Hard water

[MajorDan]

The water for my pond comes from wells with a hardness of 160 to 170mg/L. I intend to have goldfish and plants in pond (8x10) with biofilter and bog. Will I have problems with the water being this hard?

 

[mrsclem]

Nope, it's good! Keeps you ph stable. Ours was hard and then county treated it and now I have soft water and have been adding oyster shells.
You may want to be worried about things like water heaters, dishwasher and faucets that are affected by hard water. Also, pets can develop bladder stones from it.

 

[MajorDan]

Big water softener on house water. So, using limestone rocks in waterfall should not be a problem. Just need to find plants that like water hard.

 

[carolinaguy]

Not sure of that particular metric for hardness, so I can’t compare it to other pond experiences. High pH which relates loosely to hardness is usually not an issue with the exception of reported fin splitting and possible color change problems that have not been clearly shown to be a root cause for either. High pH causes chlorine to be more stable and not gas off. High pH is common with well water, and a number off our club member have it. They haven’t raised it as a health or condition issue. It’s not a good idea to chase pH generally, although I like to keep mine between 7.2 and 7.4 partially because my source water is at about 7.1.

 

[MitchM]

There's carbonate hardness and there's general hardness.
Carbonate hardness ensures stable PH.
General hardness ensures (among other things), good fish health by providing the fish with minerals needed for things such as bone tissue and scale development.
The water report should specify which type of hardness it is. The OP probably received a general hardness measurement.
160 ppm is great. You don't want that number below 100.
You also should ensure your carbonate hardness (KH) is above 100, about the same as the general hardness.

 

[MajorDan]

Thanks for the detailed response. I will be checking my water with a test kit soonest.