16 Gallon stocking

[Essjay]

With very hard water no amount of leaves or wood will reduce GH enough for soft water fish, I'm afraid. The only way is to mix hard water with water of zero hardness.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

With very hard water no amount of leaves or wood will reduce GH enough for soft water fish, I'm afraid. The only way is to mix hard water with water of zero hardness.

So that is why @Morasea should explore hard water species options.

 

[Essjay]

The trouble is that we need a number. Words are often misleading.

According to multiple sources, Mississauga has moderately hard water

I know words mean different things in different countries, but in the UK moderately hard means 8.4 to 11.2 dH (150 to 200 ppm). Many soft water fish would be OK if it's at the lower end of that range, but many hard water fish need more than 11.2 dH/200 ppm

 

[Rocky998]

I was thinking about that this morning qnd was going to say something about it when I came on... Glad someone noticed

 

[Morasea]

I will probably be picking up a test kit today to see exactly where I’m at with my Gh, but from my research it’s around the low 100’s. I have a couple reputable LFS nearby that stock chili rasboras and will ask them how they treat their water for them.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

The trouble is that we need a number. Words are often misleading.

I know words mean different things in different countries, but in the UK moderately hard means 8.4 to 11.2 dH (150 to 200 ppm). Many soft water fish would be OK if it's at the lower end of that range, but many hard water fish need more than 11.2 dH/200 ppm

Then the water could be neural.

 

[Rocky998]

I will probably be picking up a test kit today to see exactly where I’m at with my Gh, but from my research it’s around the low 100’s. I have a couple reputable LFS nearby that stock chili rasboras and will ask them how they treat their water for them.

The water is perfect for softwater fish! You are A ok with any softwater fish...

Then the water could be neural.

This water is not neutral... It is for softwater fish only. If it was around 200+ then its getting into hardwater fish

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

The water is perfect for softwater fish! You are A ok with any softwater fish...


This water is not neutral... It is for softwater fish only. If it was around 200+ then its getting into hardwater fish

Oh ok.

 

[Morasea]

The water is perfect for softwater fish! You are A ok with any softwater fish...


This water is not neutral... It is for softwater fish only. If it was around 200+ then its getting into hardwater fish

That’s great to hear! I love most soft water fish too so that works perfectly lol.

 

[Rocky998]

That’s great to hear! I love most soft water fish too so that works perfectly lol.

Yah usually people have water somewhere imbetween 50-100ppm which is just fine fr any softwater enviorment... If someone has hard water its usually up towards 200ppm... This is from what I've seen anyway.

 

[Essjay]

Neutral is used for pH and means between acidic and basic ie pH 7.0.
Hardness is either soft or hard, but personally I prefer the word "middling" for water that is too hard to be called soft but too soft to be called hard

 

[Morasea]

Just checked the water in my already running aquarium vs my tap water
My already set up planted aquarium had:
Gh 120ppm, Kh 35ish.
My tap water was:
Gh 140ppm, Kh 120ppm.

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Just checked the water in my already running aquarium vs my tap water
My already set up planted aquarium had:
Gh 120ppm, Kh 35ish.
My tap water was:
Gh 140ppm, Kh 120ppm.

So you have soft water!
No snails allowed...

 

[Rocky998]

So you have soft water!
No snails allowed...

Why cant he have snails? Calcium is provided by whatever you feed it

 

[StripySnailGirl04]

Why cant he have snails? Calcium is provided by whatever you feed it

Well, if you feed the snails then maybe but I've still seen shell corrosion after calcium supplements (youtube videos) and calcium blocks might dissolve into the water, turning it hard and therefore removing softness.