 KH2 GH4 water without major issues before, I also keep shrimp in there, it’s basically a black water tank.
Right now my current betta lives in pH 7.3, I use GH+ Soft water by salty shrimp that I could buy in Germany without major issues but I use an EC meter to adjust it to the tank water- but frankly most nutrients and salts are introduced through food- it sits at 350ppm or 600ms at the moment
Hi OP, good catch with the water softener – the sodium is very likely the cause to the decline of your fish alongside lack of mineralisation.
This link may help better explain the concept of using purified water and the remineralising process:
https://24purewater.co.uk/distilled-water-for-aquarium/
You’ll need an accurate liquid test kit for pH, KH and GH, plus a TDS pen as mentioned is a good idea. API do a decent duo test kit for KH and GH, or the NT Labs freshwater kit includes it as standard.
For remineralising the Salty Shrimp KH/GH+ is excellent, JBL do one called Aquadur and Aqua forest AF. All of these are German in origin I believe so should be freely available.
Changes will need to be gradual and once stabilised steps taken to maintain that stability.