Do I really need to worry about Gh and Kh?

[marti]

I have recently returned to Discus, but I kept them for 8 - 10 yrs before and had my share of disasters. I learned the hard way to leave the Ph alone even when I moved some Discus from soft water (San Francisco area) to very hard water (Tucson, AZ). However, I never really worried about hardness, carbonates in either place. Is it really necessary?? Where can I get info that explains all this? ??? I now live in some mtns. in So Calif and have pretty hard water (but not as hard as Tucson's).

[Don_Lee]

You will find alot of information/opinions regarding water hardness in the water works section. I believe one should begin by knowing the hardness of ones water and try to decide from there if it needs adjustment. If you can get a GH and KH, conductivity, or TDS reading it would help determine a direction.

Don ;D

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Marti, here is a link for ya that I found by quickly searching the net. It is the Kern county water quality report and has other areas of info if you wish to look around. Your water looks pretty good for raising discus, IMO. HTH

http://www.avek.org/qualitykc.html



Steve

[marti]

Thanks, Steve, for the info. I went to the site you suggested - it is very complete! Unfortunately, (fortunately?) we are on well water here. In fact the well is on our property even though it is owned by the community. I think I should check with the water district and see what kind of info they have for me. We are in Kern Co., but closer to Bakersfield in the Tehachapi Mtns. ::)

[Don_Lee]

Marti-There are some relatively inexpensive test kits you can get from the local fish store that can measure your water hardness. I personally would not trust local estimates, and test the water yourself with a kit.

Don ;D