Re: PH issue

"gizmo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> Well this is encouraging I must add!
> But aren't the Amazon fish require soft water (Discuss, etc.)
> And isn't the PH level of 7.0 is better for some Amazonian plants - as I was
> reading...
> I guess Clause eliminates this problem...
> 10x
> 
> gizmo

Fish vary in what's best for them in terms of total dissolved solids
(TDS). The more pure the water, the faster water will osmose into the
fish, where their kidneys must then pump it back out. Some fish (e.g.
platys) expect a high TDS so that this water intake will be slow and
their kidneys won't work too hard. Other fish expect TDS to be low and
need this rapid osmosis for good health.

So the question is not one of hardness in the sense of dissolved
calcium and magnesium, but rather a question of dissolved everything.

In the case of plants, there have been a variety of studies showing
that most "softwater" plants do better in a nutrient-rich environment.
The reason we don't see them in those environments normally is that
they've evolved into slower-growing plants in order to survive in
nutrient-depleted waters. So, were you to transplant a softwater plant
into a hardwater stream, it would be quickly overshadowed by hardwater
plants. By contrast, a hardwater plant transplanted into softwater
will likely die.

In short, pretty much all aquarium plants will grow better in
hardwater. Some won't grow in softwater at all. With pruning, you can
overcome the evolutionary difference that would favor the hardwater
plants.

- Jim