My Water Is Hard, 170ppm!

[stormy78]

I tested my water hardness today and the GH came in at 179ppm, or 10dkh, the KH came in at 107.4ppm, or 6dkh. I have checked with South Staffs water and they say the water hardness here is 165.8ppm or 9.3dkh. I really want to keep some Cardinals and dwarf chiclids. Will my water PH stop me doing this as these fish seem to prefer soft water?

 

[Colin_T]

your water isn't that hard. In fact is is a bit less than average, not soft but not hard either. Hard water is around the 400ppm. SOft is up to 150ppm.
You can keep tetras and South American dwarf cichlids in that water without a problem. The only issue being the PH that you haven't mentioned. And if you are dealing with wild caught fishes. If you get wild caught fishes then you would have to lower the hardness a bit to breed some of them. But most captive bred fishes will live fine in your water.

 

[stormy78]

Thanks for the feedback, my worry was based on the API results sheet which put Cardinals in the 50ppm bracket. My PH out of the tap is 6.8 and in the tank it is staying steady at 7.2 at present due to all the ammonia from the cycle. It did briefly fluctuate to 7.6 but has been 7.2 for a few days now.

 

[Colin_T]

50ppm is what they get in the wild but most cardinals are captive bred and will tolerate much higher hardness levels. If you want to breed cardinals then drop the hardness but otherwise leave it be.
A PH of 6.8 is fine.
Your water is pretty much spot on for keeping cardinals and dwarf cichlids.

 

[stormy78]

Thanks for the info. Having not kept tropical fish for nearly 10 years a few things have changed! Most Cardinals were wild caught when I last had a tank.

 

[OldMan47]

Stormy, my water tests at about 220 pmm and my fish are doing fine. I sometimes wish I had water as soft as you do.

 

[stormy78]

Well thats put my mind at rest. Thanks for all the feedback. This forum is a great help