Hi,

I have a 10G housing 2 baby oranda (1 is 1.5 in, 1 is 1 in, without tail). I measure the hardness weekly starting 2 weeks ago and realized it is always hard. I'm using those Quick Dip test strips by Jungle. A typical reading is

Nitrate: 20 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Hardness: ~150
Alkalinity: ~180
pH: ~7.8 - 8.4.

So my questions are: is this acceptable for goldfish? Should I worry about hardness? What is the typical range for hardness that is best for goldfish?

Thanks.

Your goldfish will do just fine in the water you listed. Your hardness (GH) is classified as medium hard and your alkalinity (KH) is more than adequate to prevent pH swings. Click the following link for a comprehensive discussion on pH, GH and KH.

http://www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

Keeping consistent water parameters is infintely more important than trying to get your water to a specific level. Goldfish are very tolerant of a wide range of water parameters, goldies can be safely kept in any hardness water ranging from the very soft to the very hard.

Kevin

Thanks for the link, really helped me as I have been wondering if I need to start testing for Kh and Gh.

S~

Thanks for the link.