Water Hardness

[SarahBravo]

I'm a complete beginner - my brother gave me a 28g (UK) tank and I thought "great - cheap way to start a hobby" but boy was I wrong! Anyhow, I have researched all the fish I would like, and the tank has gravel in, an internal filter, heater, air curtain and CO2 system as I'm adding plants (one of the brewing ones, not the big pressurised tank kind), and I'm testing my water like a good girl and not putting any fish in yet. BUT - my tester has KH and GH as water hardness measures. My future fishies like "slightly hard to slightly soft" - my KH is 3 degrees, but my GH is over 16 degrees. The PH is 7.2.

Can anyone tell me if the water is too hard or if it's okay?

PS.... anyone got any ideas on stopping the cats drinking out the bucket with the bogwood soaking, or at least if it's gonna do them any damage? They were smart enought to give the bucket with the rocks and bleach in a miss....

Thank you!

 

[pacuman]

im not sure bout the water hardness never knew that was an issue ..... but for the cats jus put a top or somthing to cover it up for now.



jordan

 

[daza]

My GH is also >16 deg but from what I have read there is not a lot that can be done about it without spending money on reverse osmosis units. Most people tend to say that fish bought locally should be used to the hard water anyway.

I believe that your KH is fine. Mine is about 10.

When you say
"...bucket with the rocks and bleach..."

do you mean that you are going to put those rocks in the tank? I'm only a beginner myself, but I don't think you want to soak them in bleach and then put them in the tank. Definitely not with wood anyway. I guess it depends on how porous your rocks are. Maybe it is okay...anyone more experienced confirm?

 

[K-Holed]

When fish are said to prefer "soft'' or "hard'' water, it is GH (not KH) that is being referred to.

As a guidline, here's a table I found that should be of some use.

0 - 4 dH, 0 - 70 ppm : very soft
4 - 8 dH, 70 - 140 ppm : soft
8 - 12 dH, 140 - 210 ppm : medium hard
12 - 18 dH, 210 - 320 ppm : fairly hard
18 - 30 dH, 320 - 530 ppm : hard
higher : liquid rock (Lake Malawi and Los Angeles, CA)

 

[!guppy!]

lol water hardnes......ay? i just got some nice fresh "well" water as its no cholorine and perfectly full of nutrients... prolly disease and stuff.. (that just covering u lot moanin )

so just go with the flow i say! 8)

 

[Bangin]

Your gH seems too hard for the 'slightly hard' that you're aiming for. What type of fish are you interested in getting? That would help determine if you're going to have problems or not.

I'd try to get that kH to at least 4 degrees. (You can do this by adding a little baking soda. You can run a search "kH and baking soda" to get the correct measurements.) Your current kH reading is borderline for the CO2 injection. The kH will help keep your pH stable when injecting CO2. Your pH will decrease a bit with the addition of CO2.

 

[SarahBravo]

Thanks everyone for your replies - I will try a little baking soda and see what happens. The fish I was aiming for were Zebra Danios, Neon Tetras, dwarf Gourami, bronze Corys, a couple of Kribs and a couple of Cameroon armoured shrimps. I've tried to pick ones that will make use of all levels in the tank, and that share the same range (more or less) of temp/PH/water hardness, and also that all are marked "OK for beginner!" in my fish book!

Will let you know what happens.

Sarah

PS - re the cats, yep, will have to try and find a big piece of wood to go over the buckets. The stones got bleached then rinsed, rinsed and rinsed some more and are now soaking in water, so should be okay....