Live Bearers And Drift Wood

[Jox44]

Hello all,

I have a 45 gallon tank that I stocked with Tetras... 3 congos, 11 rummy nose, 4 black skirts, 1 lemon and 1 x-ray. I've had this tank for the past 6 years and now I'm looking for a change. Most of my tetras are getting on with age and although they're all still healthy, some have gone to fish heaven and I suspect that soon they will all go there. I'm looking to add swordtails/platties/guppies to this tank and phase out the tetras. I've read that live bearers generally don't like acidic water and so should avoid drift wood in the tank. The thing is... my tank is well planted and well established, but it has 2 big pieces of drift wood in it. What's more is that over the past 6 years, I've trained and pruned my anubis and java ferns to grow into the drift wood and they now look AMAZING... and it would be a big shame if I have to give that up. Is that a deal breaker for keeping live bearers then ? I heard that swords/platies/guppies are very forgiving fish... so will they do well/breed in my tank ?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Jonty]

Have you tested the PH?

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Jox.
I know for certain that the mollies are not forgiving of low pH. They need a pH that is fairly high and do much better in hard water than in soft water. The same is true for the commonly available swordtails, platies and guppies but to a slightly lesser extent. There are species of Xiphophorus, both swordtails and platies are Xiphophorus, that do well in low hardness and low to neutral pH but you will not often find them in a pet shop. The same can be said of Poecilia, mollies and guppies are Poecilia, there are even some fish with the common name molly that are soft water low pH fish but they are never seen in pet shops.
The fancy strains of common livebearers are not ready for a low pH soft water tank at all.
To go much further with this, we will need to know what your tap water conditions are and how often you are willing to do water changes. If you have reasonably hard tap water that has a high KH, chances are that you could prevent pH crashes and keep the common livebearers. Driftwood changes pH very slowly in a tank with hard water so it may be something that can be dealt with. I am afraid that most of the soft water fish that I described are fish that are seldom seen even in fish clubs and are never seen in a pet shop. It would only be specialist breeders that would have them in the first place.

 

[Jox44]

Welcome to the forum Jox.
I know for certain that the mollies are not forgiving of low pH. They need a pH that is fairly high and do much better in hard water than in soft water. The same is true for the commonly available swordtails, platies and guppies but to a slightly lesser extent. There are species of Xiphophorus, both swordtails and platies are Xiphophorus, that do well in low hardness and low to neutral pH but you will not often find them in a pet shop. The same can be said of Poecilia, mollies and guppies are Poecilia, there are even some fish with the common name molly that are soft water low pH fish but they are never seen in pet shops.
The fancy strains of common livebearers are not ready for a low pH soft water tank at all.
To go much further with this, we will need to know what your tap water conditions are and how often you are willing to do water changes. If you have reasonably hard tap water that has a high KH, chances are that you could prevent pH crashes and keep the common livebearers. Driftwood changes pH very slowly in a tank with hard water so it may be something that can be dealt with. I am afraid that most of the soft water fish that I described are fish that are seldom seen even in fish clubs and are never seen in a pet shop. It would only be specialist breeders that would have them in the first place.

Thank you for your reply. So I tested the pH of my tank... and sadly... it's 5. Yes... 5. I tested my tap water and it's about 6... if not a 6.5. Does this mean that I cannot keep swords/platies or guppies ??? =0(

How can I remedy this ? If it's a matter of changing the water more frequently, that's no problem. I just think that if my tap water is acidic in nature to begin with... what can I do to harden it up ?

 

[OldMan47]

Chances are good that the only way you could keep common livebearers would be to start amending your water. It is something that I will rarely advise because of the trouble it can get you into if you ever deviate from what you have done to achieve the water that you have. To succeed with water that is not natural to your area means having lots of testing all the time to bring your water to the same conditions as the tank water. A potential option would be to place a calcium carbonate source, like crushed shells or crushed coral, into the filter flow path and just keep an eye on what happens to the tank water. If you use this approach, the size and frequency of water changes will affect the KH and pH of the tank so a very regular maintenance routine will become essential.

Have you considered angels or discus or similar fish that would work with your water instead? It is always easier to match the fish to the water than trying to match the water to the fish.