Adjusting my aquarium

[Meg0000]

Hi, tommorow I will do a test at my LFS to see if my GH is high because of my rocks, I have very soft water but my rocks made my PH go from a 6.8 to 7.8 so I am very nervous that my GH will be very high. If yes I will have to sell them to someone that has an african cichlid, rainbow fish aquarium or something like that. I would also have to remove the slope I made at the back of the rocks with gravel So yes it would be complicated so wish me luck.
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I was planning on getting a whiptail and a bristlenose but would a L304 pleco be a good option too instead on the bristlenose? They live in blackwater, wich I want to recreate in my aquarium (well slightly tainted) BUT they like flow and temperature from 26 and above, I don't have either. The problem for the temp are the aeneus corydoras, according to seriously fish they can take a range of temperature that goes up to 27. Then for the flow I get some wood and make caves and make a little area with a flow with a small powerhead. Anyway if my rocks changed my GH a lot, I will have to change everything. What result on the test will be too high for fish that need soft water?

 

[Meg0000]

I am just exploring the possibilities in term of fish so I might also end up getting a bristlenose. I want to be 100% sure about what fish I want to get so that's why it seems like I talk about getting a lot of fish in my posts but I never get any. Just wanted to clarify that lol

 

[Retired Viking]

If you have gravel that may be raising your GH too. I have been trying to reduce my GH for my tetras and found out that it was my gravel that would make the GH go back up. I put some gravel in a containor with RO water tested at 006ppm and the next day tested it again and had a 028ppm reading so I changed out my gravel for sand. You can also test your rock with vinegar

 

[mbsqw1d]

Hardness - words vs numbers

We always say to look on your water provider's website for hardness, and to ignore any words, look for a number. These are UK water company definitions of hardness compared to what we consider to be hard, soft and middling in fish keeping. Always look for numbers :) dH ppm Water company...

www.fishforums.net

> 11.2 dH is hard

 

[utahfish]

Hi, tommorow I will do a test at my LFS to see if my GH is high because of my rocks, I have very soft water but my rocks made my PH go from a 6.8 to 7.8 so I am very nervous that my GH will be very high. If yes I will have to sell them to someone that has an african cichlid, rainbow fish aquarium or something like that. I would also have to remove the slope I made at the back of the rocks with gravel So yes it would be complicated so wish me luck.
---------------------------------------------------------
I was planning on getting a whiptail and a bristlenose but would a L304 pleco be a good option too instead on the bristlenose? They live in blackwater, wich I want to recreate in my aquarium (well slightly tainted) BUT they like flow and temperature from 26 and above, I don't have either. The problem for the temp are the aeneus corydoras, according to seriously fish they can take a range of temperature that goes up to 27. Then for the flow I get some wood and make caves and make a little area with a flow with a small powerhead. Anyway if my rocks changed my GH a lot, I will have to change everything. What result on the test will be too high for fish that need soft water?

When it comes to GH levels and what fish can handle or adapt to there are a wide array of opinions. Generally 7 dgh and below is considered soft 8-10 is moderately hard and greater than 10 is hard to very hard.
Some soft water fish like corydora and especially pleco can adapt to moderately hard to hard water. Other fish like most Tetra excluding the silvertip tetra will struggle with higher than 7. Other species like discus german Rams need lower than 7 dgh. Id say do research but the recommendations on line vary from site to site as well.

 

[Meg0000]

If you have gravel that may be raising your GH too. I have been trying to reduce my GH for my tetras and found out that it was my gravel that would make the GH go back up. I put some gravel in a containor with RO water tested at 006ppm and the next day tested it again and had a 028ppm reading so I changed out my gravel for sand. You can also test your rock with vinegar

I know it's not my gravel or the sand, I had both in my 10 gallon and it didn't raise the PH