Hard Water

[Bonehead]

Hi
I am just starting out have filled tank (162lt) put in some plants, water and bogwood set my eheim external filter going heated the water to 25C have done an initial test and the water is gh21 which I believe means it is HARD was very excited upto this point now starting to be concerned how important is it to get this level down ? I hope to have rainbows bosmani and banded and some corys, also welcome suggestions for which fish to use for cycling the tank.

 

[Liam]

The hard water isn’t necessarily a problem, 21 is high but lots of plants and fish will grow in harder water. I have very hard water with a ph of 8.2 . Hard water is very suitable for the rainbows, their natural habitat has hard water with a ph of over 9. Many soft water fish live quite happily in harder water than they have in their natural habitats. Getting the level down is not necessary unless you wanted to breed soft water fish.

Welcome to tff. There are lots of friendly folks who have lots of knowledge here.

 

[jtnova13]

also, if you get some fish taht have been bred in your area, they might have grown up in harder water. I get all my fish from local breeders in my area so tehre is no problem with water hardness.

 

[Boids-n-more]

if you need softer water , you will need to get some ro water. Driftwood will also drop the hardness of your water too.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Rainbows sound fine, and as long as you get some of the tougher cories (maybe peppereds or bronzes), I can't see this as being a problem. I've kept my own peppered cories for a year and a half in water that's as hard as nails, and they seem very happy and spawn on a regular basis.