hard water

[pearlscale_fan]

our water is so hard that the test strip goes darker than the darkest color on the label
we have added distilled water, but it hardly helped
this is with us adding salt to treat carp pox
is there any fairly cheap way you people know of to soften water?:money::-/:Fish_tank:

[SeaWitch]

It has been my experience that GF don't really have a problem with hard water...it is soft water that you have to watch out for. I know many experienced GF keepers who have a pH above 9 and have had GF that are thriving and growing huge and they have had them for many years.

[bekko]

It is easy to add minerals to water, but difficult and expensive to remove them. Reverse osmosis filters work best but are expensive to purchase and expensive to operate. Some people have had luck with water softeners, but the softener is just exchanging sodium ions for calcium and magnesium ions so the jury is still out on that.

I agree with Nickie. It may be better to live with the water you have unless you know for a fact that the hardness is causing a problem.

-steve

[*Ci*]

You could collect and use rainwater or add rainwater to your tap water to adjust it.

[bigbettadan]

Yes, for goldfish, hard water is better than soft...........

Dan

[Daryl]

My well pings in at 9.3..... and for years and years, my goldfish DID thrive and grow, but did NOT breed. Until I started mixing RO water (I put in a system that does about 70 gallons a day for about $150) with the well water, I did not get successful breeding behaviour.