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Re: Is there Calcium in my water
Jody,
Unless I'm mistaken, the water in Burlington comes from Lake Ontario, so
what comes out of your tap is pretty much the same as that which comes out
of mine here in Toronto. Here are the latest results from public works here
for the water in Lake Ontario:
Hardness - 123 mg/l (moderate hardness)
Calcium - 35 mg/l (average)
Magnesium - 8.9 mg/l (average)
You should not need to supplement Calcium (or Magnesium) in your tank, but
since its not likely to hurt anything, (i.e. it won't cause an outbreak of
algae) you could either add some crushed coral or marble to your filter, or
go to a drugstore and get generic Calcium tablets (the generic ones are
usually just calcium - you don't want anything with added sugar or fillers,
read the label). See if things improve over the course of a couple of weeks.
If you don't like the results, a few large water changes will get rid of the
extra Calcium.
Give things at least a month at the elevated levels before you decide how
effective/ineffective the extra Calcium might be. And don't change anything
else during that time period, just continue with your regular maintenance
and pmdd additions.
I have one tank running with Seachem's Onyx sand, which increases both GH
and KH slightly, so its pretty much the same thing as a tank of Lake Ontario
water with extra Calcium added, and the plants in that tank grow very, very
well. The discus in the tank don't seem to be bothered by the elevated
Hardness either. But plants also grow well in my other tanks with regular
gravel containing Lake Ontario water but no extra Calcium added.
James Purchase
Toronto