Ph: 8.0 GH: 13

[mhoward1999]

Hi all. I have learned that I have very hard water. Straight out of the tap my params are what I put in the subject. Can anyone make suggestions as to what fish will be happy and healthy in this water? TIA!

 

[Tropjunky]

don't think anything will in that PH but use RO water and PH adjusters and you'll be able to keep any fish u want

 

[mhoward1999]

Hmmm. I've been told not to mess with pH, that even experienced chemists would find it hard to keep the pH stable in an aquarium if they bothered it from it's natural state. What do you say to that. I am open to doing it, but concerned that I'll do more harm than good...

 

[tstenback]

Yes you can adjust your PH but there is a definite downside. As you mentioned if anything throws off the balance of your tank it could be near impossible to straighten it out without coompletely redoing all your hard work. Also if you adjust PH there is the constant expense of buying the chemicals or water treatment aparatus that is required to adjust your natural tap water. So every water change will cost you money that could be better spent getting fish or other equipment for you tank. Most fish can deal with a PH of 8.0 and most fish that you would buy from the LFS would already be acclimated to the local water conditions (unless the LFS adjusts their water). If ther is a local aquarist club ask them about the local conditions and if there are any problems stocking certain fish. HTH

 

[mhoward1999]

Thanks, tstenback! I will see if I can find a local aquarist society. I have not heard of one. Any suggestion for how to find out if there is one? Guess I will have to go to my LFS and see what they do as well.

 

[sinistral]

Thanks, tstenback! I will see if I can find a local aquarist society. I have not heard of one. Any suggestion for how to find out if there is one?

My newbie book suggests there are at least three in Missouri:

Heart of America Aquarium Society
POB 412867
Kansas City, MO 64141

Missouri Aquarium Society
36 Wagon Wheel
Fenton, MO 63026

Rainbowfish Study Group
Gary Lange
2590 Cheshire
Florissant, MO 63033

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Lets see, here is a list of fish that do well in ph8 water of mine right now

-glass catfish
-betta
-guppies
-Nicaraguensis cichlid
-congo tetra's
-cardinal tetra's
-African cichlids

The number of fish that have worked in the past that I'm not keeping now would go much longer.

My point is--don't worry about it, unless you are really devoting yourself to very delicate species.

 

[silver]

What I'm wondering is the GH is 13 ??

Sorry, but what is GH again!!

)

 

[sinistral]

GH is general hardness. It refers to the concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in a given specimen of water. This is distinguished from KH, or "carbonate hardness", which refers to the concentration of carbonate and bicarbonate ions.

GH is important because:

Incorrect GH will affect the transfer of nutrients and waste products through cell membranes and can affect egg fertility, proper functioning of internal organs such as kidneys and growth. Within reason, most fish and plants can successfully adapt to local GH conditions, although breeding may be impaired.

(cribbed from thekrib)

KH is important because it refers to the pH buffering capacity of water.

 

[mhoward1999]

Ya'll are so awesome!

sinistral: I am about three hours south of Kansas City and I have never heard of the other two towns. Off to mapquest I go! Also, do I need to be tessting KH, too then? I don't know much about that.

thecichlidaddict: Thanks for the list. I don't want to mess with delecate fish. I take as good of care of my fish as I know how, but I don't want to deal with a lot of testing and junk for something that's ultra-fragile.

 

[sinistral]

mhoward1999,

I'd recommend giving those places a call first if you can find them in the phone book. I included the addresses because they were pretty much all the info I had. Hopefully they'll be in the phone book too, or online; I wouldn't want you to drive 30 minutes and arrive at an abandoned office building or something!

I think the essential tests you need to have available are ph, ammonia, and nitrite. I wouldn't worry too much about testing kH, as once water is in your tank for a little while typically CO2 in the air equalizes with CO2 concentrations in water... If you were having a problem keeping your pH stable then I'd advise differently, but I don't own a kH kit and haven't had reason to test for it so far.

HTH!