Hello from Cambridgeshire UK!

[Wourgh]

Hi All,

Just thought I'd whack a post up here introducing myself. I'm Henry, based in Cambs, UK. My wife and I are looking at getting into the hobby so thought I'd get on the forums as I have a lot of questions that I'll be posting on here! We've been entertaining the idea of getting a relatively large tank (125L+) Look forward to talking to you all!

 

[MattW]

Welcome to the Forum!

A 125L will give you plenty of options. Most members on here would suggest keeping fish that fit to your dechlorinated tap water parameters. It makes it much easier and does benefit the fish's overall health if it can be achieved. Of course, you could step into RO water but that seems too complicated for me . Do use the useful links section too, such as Cycling a Tank (beneficial in keeping fish). There are a lot of experienced members who can help with any questions and queries you may have. Are you considering a planted tank? Plants do come with many benefits too, but that's a whole other part of keeping tanks.

 

[Wourgh]

Welcome to the Forum!

A 125L will give you plenty of options. Most members on here would suggest keeping fish that fit to your dechlorinated tap water parameters. It makes it much easier and does benefit the fish's overall health if it can be achieved. Of course, you could step into RO water but that seems too complicated for me . Do use the useful links section too, such as Cycling a Tank (beneficial in keeping fish). There are a lot of experienced members who can help with any questions and queries you may have. Are you considering a planted tank? Plants do come with many benefits too, but that's a whole other part of keeping tanks.

Hey Matt, thanks for the welcome! We've even considered 175L! Is that a bit too much..? We wanted a bit of a statement piece in our lounge. How would I find out my dechlorinated tap water parameters? Just posted here if you fancy a bit of a read... My wife has access to RO water at her work but honestly sounds like a lot of hassle and if it's complicated for you, it'll be super complicated for me! Yeah I'll have a browse of the Cycling a Tank forum. Yes I would definitely want plants in the tank. The post I put on the New to the Hobby Questions and Answers has an array of questions surrounding plants, so any input on that would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Essjay]

How would I find out my dechlorinated tap water parameters?

What Matt meant was you need to find out how hard your water is, parameters being GH (hardness), KH and pH, with a reminder that any water you put in the tank needs to have a water conditioner added to dechlorinate the water. The easiest way to find your hardness is to look on your water company's website.
The reason for this is that it is much easier to keep fish which originate in water with similar hardness to your tap water. Soft water can be made harder by adding hardness salts; hard water can be made softer by adding pure water such as reverse osmosis (RO) water, but these can work out expensive long term as well as being time consuming preparing the water before adding it to the tank.


If you are with Cambridge Water, it's not easy to find your hardness. If this is your water company we can help you find the right page.

 

[Wourgh]

What Matt meant was you need to find out how hard your water is, parameters being GH (hardness), KH and pH, with a reminder that any water you put in the tank needs to have a water conditioner added to dechlorinate the water. The easiest way to find your hardness is to look on your water company's website.
The reason for this is that it is much easier to keep fish which originate in water with similar hardness to your tap water. Soft water can be made harder by adding hardness salts; hard water can be made softer by adding pure water such as reverse osmosis (RO) water, but these can work out expensive long term as well as being time consuming preparing the water before adding it to the tank.


If you are with Cambridge Water, it's not easy to find your hardness. If this is your water company we can help you find the right page.

Ah I see! Im with Anglian Water. Ive heard you can check online somewhere. Will have a google and see what i can come up with. If you have the link handy I'd be very appreciative!

 

[Wourgh]

That seems to be what anglian water are telling me about the water hardness in my area.

 

[Essjay]

Did you get that via this page? https://waterquality.anglianwater.com/map.aspx?

Fish keeping uses two units for hardness, fish profiles will give a species hrdness range in one otr other.
Looking at your screenshot, the numbers you need are
mg/l (or parts per million) calcium carbonate = 279.935. Call that 280 ppm
Degrees German - we call that dH - 15.9. Call it 16.

You have very hard water.



Looking at the list in your other thread

6-12 x Tetras - Maybe more..?
3 x Panda Corydoras - Ideally looking for a bottom feeder that doesn't get too big
4 x Rasboras or Platys
2 x Gold Honey Gourami
? x Gastromyzon or Sewellia - unsure as to how many I would need for the size of the tank

I'm afraid the only fish on your list which are suitable for your water are platies. All the other fish on the list are soft water fish.
This leaves you with 2 options.

#1 Go with platies and other hard water fish
#2 Mix your tap water with RO water to reduce the hardness to that needed by the rest of the fish in your list.



The best website for fish research is Seriously Fish. They give the hardness, pH and temperature needed by each species; the minimum tank size; what they eat, what type of decor makes them happy and so on.

Knowledge Base — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[emeraldking]

Hi Henry, welcome to TFF...
Well yes, a 125 liter tank will give you multiple options what to put in there... When you know your water parameters, you could make a plan of what kind of fish would fit in. My advice would be: Take your time to get into the information of the fish you want to have... Better to invest time than skipping it and go for the fish right away...

 

[Naughts]

Hello and welcome

We've even considered 175L! Is that a bit too much..?

Not at all, bigger=easier as there is less room for error in larger tanks as the larger water volume dilutes any issue. You have more opportunities for larger fish or more fish in bigger tanks. If you have the space and the budget, go large.

 

[Wourgh]

You have very hard water.

Good morning Essjay! Yeah I did use that site. Plugged in my postcode and that's what came out. Something that's worth mentioning is that nearly all of the taps in the house are hooked up to a commercial water softener, similar to the ones that coffee shops use. It's the type that you put salt pellets into. My father in law installed it when we were renovating the house. I've been told that this way of softening water is really bad for fish due to sodium levels etc so didn't mention it on either post. The outside tap is still hard water so still have access without it being softened.

Well appreciate the heads up about the hardness of my water. Seems we have to go back to the drawing board then. Thankfully we haven't ordered anything yet. A lot more research needs to be done!

Hi Henry, welcome to TFF...
Well yes, a 125 liter tank will give you multiple options what to put in there... When you know your water parameters, you could make a plan of what kind of fish would fit in. My advice would be: Take your time to get into the information of the fish you want to have... Better to invest time than skipping it and go for the fish right away...

Hey emeraldking! Thanks for the welcome and the advice. We're in no rush to get them so will happily take our time to refine what we can get. Just wondering if I can snag an aquarium/some of the kit in the upcoming Boxing Day or January sales... Any good online retailers for tanks and kit..? And are they known for having sales this time of year?

Not at all, bigger=easier as there is less room for error in larger tanks as the larger water volume dilutes any issue. You have more opportunities for larger fish or more fish in bigger tanks. If you have the space and the budget, go large.

That's what I've heard. 175L will be the absolute upper limit. The max length of tank we can accomodate is around 100cm so seems a fair few fit into that category.

 

[Essjay]

Those salt water softeners are not good for fish. They swap the hardness minerals for sodium, and most fish can't cope with sodium in the water (there are a few exceptions). Is there a bypass tap which provides water which has not been through the softener? If there is, I would use that for fish, and keep hard water fish.

 

[Wourgh]

Yeah I thought as much. The outdoor tap is regular (hard) tap water so can get round it that way. I've been looking at hard water friendly fish. Seems like mostly livebearers which is fine but I'm a little concerned about breeding. Had a situation with a load of guppies previously and before I knew it I had dozens more than I originally bought...

 

[Essjay]

There are hard water fish besides livebearers. Most rainbowfish need hard water, and there are always Rift Lake cichlids, which I admit are not everyone's cup of tea.


Or keep a tank of male livebearers, no females.

 

[Wourgh]

What kind of hard water fish are there? I'll check out Seriously Fish and see what I can come up with... are there any bottom feeders/glass cleaners? Just had this whole idea of the ideal community tank but it seems my water hardness has other ideas.

After talking through with the better half we came to the conclusion that messing around with RO water seems like too much faff for our first attempt,pt together. We can cross that bridge at a later date should we get the hang of it. For now I think beginner friendly hard water fish are the way to go to keep it simple. Any suggestions are welcome!

 

[gwand]

What kind of hard water fish are there? I'll check out Seriously Fish and see what I can come up with... are there any bottom feeders/glass cleaners? Just had this whole idea of the ideal community tank but it seems my water hardness has other ideas.

After talking through with the better half we came to the conclusion that messing around with RO water seems like too much faff for our first attempt,pt together. We can cross that bridge at a later date should we get the hang of it. For now I think beginner friendly hard water fish are the way to go to keep it simple. Any suggestions are welcome!

Hard water fish

1. Livebearers:
   • Guppies (Poecilia reticulata)
   • Mollies (Poecilia sphenops, Poecilia latipinna, etc.)
   • Platies (Xiphophorus maculatus)
   • Swordtails (Xiphophorus hellerii)
2. Cichlids:
   • African Cichlids (especially those from the Rift Lakes)
     • Lake Malawi Cichlids (e.g., Mbuna, Peacocks, Haps)
     • Lake Tanganyika Cichlids (e.g., Frontosa, Tropheus, Julidochromis)
     • Lake Victoria Cichlids
   • Central American Cichlids (e.g., Convict Cichlid, Firemouth Cichlid, Jack Dempsey)
   • South American Cichlids (e.g., Green Terror, Texas Cichlid)
3. Rainbowfish:
   • Boesemani Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia boesemani) lovely fish
   • Australian Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia fluviatilis
   • Red Rainbowfish (Glossolepis incisus)
4. Catfish:
   • Synodontis Catfish (various species, commonly found in African lakes)
   • Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus sp.)
5. Barbs:
   • Tiger Barb (Puntigrus tetrazona)
   • Odessa Barb (Pethia padamya)
   • Rosy Barb (Pethia conchonius)
   • Denison barb (Sahyadria denisonii)
6. Danios:
   • Zebra Danio (Danio rerio)
   • Giant Danio (Devario aequipinnatus)
7. Other Fish:
   • Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus)
   • Siamese Algae Eater (Crossocheilus oblongus)
   • Kribensis (Pelvicachromis pulcher)