Hard Water stocking ideas

[Falling Ash]

Thank you, I really appreciate all of your help and guidance. I have looked in to RO but decided it's not a route I want to go down. I'm also a bit stumped as to what to do with the tank now!

 

[ClownLurch]

It's only in recent years that we've become aware of hardness as an issue. Though we can sometimes get to hung up on it. In very basic terms water is soft, hard or middling. Soft water fish shouldn't be kept in hard water and vice versa. There are some species which must have very soft or very hard water, but other soft or hard water species can cope towards middling as well. And where the water is very soft or very hard (as in this instance), even middling fish will not do well.

Yes, using RO water is an option. Even bringing the hardness down to say around 15 dH would open up more choices. That would need 3 parts tap water to 2 parts RO. But this is a commitment for the lifetime of the tank, and many fish keepers would not be willing to undertake this commitment.

The footprint of the tank is a significant factor here. Many otherwise suitable fish have to be ruled out because of the tank rather than the water.


I'll be honest and say I've not come across water this hard before. Having soft water myself, I'm at a loss as to what to suggest. Some of the suggestions made in other posts do have this hardness in their range, but right at the top end. We usually try to keep fish with our water nearer the middle of their range.

The rice fish mentioned do have this hardness in their range, but only just. There are other rice fish besides those mentioned which need softer water so make sure which the species in the shop tank is.
Least killifish (actually a livebearer, Heterandria formosa) has a range up to 20 dH. Tiger teddies (Neoheterandria elegans, another livebearer) might be OK. But these last two are quite hard to come by - I have never seen them in shops.
Pseudomugil furcatus or P. cyanodorsalis, two of the blue eye rainbows, would be OK - but there are other Pseudomugils which need softer water so the species in the shop tank need to be identified correctly.

Now I've exhausted ClownLurch's suggestions I'll stop there.

You’re right about the killifish. I had em down as going up to 24dh.

 

[Retired Viking]

I use RO water to reduce my hardness (134ppm) which is no where near as hard as @Falling Ash ash has to deal with, that must be like liquid rock. I buy my RO and it is not expensive but does add a lot of work lugging 5 gallon jugs and mixing it in with my local water. So far I have my water hardness for my soft water fish down to 60ppm. It maybe a challenge to get your water down to being considered soft. Good luck.

 

[Circus]

Thank you, I really appreciate all of your help and guidance. I have looked in to RO but decided it's not a route I want to go down. I'm also a bit stumped as to what to do with the tank now!

Have you thought about shrimp? There are a lot of different and vibrant colors. They are surprisingly fun to watch scurry around a tank.

 

[Essjay]

Thank you, I really appreciate all of your help and guidance. I have looked in to RO but decided it's not a route I want to go down. I'm also a bit stumped as to what to do with the tank now!

A bit of research has dug this up. I know very little about these fish, but read through - noting minimum tanks sizes - and see what you think.

Meet the shell dwellers

In the dangerous expanses of open water, it can pay to be a small fish. So small, in fact, that you can hide in a snail shell. Meet evolution’s curiosities from Tanganyika.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

 

[Treestone]

Hi there,
I'm currently cycling my 85 litre tank, and am thinking of some ideas for stocking. I'm worried I am quite limited due to its small size and hard water. 24 dH, 169mg/l calcium.
It'll be planted too.

Thanks!

For liquid rock water conditions and those dimensions, there are still quite a number of options. Lake inle has a wealth of fish which would relish your water conditions, Emerald dwarf rasbora and asian rummynose come to mind here. Shell dwellers may still be an option but would have to be limited to a pair and if u were going down that path endless could be a good combination as a surface dweller. Guppies, endlers, knife livebearers and so many smaller livebearers, I would not go any bigger than a platy but that's just from keeping platies in 38l and 215l, they tend to thrive a lot more in the larger 215l. There are lots of hardwater killifish the lake Tanganyika killi will be too large for your tank but medaka, some annuals will do well in there. WCMM will work in that tank but would be a minimum for swimming room. U might want to go into the brackish side of things, figure-eight puffers would work well in that size tank at 1.010 salinity. There are many options out there, many of which are not very hard to find so don't feel disheartened.

 

[Wills]

It is a really hard tank to do and it depends on what you want from it really.

Would one big shoal do it for you? If so there are a couple of good options that have been suggested - the two Rasboras Treestone has suggested would be high on my list but some of the rice fish are stunning too. If you were to get the tank beatifully scapped with rocks, wood and plants a big school of these micro fish can look really stunning.

If you are interested in some rarer livebearers, I know a guy in Linconshire (I'm just over the bridge in East Yorkshire) who can get pretty much any fish on the planet to his fish house - I can PM his details if you are interested?

Wills

 

[Lajos_Detari]

You can look into these...

Meet the shell dwellers

In the dangerous expanses of open water, it can pay to be a small fish. So small, in fact, that you can hide in a snail shell. Meet evolution’s curiosities from Tanganyika.

www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Brevis Shelldweller | Animal World

Small sized and gentle natured, a pair of Brevis Shelldwellers can be kept in a tank that is as small as five gallons! The Brevis Shelldweller Neolamprologus brevis is a dwarf cichlid from Lake Tanganyika, Africa. Its a very small fish with males growing just short of 2 1/2 inches (6 cm) in...

animal-world.com

 

[Treestone]

There are also many natively diverse water chemistry wise fish which can adapt very well to hard water. Bristlenose are great for this and will breed in most water conditions without much intervention, pristella (or x-ray) tetras are a classic example and will spawn in hard water. A better way to ensure that they will thrive in hard water is to buy from local breeders, just make sure to ask the pH and parameters of their water but it should be similar (except if they use RO or rainwater).

 

[Falling Ash]

Thank you all for your help, a quick update I ended up getting a small group of male Endlers and they are fun to watch and have settled in well.

I have decided to get a second tank which is 4ft long and 240L and once again would love some recommendations. Hopefully this will open up some possibilities. I know livebearers are suited to my water and some rainbowfish but would like some other options, also any bottom feeders which would do well?

 

[Treestone]

Thank you all for your help, a quick update I ended up getting a small group of male Endlers and they are fun to watch and have settled in well.

I have decided to get a second tank which is 4ft long and 240L and once again would love some recommendations. Hopefully this will open up some possibilities. I know livebearers are suited to my water and some rainbowfish but would like some other options, also any bottom feeders which would do well?

Good old bristlenose would be an easy option. There are larger more aggressive Synodontis which may fit the bill. Depends on what sort of tankmates you're proposing to live with them. With that size tank, you can open up your options to some smaller central american cichlids and many mbuna.

 

[Wills]

Great choice - bigger tank sounds great more options for this tank just depends on what you want to get out of it. Eg do you want a small fish community, bigger fish, schools or individuals etc? Any colours or shapes you would like to include?

 

[Fish4dawin]

Thank you all for your help, a quick update I ended up getting a small group of male Endlers and they are fun to watch and have settled in well.

I have decided to get a second tank which is 4ft long and 240L and once again would love some recommendations. Hopefully this will open up some possibilities. I know livebearers are suited to my water and some rainbowfish but would like some other options, also any bottom feeders which would do well?

Bosemani rainows? Dwarf neon rainbows? As upper ideas.

BN plecos could really only be your bottom dwelling fish unfortunately as your GH is through the roof.