how to lower hardness?
- Thread starter lopezbmx86
- Start date
why do you think you need to lower hardness? Calcium is actually good for fish as it helps reduce the loss of salts through their gills. I have fish that are from soft, acidic water (dojo loaches, glass catfish) and they are thriving in my hard (GH = 14 degrees or 245 ppm) slightly alkaline (pH = 8.0) water.
As far as I know, hardness is really only a concern when one is trying to breed soft water fishes such as rams and wild discus.
As far as I know, hardness is really only a concern when one is trying to breed soft water fishes such as rams and wild discus.
okay, good deal... I was only concerned because I bought test strips :duh: yes, i know... but anyways it was reading
chlorine: 0
Nitrite: 0
Total Hardness: 300
ph: 8.0
chlorine: 0
Nitrite: 0
Total Hardness: 300
ph: 8.0
lopezbmx86 said:
While I agree that 300ppm is some pretty hard water, I also agree with what the others said - if the fish are doing well in it, don't sweat it.
Altering hardness "up" is a piece of cake. Throw a shell in the tank or filter and the calcium will increase hardness.
Lowering hardness would be a bit trickier. Actually, the tricky part would be getting the stuff you need. If you could get your hands on some water softner ion exchange resin you could put some in a nylon bag and toss it in the filter. The resin would have to be cleaned, like the resins they sell for reducing nitrate, etc... Soak it in some brine water for a while and rinse lightly, it'll be good as new again.
Dan
I agree usally the only time you really need to worry about the hardness is if you are going to breed. Some types of fish need softer wayter but most can adapt to hard water. Trying to change the hardness will prove to be more work then it is worth. Changing it will also effect other levels in the tank like the ph. Then trying to keep the level stable is another issue. All in all as stated above if the fish are doing fine in the water then don't try to change it. You may end up hurting the fish by doing that.