Extremely Hard Water

[eth0]

Hi guys, I'm extremely new to the whole fish keeping hobby and I've finally got my first freshwater tank setup and has been running for ~25 hours. I've bought a 120L (26.5 gallon) tank, stand, filter, air pump, bubble stone, ornaments, lights and various live plants. I've filled the tank up with tap water and dechlorinated it as required. To kick start my cycle I managed to get hold of a friends old filter sponges and thus I've used them - great!

I bought a 6 in 1 strip test kit (and recently learned it's pretty much useless but it'll have to do until my API kit comes) which has come back as: NitrAte 10mg/l, Nitrite 0.5mg/l, Chlorine 0, my pH seems pretty spot on at 7.2. My issue lies with my water hardness and amount of carbonate in the water which is reading back as over 20oD for Carbonate and >21oD for "total hardness (GH?)". For my postcode my water hardness is Calcium Carbonate 447.5 mg/l and Calcium 179 mg/l which is VERY HARD.

(I've bought ammonia on-line so waiting for that too arrive to help with the cycle but for the time being I've added a few fish flakes in to the tank.)

So my question is: shall I add more dechlorinator to the tank, buy RO water, use bottled water or just leave it (i.e. will more ammonia help balance it out)? Obviously adding dechlorinator is the easiest and cheapest but I'm unsure if it would upset anything in the tank?

Thanks

 

[threnjen]

I have no experience with hard water (Mine is so soft it is practically RO!)

But i know that some people with very hard water will use half RO or half distilled water in their tank.

Luckily. a lot of dissolved solids is probably going to assist you in a faster cycle. You might have more of the tiny trace elements that are beneficial.

Plus you at least will have some time to get this sussed out before it's time for fish.

Hopefully someone else with hard water will chime in shortly!

Welcome to the forum

 

[flitabout]

I agree with threnjen It won't hurt your cycle. I have what is referred to as liquid rock. It has never slowed any of the cycles on my tanks. Fish didn't seem to mind it either.

 

[eth0]

Hmm okay so I should completely ignore my test kit? On the results checker it has three explanation marks with a symbol of a dead fish for my water hardness, it doesn't fill me with hope

 

[threnjen]

Wow! I actually laughed a little at that - that the guide tells you it's bad by a picture of a dead fish. That's kind of funny.
Hmm it must be pretty darn high!!
Your primary choice here is if you're worried is cutting it with RO or distilled water.
Do you have a local fish shop where you can buy water from? That's going to be cheaper than buying gallons at the grocery. Or, some grocery stores have places you can fill up RO water cheaply.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello eth...

Just cycle the tank. Since there are no fish, you have no worries. As long as you have no plans to keep and breed rare fish, then most fish you get at the pet store will adapt to the tap water chemistry. When the tank has cycled and you introduce the fish to their new home, just keep the chemistry stable with large, weekly water changes. A stable water chemistry is infinitely more important to the health of your fish than trying to maintain a particular chemistry.

While you're waiting for the tank to cycle, start researching what plants will go into this new tank. Plants will help filter the tank water and make your fish more comfortable.

B

 

[flitabout]

My water tests out extremely hard My numbers out of the tap are:
Ammo: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 20-30ppm
Gh: DkH 28 501.2
Kh: DkH 15 253.5

 

[eth0]

flitabout you're water seems harder than mine!

BBradbury I've already got a few plants in there to help out, they seem to be doing pretty well. I'm quite proud of what I've got so far

I think I'll just leave it as is and cycle it as normal as it'll be easier in the long run. I was worried about the fish, I want them to be happy and healthy as possible


Thanks guys.

 

[Malupoo]

Is that the van from scooby doo in your tank?? If it is respect!

 

[tnfinfan]

When I lived in the land of many lakes and super hard well water, I kept cichlids (Malawi types) and considered it a bonus that I didn't have to add much to the water. The worst part was that hard water spots glass like nobody's business so take care to mind the water level.

 

[flitabout]

I looks great!!!