Tap water

[CfishGo]

I've been away from fish keeping more years than I'd like to admit however here I am, back to my addiction. Had to wait on everything to be delivered and it's finally all here! First thing I did was to test my tap water. We are on well water that runs thru a UV system. I use an API master test kit and API test kit for KH and GH. Some of the readings I understand, some I don't. Even after attempting research I find myself confused. Hopefully someone can get it through my cluttered brain! So here is what I'll be starting with.
PH 7.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
KH 15 drops
GH 22 drops

As you can probably tell it's the kh and gh that I don't understand. As I understand kh relates to the carbonate hardness but am not sure how to convert drops to dKH. I believes carbonates help to stabilize the PH of water.

Next is the GH, general hardness. How do I convert the number of drops to PPM OR dGH?
Water chemistry has come a long way in this hobby over the years. Now may not be the time for understanding KH and GH but I am trying to get an idea of what I'm dealing with from the beginning rather than set myself up for complete and utter failure down the road.

I'm hoping to have live plants and by June or July start to slowly add stock into a 75 gallon. Filter is a Tidal wave 110, hope that's enough for filtration. Am aiming for schooling fish but am not locked into anything specific as yet. Maybe some rainbows, tetras (not cardinals) and corys.
Appreciate any advice, tips and yes even criticism cause hey I'm basically a newbie again it's changed so much. Thank you in advance! Have a lovely day!

P.S. I prefer to stay as far away from chemicals as I can. Not always possible tho.

 

[Aiken Drum]

1 drop is 1 degree of hardness on both the KH and GH tests. 1 degree is 17.8ppm whichever is your preferred unit.

Your water is in the very hard bracket, be careful what fish you consider.

I'd actually get a professional laboratory test on your water.

 

[Andy Sager]

In the GH/ KH test kit are instructions that contain the conversion from drops to PPM. ( or here are the instructions: https://apifishcare.com/pdfs/products-us/gh-kh-test-kit/api-gh-&-kh-test-kit-instruction-manual.pdf )
In plain English ( and as we used to say back in the day ) , you have very hard water. That may play on your future plant and fish ideas tho. Some plants may not do as well in your water so unless you adjust the GH, make sure the plants you want can do well in very hard water.

As for the KH, that means you have a good amount of buffering capacity. No need to add anything to help the KH level. Your pH should stay relatively stable but that does not relieve you from testing to make sure it stays that way.

On a side note, back in the day, ( I go back 60 years of those days) we used to try and adjust water to fit the needs of the fish we wanted because they were wild caught. In the long run, that turned out to be a more frustrating and often times a more expensive proposition and often the fish suffered for that. Current wisdom is that you are better off choosing fish that will do well in your water as it is vs trying to alter it. With many fish now being farmed vs wild caught, you will be better off getting fish from sources where their water matches your water as well. You are going to need to stay away from most wild caught Tetras as they mostly come from soft to very soft water. You are going to need to ask your fish source(s) whether the fish you are interested in are wild caught or not so that you don't get fish that are not a good match for your water. There is a nice list of assorted fish that will do well in very hard water but it's not an expansive list. So research, research, research before getting your stock. ( FYI, any information you get from good information sources like fishbase or seriously fish on the internet will pertain to wild caught fish. Farmed fish may not be in those conditions. Talk to your stores. )

Hope this helps.

 

[CfishGo]

It appears I was making it more complicated than it needs to be. Thank you for clarifying the ppm etc. Unfortunately our closest lfs is 4 hours away but they have an excellent reputation and I've talked with them about various subjects as well as others whom shop with them. No wild caught fish on my agenda for sure. I figured we have hard water, thus the chewing after getting a drink. LOL
I'm a strong believer in testing, testing, testing!
Thanks for the link also! My box was missing instructions and the test tubes but at least it wasn't outdated.

 

[CfishGo]

1 drop is 1 degree of hardness on both the KH and GH tests. 1 degree is 17.8ppm whichever is your preferred unit.

Your water is in the very hard bracket, be careful what fish you consider.

I'd actually get a professional laboratory test on your water.

We have our water auto tested once a year by the county. Mostly to make sure it's still pottable. They don't test for much of anything else thus the UV system. Thanks for the info. You guys rock!!

 

[Andy Sager]

It appears I was making it more complicated than it needs to be. Thank you for clarifying the ppm etc. Unfortunately our closest lfs is 4 hours away but they have an excellent reputation and I've talked with them about various subjects as well as others whom shop with them. No wild caught fish on my agenda for sure. I figured we have hard water, thus the chewing after getting a drink. LOL
I'm a strong believer in testing, testing, testing!
Thanks for the link also! My box was missing instructions and the test tubes but at least it wasn't outdated.

I had the same water in S. Florida. Perfect water out of the tap for African Cichlids and making saltwater. I told people " The water is so hard that if you removed the H and O from it, what was left would really hurt you if it was thrown at you. "
As for no wild caughts, I did a quick check and saw that there are a number of wild caught "common" species available in Canada that here in the States are regularly farmed in Florida water. I suggest you always ask just to be sure.

 

[CfishGo]

I had the same water in S. Florida. Perfect water out of the tap for African Cichlids and making saltwater. I told people " The water is so hard that if you removed the H and O from it, what was left would really hurt you if it was thrown at you. "
As for no wild caughts, I did a quick check and saw that there are a number of wild caught "common" species available in Canada that here in the States are regularly farmed in Florida water. I suggest you always ask just to be sure.

In Ontario, It is illegal to collect and/or keep native fish species not designated as baitfish.

In Ontario, citizens with a valid fishing license are allowed to collect and keep up to 120 individuals of permitted baitfish species.

The province is also divided into different "bait management zones" and you are not permitted to transport live bait between zones without a commercial bait license.

For some reason I did ask them what fish they had that was wild caught. She told me they didn't have any. But...you know

 

[Andy Sager]

In Ontario, It is illegal to collect and/or keep native fish species not designated as baitfish.

In Ontario, citizens with a valid fishing license are allowed to collect and keep up to 120 individuals of permitted baitfish species.

The province is also divided into different "bait management zones" and you are not permitted to transport live bait between zones without a commercial bait license.

For some reason I did ask them what fish they had that was wild caught. She told me they didn't have any. But...you know

What I meant by wild caught was regarding fish in S. America that are wild caught then shipped out. Some of the most common wild caught Tetras are Cardinals, Bleeding hearts, Green Neons, Red Back Bleeding Heart and Hatchetfish but there are a lot more on pricelists. Many Angelfish including Altum, Red Back Scalare, Peruvian Altum are wild caught although there are now breeders of some of them. There are wild Discus as well as other cichlids on the market. (I'll take a wild Ram Microgeophagus ramirezi over a tank bred one any day ) Many Cory cats are wild caught as well. I saw a Canadian ad for wild caught Serpae Tetras ( a very commonly farmed fish. ) So this is why you need to ask your fish source what they are selling.