Great Forum But I Have A Question

[itchirichi]

This forum is great! Especially the guides written for newbs (like me).

I have one question though:

What does KH (Water hardness) do?

I am thinking of setting up a fish tank and I live in london. I am not sure if the water I have is suitable because alot of limescale forms (kettle, sink, shower heads proves it..). Should this be a worry for me?

Many thanks in advanced, and Hello from me in South London to everyone here ^^

Rich

 

[nukeonekitty]

First, test your water, see what the PH and KH are. Next, research the fish you want and see if the specs are the same. After that, come on the boards and see whether or not the majority agrees with your decsion. Make sure to do a lot of research, it is worth it in the long run!

I didn't really answer your first question and that is that KH being too high or low can cause the fish to feel stress which can lead to illness and in the long run, death. They make water treatments that can fix these problems or you could go for a RO (Reverse Osmosis) system which can treat the water very well from what I understand (I am not an expert on ROs whatsoever!)
Hope I helped!

 

[dwarfgourami]

This is the problem that besets all us fishkeepers in the southeast of England (those lucky people in Devon....). The simplest answer is to keep fish that thrive on hard water, or at least do not mind it.

Fish that actively enjoy it include:
most livebearers, including all the common ones (platies, swordtails, guppies, mollies); African lake cichlids (usually do not go with fish from outside their own lake, though); upside down catfish

Fish that don't mind include:

danios, bristlenose plecs, most commonly sold corydoras- in fact, most ordinary community fish can be, or have already been, acclimatised to local water

Fish that do mind include:

discus, rams, some tetras (neons sometimes struggle)

If you are set on keeping really sensitive fish, you may want to invest in an RO unit.
It is probably better not to muck around with the water by adding chemicals.