Yore reading th KH and GH right. I doubted myself too when i first tested for these because i had 33 drops of GH in my tank.
1 drop equals 1dH
the dH can be described as dKH and dGH
this means degrees KH and degrees GH.
1 degree equals 17.9 ppm GH or KH.
So do some multiplication to get the ppms.
12 dKH is hard water with good buffering capacity. its likely that your water will maintain a good level of BEING alkaline (not same as alkalinity)
Sounds like its good for african rift cichlids and livebearers as well as most brackish fish. Dont get me wrong, other fish could adapt to these parameters too.
I wish i had 23 dGH! i cant get my GH down below 26 dGH. at one point when i was converting my tank to planted, my GH read 33 dGH. Its a bit high, and its likely that your water leaves lots of white calcium/mineral deposits on surfaces when it dries out. 23 dGH is like i said not too high for brackish, livebearers, and african cichlids, just to name a few.
Its best not to use household water softener...i read somewhere. its also ill-advised to use softener pillows made by API. these replace the mineral ions with sodium ions, and this may have bad effects on the fish long term. the best method ive seen at lowering GH, KH, and pH is by filtering water through peat moss. The GH on the other hand is going to have to be removed by water changes, replacing the old water with newly filtered peat water. Also you may need to use RO water as an additive.
You could just stick with species that like alkaline, hard water...
