Water parameters question

[Tenko]

I read somewhere on here that hard water can cause guppy tail degredation. I've just checked the parameters and I have KH 270mg/l and GH 280mg/l. As little as I know about water parameters, that does sound high and not the best environment for the fish.

I'm getting peat granuals for the external cannister filter to lower the GH, will this have the desired effect or only induce a partial change?

What do I do about KH? I checked the water out of the tap and it's virtually the same so can rule out something in the tank causing it.

 

[Bol]

Well, in my opinion, those may not be horrible numbers. The GH isn't, anyway. For info, my tanks run a GH of 340 ppm and a KH of 180 ppm, and all my tropicals seem to do just fine.

However, you left out the third part of the equation, your pH.

By the way, for info, you'll often see GH and KH described in 'degrees'. One degree is 17.9 ppm (or mg/L, still one in a million). In degrees, your water is roughly GH 16 and KH 15 (mine is GH 19, KH 10).

 

[susangc]

Adding peat will tend to lower the water's pH over time, so you'll need to take that into account as well.

Susan

 

[Tenko]

Water ph ranges from 8.1 to 8.3, which is high and the level of the local tap water. Another reason why I'm getting peat granuals, trying to make the water a bit friendlier for my fish.

 

[Bol]

Here's my suggestions, tenko, in the order I'd try them:

1) Just use your tap water, if possible. Many fish can adapt to "non-optimal" water parameters, as long as it stays stable. This may, in the long run, be not only easier, but better for your fish, as you won't be adding "different" water with each partial water change.

2) Instead of doing water changes with all tap water, use a mix of tap and RO or distilled water (things like PUR drinking water filters work very well, too, in my experience). Note that this water will probably be pretty close to neutral (pH 7.0, 0 GH, 0 KH), so make sure you take all three effects into consideration (for example, you may find you'd want to ditch the peat if you do this).

Be advised, with this method, although your pH may drop fairly quickly, (from what I've read) your KH will probably take quite a while to drop significantly (as in, four to six 25% water changes).

3) There are chemical means to lower KH (such as calcium hydroxide? don't quote me on that), but in using those, you're kind of asking for trouble, stability-wise. Frankly, I personally wouldn't recommend this method.