Stocking a 60L

[Fish4dawin]

I don’t own guppy and no expert on them but I’m sure they live in acidic to neutral ph with a Gh of around 7-12 dgh (160ppm)

Huh, I've always known that guppys like hard water of like 200ppm plus. I'm not sure which one of us are right to be honest.

 

[Guyb93]

Alot of people are saying about water hardness but alot of the time it is about the water that the fish shop has and so if the local fish shop is using the same tap water as u you will be just fine having q


any fish that suits ure tank. I'm in Leicester and we have quite hard water but I have a comunity tank that has all of the above and more and they are all living happy and well

I get what your saying but not all fish from that store will be bred in that water im in Walsall on the Staffordshire boarder around 40miles from Leicestershire and my water is soft and could easily sell my fry to those stores

 

[Guyb93]

Huh, I've always known that guppys like hard water of like 200ppm plus. I'm not sure which one of us are right to be honest.

In fairness iv never owned guppy’s so they might aswel be marine fish for what I know about them .lol can somebody clear this weather guppy are soft middling or hard , finding conflicting information online , and I think we both want to know now lol

 

[Fish4dawin]

Ok so, this is the funny part. We are both right

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-reticulata/ go here and scroll down till you see GH

 

[Fish4dawin]

Also, does anyone know why it says like 4degrees then H when I go to other fish profiles on seriously fish? Is it just the german value?

 

[Guyb93]

Ok so, this is the funny part. We are both right

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/poecilia-reticulata/ go here and scroll down till you see GH

Wow what a wide range these little guys are hard ahahah

 

[Fish4dawin]

Wow what a wide range these little guys are hard ahahah

It's quite amazing that a fish so small (usually) can adapt to such a wide range of water parameters.

 

[ALAW]

The only figure that's really on there is
74.8mg/l calcium, I'll be honest I never really thought water hardness was going to be a major issue, as long as the water is clean and tank is well maintained, I always check Ph, but back to my original question, would the tank technically be overstocked with the fish I stated?

 

[Guyb93]

The only figure that's really on there is
74.8mg/l calcium, I'll be honest I never really thought water hardness was going to be a major issue, as long as the water is clean and tank is well maintained, I always check Ph, but back to my original question, would the tank technically be overstocked with the fish I stated?

Think your top swim might be crowded but I think overall your tank wouldn’t be overstocked

 

[Colin_T]

I don’t own guppy and no expert on them but I’m sure they live in acidic to neutral ph with a Gh of around 7-12 dgh (160ppm)

modern guppies have heaps of problems in soft acid water and do best in water with a pH above 7.0 and a GH around 200ppm or above.

 

[Colin_T]

Also, does anyone know why it says like 4degrees then H when I go to other fish profiles on seriously fish? Is it just the german value?

German scale for water hardness is dGH.
1dGH = 17.9ppm.

 

[Guyb93]

modern guppies have heaps of problems in soft acid water and do best in water with a pH above 7.0 and a GH around 200ppm or above.

I’m assuming wild guppy are lower than this or is it just a change generally in them

 

[Wills]

In my personal experience, with my local LFS that has the same basic water params as source water, I am confident buying fish from them...after they receive and have had them for a while, and I can observe, whether farm raised or wild caught, how they acclimate to our local water source.

Really agree with what you are saying and that the important thing in the early stages of owning the fish is matching your stores source and buying healthy fish but the hardness factor is a longer term thing. Its the long term thing to plan when you do buy fish even from reputable stores and healthy looking they can cause diseases, parasites etc in your tank. In reality the number of fish that end up in well mainained disease free tanks is pretty small but once you are past those hurdles keeping fish that matches your water just makes things a bit easier on you. Which is where sites like Seriously Fish are really useful .

I'm still on the fence as to how we approach fish we see in local stores though, as an example a store over the road from me has a group of Paskai Rainbows which need softer water than our tap water but I know our whole area is hard so who ever takes them is going to have the same issue, so why shouldnt I buy them and raise them to the best of my ability and dedication? Equally if people come to the forum unaware of hardness I dont like telling them to rehome on this basis alone as odds are if you spend time on internet forums, researching etc you are going to be looking after them better than the average keeper. Eg do the fish live a few weeks/months in a new or unmaintained tank with someone else or a few years with a member of this forum who has on paper incompatible water qualities, still the best outcome would be for us all to keep fish matched exactly to our tap water so they have the best chance of living out their life expectancy but is that realistic?

Wills

 

[Naughts]

This is how Byron explained why we should keep fish in suitable water parameters

"When it comes to GH, this is very crucial to the physiology of fish. Each species has evolved over thousands of years to function in a very specific environment. The water they live in is continually entering their bodies via osmosis through every cell, 24/7. Internally and according to how they have evolved, they process this water. Soft water fish kept in hard water develop calcium blockage of the kidneys because osmoregulation is a function of the kidneys and in soft water fish the kidneys absorb minerals dissolved in the water. Hard water fish need this calcium, and in soft water without it the physiology cannot function."

With the stress that unsuitable GH places on the fish, they do not live as long a life and are more susceptible to illness/disease.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Really agree with what you are saying and that the important thing in the early stages of owning the fish is matching your stores source and buying healthy fish but the hardness factor is a longer term thing. Its the long term thing to plan when you do buy fish even from reputable stores and healthy looking they can cause diseases, parasites etc in your tank. In reality the number of fish that end up in well mainained disease free tanks is pretty small but once you are past those hurdles keeping fish that matches your water just makes things a bit easier on you. Which is where sites like Seriously Fish are really useful .

I'm still on the fence as to how we approach fish we see in local stores though, as an example a store over the road from me has a group of Paskai Rainbows which need softer water than our tap water but I know our whole area is hard so who ever takes them is going to have the same issue, so why shouldnt I buy them and raise them to the best of my ability and dedication? Equally if people come to the forum unaware of hardness I dont like telling them to rehome on this basis alone as odds are if you spend time on internet forums, researching etc you are going to be looking after them better than the average keeper. Eg do the fish live a few weeks/months in a new or unmaintained tank with someone else or a few years with a member of this forum who has on paper incompatible water qualities, still the best outcome would be for us all to keep fish matched exactly to our tap water so they have the best chance of living out their life expectancy but is that realistic?

Wills

Wise words, I'm with you 100%