New 55 Gal Fish Tank Cycle

[Essjay]

The answer is to buy fish which 'like' your tap water rather than have to change the water to suit a particular species.

I have soft water so I keep soft water fish. There are many hard water fish which I like but I know they won't do well in my water unless I add minerals, so I don't keep them. I choose fish from those that 'like' my tap water.

 

[Byron]

We have not ascertained the actual GH of your tap water yet. This is important before considering any fish. The pH being 6.6 would tend to suggest water is not very hard, more likely soft, but you need to pin this down. Check the website of your municipal water authority, they may have this information, or call them.

Not sure what you meant by hauling water from the ocean...that is salt water and not suitable for any freshwater fish. Besides, the tap water may be fine. A conditioner like API's Tap Water Conditioner will deal with chlorine (and chloramine if that is being added, something else to find out from the water people).

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

We have not ascertained the actual GH of your tap water yet. This is important before considering any fish. The pH being 6.6 would tend to suggest water is not very hard, more likely soft, but you need to pin this down. Check the website of your municipal water authority, they may have this information, or call them.

Not sure what you meant by hauling water from the ocean...that is salt water and not suitable for any freshwater fish. Besides, the tap water may be fine. A conditioner like API's Tap Water Conditioner will deal with chlorine (and chloramine if that is being added, something else to find out from the water people).

Good point. In the case of ocean water, I meant saltwater fish.

 

[Freshwater Sucker Fish]

The reason chlorine is added to the water is to make it safe for us to drink. It kills bacteria which would otherwise make us ill when we drank the water. It also kills the good bacteria we need to grow, the ones which eat the ammonia made by the fish and the nitrite made from that ammonia. Chlorine also harms fish - it irritates their skin and gills.
Some water providers add chloramine (chlorine and ammonia joined together), some add plain chlorine. Whichever they add, water conditioners remove it.
Chlorine has nothing to do with hardness.

You will find that most of us on here do water changes every week, and most of us change at least half the water. This is why

Regular Partial Water Changes

Byron Hosking November, 2010 (rev April 2021) Nothing is more important when it comes to aquarium maintenance than regular partial water changes. The adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly applies here. One frequently reads of products that will reduce the need for...

www.fishforums.net

The answer is to buy fish which 'like' your tap water rather than have to change the water to suit a particular species.

I have soft water so I keep soft water fish. There are many hard water fish which I like but I know they won't do well in my water unless I add minerals, so I don't keep them. I choose fish from those that 'like' my tap water.

We have not ascertained the actual GH of your tap water yet. This is important before considering any fish. The pH being 6.6 would tend to suggest water is not very hard, more likely soft, but you need to pin this down. Check the website of your municipal water authority, they may have this information, or call them.

Not sure what you meant by hauling water from the ocean...that is salt water and not suitable for any freshwater fish. Besides, the tap water may be fine. A conditioner like API's Tap Water Conditioner will deal with chlorine (and chloramine if that is being added, something else to find out from the water people).

This is why I buy water. The water I buy is soft water and my tap is hard water. This lets me have more types of fish. So yes fallowing better to change your water type than trying to change or use my hard water on soft water fish. I guess most people don't do this LOL

 

[Byron]

This is why I buy water. The water I buy is soft water and my tap is hard water. This lets me have more types of fish. So yes fallowing better to change your water type than trying to change or use my hard water on soft water fish. I guess most people don't do this LOL

We might be able to save you some money over buying water, if we knew the GH of your tap water. "Hard" can mean very different things, only the number will tell us exactly what the situation is.