water parameters in southern california??? what are they?

[hubbahubbahehe]

hi all, I'm moving down to southern california in August and I'm trying to figure out what kind of water parameters you have down there so I can prepare. Can anyone help me out? I'm looking for KH, GH, PH, chloramines or chlorines, etc....in the area around Los Angeles, Loma Linda, Riverside,...you get the picture. Thanks much for your help.

[Sponsors]

[wonder woman]

You'll want a broad sampling of answers from different areas, and there SHOULD be enough SoCalers on this board to help you, but for my part:
I've lived in North Orange County (La Habra, Anaheim), and Central Orage County (Costa Mesa), and my general water parameters have stayed about the same:

pH out of tap: 8-8.2
kH out of tap: 9.5 (hard!)
GH out of tap: 22+ (hard!- I stopped adding drops after 22 because the color WASN'T changing).

P.S.- If you're moving down here, you might consider joining COAST (local fish club). We'd love to have you! There are monthly meetings, with guest speakers, auctions, and a small group of us who are hardcore planted tank enthusiasts.

[Fishbulb]

Ph= <7.6
KH= 5 degrees
GH= 13 degrees

these are really bad conditions for most fish besides african cichlids. I started off by using RO/DI water but had a lot of fish losses. I'm now actually slowly reacclimating the fish to tap water conditions because that is what all the fish stores keep there tanks at around here. THis is San DIego by the way. I think the best strategy is to monitor some fish at a petstore for a few weeks. If they make it a few weeks in their tanks then they will most likely do well at home. But pet stores here have all told me they use tap water in their tanks and that they tend to have large die-offs. I've even seen stores sell discus with this hard and basic water. I just think the RO water led to too unstable results. The tap water may be bad but at least it's very stable.
hope this rambling helped,
q

[hubbahubbahehe]

Fishbulb, thanks for your input, it is a greatly appreciated!

I wonder what makes you say you don't like your water conditions? They seem pretty decent to me or am I missing something?

[2la]

Originally Posted by Fishbulb

Ph= <7.6
KH= 5 degrees
GH= 13 degrees

these are really bad conditions for most fish besides african cichlids.

These parameters are suitable for probably 90% of the fish out there, and probably all of the commonly encountered fish. If fish are struggling in these conditions, it's a pretty good bet that it's something else that's causing it.

[audiotaylor]

Originally Posted by hubbahubbahehe

I wonder what makes you say you don't like your water conditions? They seem pretty decent to me or am I missing something?

Well, Im a major novice when it comes to planted tanks so I may be doing something wrong, but my water has given me nothing but grief ever since I setup my 25 gallon planted tank 2 1/2 months ago. Algae everywhere. Thick, bushy diatoms covering almost every leaf. Those of you who read my algae thread about a month ago have seen it. I once did a water change with distilled water and there was a major improvement, so thats what led me to believe it was the waters' fault; probably high silicates. The next thing Im going to try is bottled water from the .25 per gallon vending machine at Stater Bros. and see what happens. If that helps, I may just do that for a while untill Im convinced enough to buy a RO unit. Anyway, here are the paramaters I took from my tap not 10 minutes ago...

14 Kh
24 Gh
7.6 pH
.1 - .2 PO4

Talk to you later.
-David

**Edit**
BTW; I live in Fullerton; just south east of LA

[Fishbulb]

I just think the water is a little too hard. I like to typically keep very soft water south american cichlids, like discus. I've had a lot of luck with them and others in past in softer water. Most breeders here though raise the young in hard, basic water but still require the softer water to actually breed them. I guess what i'm saying is that i tend to deal not with the 90% that would do fine here, but more like the 10% that don't seem to prefer the hard alkaline water. Over-all though, since moving here recently i've been very happy with the wide selection of fish and stores around to choose from. If i had to do it over again though, i definetly think i would have gone african cichlid. The water straight from the tap would have been great for these guys. WHen i used to live in Georgia the tap water was pH=6.8 KH=3 and GH=5. Now that was great for discus and other south american cichlids right out of the tap.

Good luck
FB

[hubbahubbahehe]

Audiotaylor, thanks for your input.

Fishbulb, WOW! That Georgia water is fantastic right out of the tap!!! Typically, the tap water i see has a alkaline ph and a lotta hardness, to prevent corroding the pipes and what not. I can see how switching from that great water to over here can be frustrating.