Very Hard Water, should I soften?

Hello! So I have a successful tank setup- it's heavily planted with a pleco , dwarf gourami, and Molly. Everyone doing well (and have been). I have always been aware that I have very hard water where I live now. I add in a buffer to increase the kH from the tap from essentially nonexistent to around 4dKH. My dGH is at 15. My LFS has the same parameters and I talked with them extensively about this issue and they do not soften their water, they only alter the KH like I do.

What are y'alls thoughts? Should I soften my water? Is it not a big deal? And if the water should be softened, what's the best most sustainable way of doing this?

 

I think if it's not broken, don't fix it. If your tank and fish are doing well, why change things? Sometimes unnecessary tinkering causes more problems than it solves.

 

I completely agree honestly, I just wanted to do some more in-depth testing to get exact numbers which I did today. When I got the numbers I wanted to see what everyone thought. Thanks so much!

 

I think if it's not broken, don't fix it. If your tank and fish are doing well, why change things? Sometimes unnecessary tinkering causes more problems than it solves.

Yes yes.….so true.
Besides, 15 dGH is not excessively high, just hard midrange. Drastic changes will do more harm for sure.

 

Don't go looking for trouble

Those numbers are not particularly high or unusual.

 

The molly particularly would suffer if you soften the water.

 

...I have always been aware that I have very hard water where I live now. I add in a buffer to increase the kH from the tap from essentially nonexistent to around 4dKH. My dGH is at 15....

I think of water with 0 dKH that you raise to 4 dKH soft water--not hard.

I see your general hardness is 15 dGH, which is moderately hard. But, I think KH is at least as important.

It's awkward that we speak of hard water or soft water without distinguishing KH and GH. It's like we assume that the two always go together...but they don't. In your case, you effectively have a soft water and moderately hard water tank at the same time.

With the above being said, I think you should actually consider raising your KH even more. 4 dKH is a bit soft for molly fish. From what I've read, they prefer water closer to 20 dKH. And, soft water fish usually adapt better to hard water than hard water fish adapt to soft water.

Anyway, I generally agree with what others have said. If your tank's healthy, don't change what you're doing.

Keep an eye on that molly though.

 

I have very hard water, and I do not use water softener for my aquarium. The mineral buildup can be annoying but nothing a little white vinegar (rinsed off throughly) or a razor blade can’t fix.

 

I have very soft water, KH 0-1, GH 1-2. I keep soft water fish and don't try to change anything.