HARD water + alkaline

[Phoenixphire55]

I tested my water a few weeks ago when my goldfish was having some rent vent issues (which have long since cleared up), and I tested my water again today. Both times my nitrates were 20ppm and nitrates were 0ppm. For hardness it shows my water being about as hard as it gets. 0 chlorine. Very alkaline at KH of between 180 and 300ppm. pH was also quite high at about 8. Should I be horrified by any of these things? My fish seem fine.

 

[BillD]

That water is perfectly fine, especially for what you are keeping.

 

[Purrbox]

If it isn't broke, don't fix it. Stable parameters are much more important than ideal parameters. Since you're fish are happy, leave it alone.

 

[Jacko]

I agree with BillD and Purrbox, it is better stable than unstable. With chemicals you can often do more harm by the swift changes than having the fish simply addapt to your water conditions.

 

[QTOFFER]

I'll echo what everyone has said about stable parameters and that your fish are acclimated to your water. Unless you're planning to breed discus, you should be fine with the water you've got!

Consider an apple snail for your 30 gal. It will thrive in your hard, alkaline water and help clean up after the messy goldfish.

 

[DepotFish]

Sounds great. My water is off the charts worse than yours is and I've successfully kept goldfish, tetras, livebearers, African cichlids, loaches, otos. As long as it's stable over time. Even discus can live in such conditions if they are raised in them. An lfs near me has the same water conditions and they don't bother messing with the ph in their discus tank. They don't change the ph for any of their fish and they haven't had problems with any species.