Water hardness question

[FF_Guest1439]

If your local water authority says your tap water is classed as soft. Do you still need to know how hard it is? Even if your dosing with ferts?

 

[Essjay]

Yes. Hardness is a measure of the amount of calcium and magnesium and a few other trace metals in the water. The amount of them impacts fish. We need to keep fish which come from water with a hardness similar to our tap water.
Where water is classed as soft, we should keep only soft water fish as hard water fish will suffer mineral depletion and become sick more easily.


UK water companies use hardness terms to mean different things from fish keeping terms, which is why we ask for a number rather than words. In England, Wales and Scotland only 3 water companies do not give a number for hardness - Northumbrian Water, Essex & Suffolk Water and Welsh Water. If your water is supplied by any other company, they should give a number somewhere.

 

[FF_Guest1439]

Right ok. Well, they state it's between 0 and 50 ppm, but I'm guessing I need it to be more accurate. As there's 0, 25 ppm too.

 

[Essjay]

That's UK water company definition of 'soft. I know that we always ask for a number but in this case you don't need a number. All you need to know is that your water is 'very soft' in fish keeping terms. 0 to 50 ppm converts to 0 to 2.8 dH - some fish profiles use ppm, some use dH so you need to know your hardness in both units. As long as you keep fish that need hardness in your range, that's fine. But you need to avoid fish which need harder than your tap water.