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I have hard water in my fresh water fish tank that I think causes my pH to swing too alkaline(7.6). I have added pH decreaser gradually until the pH is 7.0, but in a few days it goes back to 7.6. What can I do to the water to make it soft. Things I add to my tank are salt, and water conditioner. The water conditioner says it neutralizes the heavy metals, but what can I do to get rid of them? Thank you

Why are you trying to drop your PH? Unless you are keeping discus or someother type of fish that demands acidic water most fish will readily acclimatise to higher Ph levels than they live in naturally.
Also hard water areas have a natural ability to keep there Ph levels stable unless you use peat or RO water .

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

I agree with the above. There is no reason for you to change your pH, unless you want to keep something that is especially demanding in its pH needs. Altering the tank's pH will just cost you more money, create more headaches, and stress the fish. I have a tank full of South American fish (acidic pH lovers) with a pH of 7.8. They don't seem to mind at all.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I also have hard water and my PH has been at a steady 7.0 since the tank was established. The only problem i have at the moment is that i have high nitrate levels coming in the tap water and might need to start buying RO water.

SW Pics: http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dave_slade@btinternet.com/
Saltwater tank 125G-30G sump with caulerpa refugium.
yellow tang, atlantic anemone, 11 turbo snails, 4 nassarius snails, 12 various hermits, 3 cleaner shrimp, 2 occelaris clown, yellow

Dave, for something like £30 you can get an R/O filter on ebay... I don't know how much bottled R/O water cost, but it might be cheaper to get the filter.

Gills,

You need to read the article at this link: http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/begin-chem.asp. It will give you good information on basic water chemistry.

You are currently experiencing pH "bounce" as you add pH decreaser then watch the pH return to its former level. This will continue to happen due to the "buffer" present in your water. In the meantime, your fish store will love you! (Here he comes! Be prepared to re-stock the chemicals!"

Krige and Brooks are right. Your fish will do fine in your tap water. If you want to stress them, you could add pH decreaser and have the pH bounce back and forth! A stable Ph is the best pH.

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"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright