# general water hardness



## joefromcanada (Apr 16, 2004)

anyone know what general hardness of water should be for piranhas?. i just checked mine, says its 180ppm...


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

soft 70 to 135 ppm 4 to 8 GH (dH)


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

Peacock said:


> soft 70 to 135 ppm 4 to 8 GH (dH)










P's like soft water, your's is what's considered mildly hard. I wouldn't mess with it. Blackwater extract may soften your water abit but not sure...Good luck


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## mechanic_joe (Dec 4, 2003)

You should be far more worried about your nitrates, PH, and KH then your Hardness... you have to remember that in the wild Ps are subject to the 'dry season' when the water becomes very hard for a long period of time. You could put some peat fibre in your filter as 180 is defineatly a bit high (what is the reading outta the tap water ? are you losing alot of water to evaporation and topping up the tank during the week ? ) , but keep you KH at a good level to keep your PH stable.


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## joefromcanada (Apr 16, 2004)

everything is fine ammonia-o, nitirite-0, nitrate -20, ph 7.8, kh 180, general hardness - 180


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## joefromcanada (Apr 16, 2004)

and yea im losin a bit to evaporation, but not enough to worry.


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## Peacock (Feb 23, 2004)

mechanic_joe said:


> You should be far more worried about your nitrates, PH, and KH then your Hardness... you have to remember that in the wild Ps are subject to the 'dry season' when the water becomes very hard for a long period of time. You could put some peat fibre in your filter as 180 is defineatly a bit high (what is the reading outta the tap water ? are you losing alot of water to evaporation and topping up the tank during the week ? ) , but keep you KH at a good level to keep your PH stable.


 GH is extrenely important.

more so important then PH.


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## nf9648 (May 18, 2004)

Mine came out to about 10 dgh, is that good or bad?


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## mechanic_joe (Dec 4, 2003)

> GH is extrenely important.


 I know where your coming from... As certain fish seem to need very specific hardness conditions... but piranhas go thru a huge variance of water hardness in a year in the wild ? Wouldn't you agree ? And I know a stable PH is far more important than an 'exact' PH...


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

nf9648 said:


> Mine came out to about 10 dgh, is that good or bad?


 10 dGH = 178 ppm.

0 - 4 dH, 0 - 70 ppm : very soft
4 - 8 dH, 70 - 140 ppm : soft
8 - 12 dH, 140 - 210 ppm : medium hard 
12 - 18 dH, 210 - 320 ppm : fairly hard
18 - 30 dH, 320 - 530 ppm : hard


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

What is the best way to change water hardness? My water is hard right out of the tap at 425ppm. I am thinking of trying to soften my water by letting is age while putting an air pump to move the water. As the water sits, I want to add peat changing it's chemistry.


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