# Adding limestone to tank



## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

I just set up a 5 gallon nano that I want to use to breed Caridina Babaulti Zebra shrimp. These guys seem to like hard water, and all I have at my disposal is RO water. Since I was planning on setting it up like an Iwagumi style tank I thought I could use Limestone chunks (abundant around here) for the rocks to raise GH and kH. I am just wondering if my fissidens fontanus and xmas tree moss and DHG will still grow in a tank of pH 7.5 and gh and kh in the 12-15 territory.


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## Powchekny (Jan 25, 2010)

I have a big chunk (4 inches) of "Texas Holey rock" (limestone) in my 40 gallon long tank. I've got to say, the effect on pH (6.6) and hardness (3-4 degrees at most) has been underwhelming. Actually underwhelming is exaggeration. It hasn't changed at all.

Speculating for a moment, I'd say the problem lies with the fact that the rock is quickly colonized by bacteria, which form a biofilm, and prevent the rock from leaching much calcium carbonate into the water column. That, plus frequent water changes, really limit the impact.

Do you have tap water you could use? If you live some place with a lot of limestone around, it would make sense for you to have hard water. Mix it 50/50 with RO water?


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

9am53 said:


> I just set up a 5 gallon nano that I want to use to breed Caridina Babaulti Zebra shrimp. These guys seem to like hard water, and all I have at my disposal is RO water. Since I was planning on setting it up like an Iwagumi style tank I thought I could use Limestone chunks (abundant around here) for the rocks to raise GH and kH. I am just wondering if my fissidens fontanus and xmas tree moss and DHG will still grow in a tank of pH 7.5 and gh and kh in the 12-15 territory.


The shrimp will likely suffer during the roller coaster of changes from adding RO water at water change time. Do you not have normal tap water? I suspect it is harder. Otherwise a kh/GH booster is a safer way to do this.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

My tap water is softened well water. There are no bypasses on the softener, so the water is full of sodium. I have several bottles of MgSO4 and some montmo clay...maybe I can just add those to harden it up.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Your cold water is all softened, too? I've never seen a system that softened all of the cold water, too.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

Yes, and the hose water is softened too. I didn't design it, I can't change it either since I am renting the house.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Crazy! What a waste.... 

I would use a pre-treated tub/tank/drum of water and get it to the kh/gh you want, not using something in the tank.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

I also would run a bucket of water, then prepare it with the right minerals for the optimum requirements of the shrimp. If your research shows that they cannot tolerate the sodium, then look for a way to get rid of that, too. 

GH is calcium and magnesium. Do not just use magnesium (Epsom salt or any other source) just so the test reads right. Do it right with both minerals. Seachem equilibrium is a good one. It also has potassium and some other minerals that plants like. 

KH is carbonates. I use baking soda in my tanks, but with your softened water already high in sodium, find another source of carbonates. 

Dissolve these in the water that you are getting ready for the tank, for initial set up and for water changes. You can hang an aquarium heater in the bucket to keep the water warm.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Diana said:


> . If your research shows that they cannot tolerate the sodium, then look for a way to get rid of that, too. .


The sodium is from the water softener and is in the tap water. The OP is using RO water, and thus the sodium is a non issue.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Then that takes care of the sodium issue. Not using the tap water at all sounds like the best way to go.


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

So what if I had a piece of limestone sitting in my bucket hardening the water up for a week before I did a water change? That way there is no swing in hardness...This is only a 5 gallon, so it should not be too hard or expensive to do water changes on it.

Do we know if moss grows in hard water?


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## Powchekny (Jan 25, 2010)

I still think you won't be getting as much water hardening as you expect, even from letting the chunk set for a week in the water change water.

Only way to know is to try, of course. It's an easy experiment to set up. Just toss that limestone chunk in your full waterchange pail and test the hardness after a week.

Tom


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

I think I will try it out. The C. Babaulti are healthy and happy in my acidic soft water tank, they are just not getting berried, so any added hardness will be good. I will post results in this thread when I get them.

Thanks guys and gals!

Before I kill all my flora does anybody know if my mosses will be ok in this setup?


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## 9am53 (Jan 23, 2008)

I did some digging and apparently my Christmas moss and F. Fontanus should be fine in the hard water, just not sure about the DHG, we'll see. The tank is a 5 gallon, with a bag of FLuorite and a bunch of rocks, so I think a 2L pop bottle with limestone gravel will be a convenient size for water changes.


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