[zazz]

i have had my new 150g tank for about a week and have filled it up with tap water (from a deep limestone well) and just run the filter just to get things going and check for leaks ect...

now i did know that my tap water was hard and was quite pleased since the fish will like that but i think it might be way too hard...

already all the insides of the tank have been covered by a white scale...and the spray bar too..

if it is like this after a week i dread to think of the state of the tank in a few weeks or months..

i have managed to remove the scale with a bit of elbow grease and a dish pad...

...but long term i need to consider adding some kind of salts ...or maybe store the water in a bin for a few days to leave some of the scale deposit in the bin ...or prehaps a filter that can go in my canister ???

i tested the ph in the tank and its hard to tell exactly but it was deffinitely over 8.

i can see a lot of people keep this fish and do not have scale build up problems ....so that is the ph i would like to acheive for my setup.

any advice would be appreciated..

 

[remarkosmoc]

You need to test your gh and kh, not just your ph to get an idea of how hard it is. If either is over 15 degrees of hardness I would take measures to lower it some. You can use aquarium peat or a rechargeable water softener pillow, but don't lower it too much because harder water is good for cichlids. I have the opposite problem and have to add things to make mine harder.

 

[Cook.MN]

Not sure how hard your tap water is, my KH is 17 degrees and my African Cichlids are thriving in it.