# Seachem Equilibrium



## erid (Feb 13, 2014)

Hello all, 
I'm a reefer that lost my tank during a hurricane 2 year's ago. I recently established a planted tank for the kids. I spoke to a shop employee regarding using RO water and he suggested that I declorinate tap... Why did I listen??

So with that said, I have hair alage growing over everything suddenly. Im back to RO but I after some research decided to use Seachem Equilibrium with my RO for water changes that should starve out the hair alage.
Anyone have experience with the product? Going with my guy from now on.
Also, I didn't know Fancy guppies multiplied like this! Lol
I have like 30 in ky tank now! Lol 
20 gallon high...


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## Ericj (Oct 22, 2007)

Try it out! It shouldn't do any harm and could certainly help out. Let us know how it works.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

RO water has no minerals, no salts... nothing. 

Plants and fish need over a dozen elements to live. Putting plants or fish in pure RO water is not good. 

Some of the things they need can be tested for. If you have aquarium tests, use them to make sure the mineral levels in the water suit the fish. 

GH is a test for General Hardness. It measures calcium and magnesium. Both fish and plants use the calcium and magnesium from the water. When you use RO all the Ca and Mg are removed. You add them back with products like Equilibrium. This product also has potassium, a plant fertilizer. 

Fresh water chemistry varies a lot more than marine chemistry. Some lakes have a lot of minerals, some rivers have almost no minerals. The fish that live in these waters have evolved to require that specific mineral level. Changes in mineral levels are hard for fish to adapt to. 

If you have fish from soft water (Low GH, low KH, and almost always low pH) then you will use just a small amount of Equilibrium to raise the GH to about 3 German degrees of hardness. 
If you have fish from hard water (high GH, KH and pH) then you need to use more Equilibrium to make the water suitable for these fish. 

When I do this I also add enough baking soda or potassium bicarbonate to make the KH about equal to the GH. Carbonates are a buffer that can stablilize the pH. 

For soft water fish, my tap water was OK, (GH and KH about 4-5 degrees) but I used RO to breed some German Blue Rams. I set the GH and KH under 2 degrees. I also filtered their water through peat moss to add organic acids. 
For my hard water fish (many live bearers, certain Rainbow fish, and fish from the Rift Lakes of Africa) I added enough Equilibrium to make the GH over 10 degrees, and baking soda to make the KH over 10 degrees. I also had coral sand in these tanks to help keep the water chemistry stable between water changes. 

Equilibrium is a good product, the only problem is to dissolve it. 
When I was getting ready for a water change on the hard water tanks I would put the right amount of Equilibrium in a pint canning jar with water and shake it. Then carefully pour the milky water into the can I used to make up replacement water. Then add more water to the jar and mix with the slurry of Equilibrium that had not yet dissolved. 

Similar products may be labeled GH booster or similar names. Read the label. Some have salt (sodium chloride) which you do not want in a fresh water tank.


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