VERY hard water

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happygirl65

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
1,358
Location
Flagstaff, AZ
I just got everything out of storage for my 55 gal tank. I found that everything was still in working order and I still had an unopened AP FW master test kit. So I pulled it out and have been testing all my water params on just my regular from the tap well water. All results were what I expected which is
0 amonia
0 chlorine

which I knew it wouldnt have since we do not add this and this is natural mountain spring water

ph is 7.0

but when I checked the hardness of the water it was completely off the scale. Infact after 105 drops I stopped adding them. It remained a lavender color and never did change past that.

I know that my mother in law has kept various FW tropical fish with no problems in this water so my question is....can I still have a FW community with very hard water? Or should I try to soften it?
 
That doesn't seem right. Are you testing for GH or KH? The AP test kit for GH is a little tricky since the green and yellow look pretty much the same. I have a hard time telling when the GH kit turns green unless I have a lot of light. If not, I will never see the change.
 
Agreed.
This is an older version of the kit and it does not specify whether it is KH or GH. It is a three solution test (not sure if that is changed in the new kit) where it is supposed to turn from pink to blue.

It did occur to me after reading your post that perhaps I was not watching for very subtle changes in the color.

So I just re-did the test and it took 50 drops but it finally did turn slightly blue. I expect that I was waiting for some extremely obvious color difference. This time it did change from a very bright pink to a very light blue leaning toward violet. So I suppose that is what they are talking about.

So it would appear I do have very hard water, but the result was not quite as scary as the first time around.

The instructions say that each drop represents apprx 10 ppm so I guess my hardness is around 500 ppm. With 300 ppm being very hard water. That still seems very high to me.

I am going to buy the new test kit and see if I come up with the same results. It is possible that something was compromised having been in storage for several years. Perhaps the chemicals could be effected by frezing and unfreezing? In any case...some more testing is certainly in order.

I would still like to invite further comment or advice.
Has anyone else had water this hard?

I guess they dont call this "mineral county" for nothing! :lol:
 
Well, my water is around 300 ppm down here on the Rio Grande and I'm not having any aquarium problems. As a matter of fact, I'm having tons of luck breeding my rams and my Apisto trifasciata have spawned. These are two "alleged" soft, acidic water only fish. Not so for me.

I have a whole lot of other kinds of fish (angels, tetras, gouramis, etc.) and they're all doing well too. My opinion on it is, stable water is much more desireable than "ideal" water....unless you're planning on keeping wild-caught fish from their native water parameters.

From what I understand, even discus are now more suited for harder water since they have been captive bred so much. That doesn't mean you will be able to breed them, but people are having better luck keeping them.
 
First thing I thought when I read your initial post was, "I bet one of the chemicals in the test kit has gone bad." Definitely buy a new one and see if you get the same results.
 
I was gonna say, those aren't th ecolors of any AP master GH or KH test kit that I've seen, which means the kits at least 3 years old.

plus, if your Kh was truely high, your pH couldn't be 7.0, as Kh and pH levels are related.
 
I agree completely that your test kit is most likely too old to be completely accurate. I also have well water and it is very hard. Thus far I've kept multiples of fish that are supposed to only survive well in soft water (Angels, Cardinal tetras). I too believe that keeping the water quality great is far more important than whether the fish are supposed to only be in softer water. However, even I wouldn't try Discus at my house.
 
My water is also extremely hard. I consider it a great thing. Rarely does my pH change. Rarely do my nitrates get too high. The only problem I have to contend with is the constant mineral buildup that occurs on the tank glass, on the heater, on the filters, everything the water touches.
 
Thanks so much! I fel better about the water hardness now since many of you have very hard water. I think the test as you said is way out of date...I know it is at least 6 years old but thought I should try it out before pitching it. The other tests seemed to come up with expected results, but there was bound to be at least one bad one in the bunch after being stored for so long.

At this point the plan is to throw it away. Buy a new one, and go from there.

Our water is perfectly good to drink and tastes great so I guess I shouldnt be too worried about it. :)

Thanks to all!
 
Hehe, I have very hard water with pH of about 8 - 8.4. (Hard to tell exactly) The rainbowfish and Cories I put in don't seem to mind this at all. :)

The biggest problem I have with it is controlling the *&^%$ calcium/mineral deposits that keep building up on my equipment. It's gets worse if you put in airstones or bubble curtains. :x :x

Anyone have a good way of dealing with this without scrubbing it to death?

-Don T.
 
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