Hi there everyone, my LFS advises me to keep KH around 7-8 degrees of hardness and GH around 8-12 degrees of hardness with ph around 7. Straight tap water in my neck of the woods is KH - 0 and GH - 3.
Just wondering what works for all of you and whether the additives that i'm using are really a necessity??? Thanks and look forward to some expert advice!!

i dont measure the gh in my tanks. my ph sits stable at 6.5 and i keep the temp at a constant 78. from my expereince oscar are capable of thriving in a wide variety of water conditions (when it comes to hardness and ph) so i only test for ammonia nitrites and nitrates. your lfs is not necessarily lying to you but i do beleive that they might be trying to increase their revenue by getting you to purchase other items.

jsut my 2 cents

x2

x3.....

Thanks, I felt that that may indeed be the case!!

most of the time, there are three major concern in water parameters:
ammonia and nitrite at zero, and nitrate from 5 to 40. oscars will thrive
on that range. any reading beyond that will put your fish at risk, thus a
water change is necessary. lfs usually recommend something for your fishes
not because they are sick but because they need revenues....

Cheers, I try to keep nitrates down below 20ppm although I can sometimes get lazy (but never over 40ppm)!!