How to harden my water?

I have a axolotl in a 10 gallon and the waters always very soft what do I do ???? Please help !

I put some shell grit in stockings and this hardened my water. However, I think I may have over hardened it! Or perhaps I put in too much shell grit. I am such a novice in this area so will be interested to read more knowledgeable replies. The shell grit seemed to raise my PH more than I anticipated. So I am now just doing more frequent water changes to keep it in check.

You'll probably want to speak to someone who uses salt regularly. I know a few members add salt to their water to harden it.

Thank you so much

Olivia97 said:

You'll probably want to speak to someone who uses salt regularly. I know a few members add salt to their water to harden it.

Click to expand...

If you're talking about aquarium salt, that usually softens water.. But epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) increases GH.
In cases of making water harder, you may also find that your pH will go up.
Crushed coral can also help harden water, but it also may raise the pH.

Have you seen this? It's from axolotl.org.

"Currently, I live in an area in which the water is a little on the soft side. I regularly supplement it with added salts. Laboratories use one of two types of salt mixture (each is known as a medium) in their water: Holtfreter's solution and Steinberg's solution. The ingredients and proportions used in each are detailed in the table below, together with the "recipe" I personally use. This table includes a brief version of a table found in "Developmental Biology of the Axolotl".
Medium

Components to make 100% concentration

(per litre of water)

Weight in grams

Holtrefeter's
Solution

NaCl
KCl
CaCl2
NaHCO3

3.46
0.05
0.1
0.2

Steinberg's
Solution

NaCl
KCl
Ca(NO3)2.4H2O
MgSO4.7H2O
Tris (a sort of buffer)
Add HCl to pH 7.4

3.4
0.05
0.08
0.205
0.56

John's Solution

NaCl
MgSO4.7H2O
NaHCO3

1
0.1
0.1

Indiana University Axolotl Colony use a modified Holtfreter's solution which leaves out the NaHCO3 and uses MgSO4 in the same weight. Typically, 40% or 50% is used for adults, and 20% for embryos.

I have also used another modified Holtfreter's mix at 50% concentration. The modification is that I added MgSO4 in the same weight as NaHCO3 instead of replacing NaHCO3 as done by Indiana University Axolotl Colony.
As a more practical straight-forward alternative to making up your own solutions, you can purchase kits for adjusting the hardness of water at your local aquarium outlet (they also directly adjust pH and are sold as such). If you want to get the salts for the solutions mentioned above and you have problems finding them, I have seen them at the Chemistry Store, though I have never purchased anything from that company."

Thank you so much

Use Holtfreters salt - we make our own and it’s great