Hardness Of Water

[Fishstix]

I just tested this in a fishless tank and it appears that i have very hard water. Would this be a problem to my fish? Should i try to soften it by adding something? It's a freshwater tank. Thanks.

 

[lelover]

I would also like to know the answer to this question. I have the opposite problem. My tap water has Ph of 8.6 and a hardness of about 8 dGH. I have an RO unit that lowers the Ph to about 6.8, but the water goes through a water softener first so the dGH is only about 1. I don't mean to steal the topic, I just have similar concerns. Should I add some crushed coral to the substrate? Do the fish need those minerals?

 

[thecichlidaddict]

It's not worth worrying about. The fish can adapt no problem to what you can offer. To attempt to soften the water will only make things unstable. Water hardness is more of a concern for doing laundry then keeping fish. GH of 1 is absolutely fine for tropicals. GH of 8 is hard, but not terribly so - certainly nothing to worry about.

 

[lelover]

I've read that having such soft water will make it hard for me to balance my Ph. Is that not an issue with the fish I will be stocking the tank with?

 

[gixer]

It's not worth worrying about. The fish can adapt no problem to what you can offer. To attempt to soften the water will only make things unstable. Water hardness is more of a concern for doing laundry then keeping fish. GH of 1 is absolutely fine for tropicals. GH of 8 is hard, but not terribly so - certainly nothing to worry about.

what to a ph of 8.6?

i dont agree

lelover do you know the kh?

 

[heresmike]

It's kinda confusing as to whose question we're answering here!

To address the original question from Fishstix, I'd have to ask what the hardness of your water is, and what type of fish you're thinking of getting, and are you looking to breed them? Generally speaking, I agree with thecichlidaddict that trying to alter the hardness is probably not a good thing, and most fish will adapt to water that is harder than what is optimal for them. I have angels in water that some would say is too hard for them, but they're doing great! Some fish, however, require soft water to get into breeding condition, but will otherwise do good in hard water.

 

[Fishstix]

I would also like to know the answer to this question. I have the opposite problem. My tap water has Ph of 8.6 and a hardness of about 8 dGH. I have an RO unit that lowers the Ph to about 6.8, but the water goes through a water softener first so the dGH is only about 1. I don't mean to steal the topic, I just have similar concerns. Should I add some crushed coral to the substrate? Do the fish need those minerals?

Start a new topic next time rather than adding different questions in my thread. Thanks.

 

[tstenback]

Fishstix
I have to agree whole heartedly with thecichlidaddict and heresmike on this one. Your fish will be fine and it is not worth worrying about. The fish you get from the lfs will already be acclimated to the chemistry of the water in your area. Also if you are not very familiar with all of the aspects of hardness and how to change it properly you could and probably will end up with a very unstable environment for your fish. HTH

 

[Fishstix]

Fishstix
I have to agree whole heartedly with thecichlidaddict and heresmike on this one. Your fish will be fine and it is not worth worrying about. The fish you get from the lfs will already be acclimated to the chemistry of the water in your area. Also if you are not very familiar with all of the aspects of hardness and how to change it properly you could and probably will end up with a very unstable environment for your fish. HTH

Thanks. I think i'll leave it as is and not mess around with it.

 

[lelover]

Sorry Fishstix. I had no intention of messing up your thread. I thought my question was basically the same. "How important is the hardness of water." I'm still new to forums and chats. I'm learning.

 

[Fishstix]

Sorry Fishstix. I had no intention of messing up your thread. I thought my question was basically the same. "How important is the hardness of water." I'm still new to forums and chats. I'm learning.

No problem,i'm new here too and have lots of questions. I see in your thread that we seem to be in the same stages of our fishkeeping. I too have Zebra Danios to cycle with and am also going to add Rasboras later on. I've thought about Loaches as well. What made you pick the Yoyo Loaches? I was thinking of going with a couple of Clown Loaches in my 30 gallon.

 

[lelover]

I was initially going to go with the clowns, but I guess they can get up to about a foot long! Check out this link.

http/www.loaches.com/species_pages/clown_bob.html

I only have a twenty gallon tank, but wanted some nice looking, active bottom dwellers. My lfs has Yoyos for 2 bucks and everything I've read has been real positive.

How's your cycling coming?

 

[Fishstix]

Only a day into cycling!!!! I'm keeping myself excited by thinking of what fish i will add after i'm done cycling. I'm probably gonna go with Rasboras and maybe some Barbs. I would really like to get some Tiger Barbs but i worry about their supposed fin nipping problem. My centerpiece fish may be Gouramis or Dwarf Cichlid's so i don't want to cause any problems. I'm definitely gonna get some Cories and possibly a couple of Loaches. What do you think and what else are you planning on adding?

 

[lelover]

I set up my tank 3 weeks ago. I hope cycling doesn't take too much longer. My nitrites just spiked so hopefully I'm nearing the end. I used Cycle and have monitored the water every couple days. I never did notice an ammonia spike though. I did three 25% water changes during the first week because I realized the the ph from my tap was 8.6! I have an RO unit and the ph is now pretty neutral.

I figure with 4 danios, 5 rasbora and 2 Yoyos I'm pretty much stocked. I would really like a bigger tank. Even another 10 gallons would be nice. I'm looking into replacing the yoyo's with some rams, but don't know too much about them yet. It sounds like you'll have a great tank! Good Luck!

 

[Fishstix]

I set up my tank 3 weeks ago. I hope cycling doesn't take too much longer. My nitrites just spiked so hopefully I'm nearing the end. I used Cycle and have monitored the water every couple days. I never did notice an ammonia spike though. I did three 25% water changes during the first week because I realized the the ph from my tap was 8.6! I have an RO unit and the ph is now pretty neutral.

I figure with 4 danios, 5 rasbora and 2 Yoyos I'm pretty much stocked. I would really like a bigger tank. Even another 10 gallons would be nice. I'm looking into replacing the yoyo's with some rams, but don't know too much about them yet. It sounds like you'll have a great tank! Good Luck!

You could still add a few more small fish such as Tetras. Maybe a couple of Cories for the bottom as well.