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When I research gH requirements for fish the gH is listed in degrees, but my water test kit gives the measurement in ppm. How is the conversion made from ppm to degrees? My tap water is maxed out at 300 ppm (very hard) how do I convert that to degrees? I know that if I were to keep soft water fish such as discus or angels I would have to use mineral enhanced RO water, but I'm still not sure how to do the ppm conversion on any water I might use. Help! :%)

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Simple! 17.9 ppm of hardness equals one degree of hardness. Therefore 300/17.9 is 16.75 degrees of hardness. I would take a sample to your local fish store and have them test your water for hardness as your test kit may be off... your water has the hardness of linoleum!

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

No, it's probably right. Our water comes from the Rio Grande River and is hard as nails. When it dries on something it leaves a serious white coating behind. If I want pretty SA fishies I'm going to have to do peat and RO. Otherwise, I'd be betteroff with a Malawi tank. Thanks for your help!

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Okay I have another question, if a fish profile says they need water with a gH of around 12 deg. would they adapt to the 16.75 deg. of gH of my water or is this something that they cannot be acclimated to? I know that fish will generally adapt to different parameters if properly acclimated, but would it affect the overall health and longevity of the fish to be put in harder water?

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Most fish will adapt to this just fine.

Fish are more sensitive to changes in water conditions than they are to specific parameters. So, as long as your hardness stays high all the time, they should be OK.

Have fun!

Carl

Okay, I think I have it. If the water parameters are consistent that's not as bad for them as changing water conditions. Large swings in pH and such. If the water is always hard they could adjust, but if it swing back and forth between hard and soft that would be bad correct?

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~~Melissa~~
"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."

Hi,
Actually when you think about it, fish are pretty darned
hardy. Many live in streams, rivers and lakes. It takes
a huge event to radically change the water chemistry
where they live. Huge floods, or massive droughts, or
torrential downpours. Most of the time the water will only
change a few points in any category and then return to
"normal." They build up a tollerance to a few degrees +/-
of normal.

When they are confined to a "few gallons" then the changes
are more rapid, the shift can be greater, and the effects
more dangerous. Among other reasons, this is why smaller
tanks are considered "more dangerous" as things happen
faster. You could go to work with everything fine in a
"nano" tank and come home to dead fish. While the same
cause in a 20G or larger, will give you some warning and
be easier to regulate/cure/react to.

Frank


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