Fresh water aquarium has too soft water

I have just set up a 10 gallon aquarium for one crowntail betta. My system tests good except that the water is too soft 0-25 and alkalinity is low 40-80. What can I do naturally to change this?
Apreciate your reply.

welcome to our forum....
Buffering Capacity (KH, Alkalinity)
Buffering capacity refers to water's ability to keep the pH stable as acids or bases are added. pH and buffering capacity are intertwined with one another; although one might think that adding equal volumes of an acid and neutral water would result in a pH halfway in between, this rarely happens in practice. If the water has sufficient buffering capacity, the buffering capacity can absorb and neutralize the added acid without significantly changing the pH. Conceptually, a buffer acts somewhat like a large sponge. As more acid is added, the ``sponge'' absorbs the acid without changing the pH much. The ``sponge's'' capacity is limited however; once the buffering capacity is used up, the pH changes more rapidly as acids are added.
Buffering has both positive and negative consequences. On the plus side, the nitrogen cycle produces nitric acid (nitrate). Without buffering, your tank's pH would drop over time (a bad thing). With sufficient buffering, the pH stays stable (a good thing). On the negative side, hard tap water often almost always has a large buffering capacity. If the pH of the water is too high for your fish, the buffering capacity makes it difficult to lower the pH to a more appropriate value. Naive attempts to change the pH of water usually fail because buffering effects are ignored.

In freshwater aquariums, most of water's buffering capacity is due to carbonates and bicarbonates. Thus, the terms ``carbonate hardness'' (KH), ``alkalinity'' and ``buffering capacity'' are used interchangeably. Although technically not the same things, they are equivalent in practice in the context of fishkeeping. Note: the term ``alkalinity'' should not be confused with the term ``alkaline''. Alkalinity refers to buffering, while alkaline refers to a solution that is a base (i.e., pH > 7).

How much buffering does your tank need? Most aquarium buffering capacity test kits actually measure KH. The larger the KH, the more resistant to pH changes your water will be. A tank's KH should be high enough to prevent large pH swings in your tank over time. If your KH is below roughly 4.5 dH, you should pay special attention to your tank's pH (e.g, test weekly, until you get a feel for how stable the pH is). This is ESPECIALLY important if you neglect to do frequent partial water changes. In particular, the nitrogen cycle creates a tendency for an established tank's pH to decrease over time. The exact amount of pH change depends on the quantity and rate of nitrates produced, as well as the KH. If your pH drops more than roughly two tenths of a point over a month, you should consider increasing the KH or performing partial water changes more frequently. KH doesn't affect fish directly, so there is no need to match fish species to a particular KH.

Note: it is not a good idea to use distilled water in your tank. By definition, distilled water has essentially no KH. That means that adding even a little bit of acid will change the pH significantly (stressing fish). Because of its instability, distilled (or any essentially pure water) is never used directly. Tap water or other salts must first be added to it in order to increase its GH and KH.

General Hardness (GH)
General hardness (GH) refers to the dissolved concentration of magnesium and calcium ions. When fish are said to prefer ``soft'' or ``hard'' water, it is GH (not KH) that is being referred to.
Note: GH, KH and pH form the Bermuda's Triangle of water chemistry. Although the three properties are distinct, they all interact with each other to varying degrees, making it difficult to adjust one without impacting the other. That is one reason why beginning aquarists are advised NOT to tamper with these parameters unless absolutely necessary. As an example, ``hard'' water frequently often comes from limestone aquifers. Limestone contains calcium carbonate, which when dissolved in water increases both the GH (from calcium) and KH (from carbonate) components. Increasing the KH component also usually increases pH as well. Conceptually, the KH acts as a ``sponge'' absorbing the acid present in the water, raising the water's pH.

Water hardness follows the following guidelines. The unit dH means ``degree hardness'', while ppm means ``parts per million'', which is roughly equivalent to mg/L in water. 1 unit dH equals 17.8 ppm CaCO3. Most test kits give the hardness in units of CaCO3; this means the hardness is equivalent to that much CaCO3 in water but does not mean it actually came from CaCO3.

General Hardness

0 - 4 dH, 0 - 70 ppm : very soft
4 - 8 dH, 70 - 140 ppm : soft
8 - 12 dH, 140 - 210 ppm : medium hard
12 - 18 dH, 210 - 320 ppm : fairly hard
18 - 30 dH, 320 - 530 ppm : hard

Welcome to our forum.

Most aquarists want soft water, but tap water is often very hard. Are you using reverse osmosis or distilled water? Neither has the buffers needed to control swings in pH. Water chemistry also affects plant growth, and plants need some of the elements found in most tap water. Clay based substrates like laterite plus liquid type plant supplements contain elements that should harden the water. Fish respiration and digestion will also add chemical compounds to the water.

So let me be sure I understand. I need to add a clay based substrate, and liquid plant supplements and lots of plants. The ones I have in there (only two small ones) don't seem to be doing very well. Oh and I am just using tap water.

Regards,SillySue

nice copy paste achintya

hm i find it from google and i think it's appropriate what she said...

Clay based substrates and liquid fertilizers will add chemical compounds to the water, thus hardening it. Just feeding the fish will too. However, soft water is usually not a problem unless you have African Cichlids. They do make an additive specifically for those fish, and it will probably work in your aquarium, as will the other things mentioned above. The water conditioner for African Cichlids should be available locally, but if it's not, the on line stores will have it. If it were my aquarium and if the Betta seemed healthy, I would avoid using any chemical fixes. Fish sold for aquariums are typically aquarium raised for many generations and are tolerant of most conditions in the average, well maintained tank. Have you checked for ammonia and nitrite? Their presence would indicate an incomplete nitrogen cycle, which is a very common problem with new aquariums. After the aquarium is cycled and seasoned, it should be just fine.

I have put in more live plants, added Seachem Marine Buffer liquid and liquid plant supplement. Albert seems just fine. I will keep an eye on the water. Very little nitrates as of yet. Could not find clay based substrate in this little town I live in. But I can order some online. Any particular brand I should look for?

Thank you John

JohnArthur,
Laterite has been in my tank now for about 5 days, plants are doing much better. Have 3 in my 10 gallon tank. Still have low alkalinity though (40). That's ok as long as ph is ok? Or should I put in more Marine Buffer?

The alkalinity is not very low, so it's probably nothing to worry about so long as the fish look healthy. Keeping ammonia and nitrite at zero is much more important. Sometimes, when you try to change water parameters too quickly, you wind up with a disaster. Personally, i just use a good conditioner and try to keep up with the water changes.