Stocking Hard Water Tank 30gal (113L)

[Woodlol]

Howdy!

I live in central Texas which means LOTS of limestone, aka extremely hard water. I've been using soft store bought water for water changes to try and augment this to bring it down to a more moderate GH but so far I've only gotten it from 180ppm to around 150ppm... the tank finished cycling and cleared up a couple weeks ago. I've been using liquid CO2, root tabs, and plant fertilizer. Foreground plants and a few more hardscape pieces are going in tomorrow...

As of this morning...
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
pH 7-7.5
KH 40ppm (mg/L)
But that dang GH is still sitting at a pretty 150 ppm...

I had my heart set on pearl gouramis, black ruby barbs, and panda garra but I think the water is just too hard for those fish. Any ideas on whether I should continue to plugging away to soften the water with water changes or just plow ahead and change my stock plan?

 

[Crispii]

How about a group of Medaka? They're a hard water fish and I think they'll look good in that tank.

 

[Sgooosh]

livebearers?

 

[Woodlol]

I've never heard of medaka! Have you had them in the past?

How about a group of Medaka? They're a hard water fish and I think they'll look good in that tank.

 

[Woodlol]

livebearers?

I've thought about livebearers but in the past I just found that the fry took over the tank and I'm not really interested in breeding at this time...

 

[Valkyrie_Lips]

First of all, gorgeous tank. Some smaller cichlids come to mind: Rainbow Kribensis, Electric yellow labs, Apistogramma cacatuoides, Apistogramma borellii.

Although, you might still be able to keep pearl gouramis. A lot of commercially bred fish are very tolerant of harder water these days, especially when acclimated properly.

 

[Essjay]

You said you've got the GH down from 180 to 150 ppm but 180 ppm is not very hard at all. However, I need to ask if you found that number on your water provider's website or by testing it yourself - and if you tested it yourself, what tester did you use? The reason I'm asking is that some strip testers only measure up to 180 ppm and if the water is harder than that it will still show as 180.

 

[Wills]

First of all, gorgeous tank. Some smaller cichlids come to mind: Rainbow Kribensis, Electric yellow labs, Apistogramma cacatuoides, Apistogramma borellii.

Although, you might still be able to keep pearl gouramis. A lot of commercially bred fish are very tolerant of harder water these days, especially when acclimated properly.

Some of these cross really broad water needs from the Apistos needing soft, Kribs in the middle and Yellow Labs in very hard. Labs are also not community fish.

Commercially bred fish can survive in a range of waters but not thrive. A lot of fish will have problems the longer they live in water they dont naturally encounter in the wild. A few generations of captive breeding wont take centuries of evolution, hardwater fish in softwater get growth issues and softwater fish in hardwater are prone to calcium build up in their organs.

You said you've got the GH down from 180 to 150 ppm but 180 ppm is not very hard at all. However, I need to ask if you found that number on your water provider's website or by testing it yourself - and if you tested it yourself, what tester did you use? The reason I'm asking is that some strip testers only measure up to 180 ppm and if the water is harder than that it will still show as 180.

I agree with Essjay your tapwater is not really that hard, anything under 200ppm and most fish are going to do well in there including all the ones on your list

Wills

 

[Sgooosh]

I've thought about livebearers but in the past I just found that the fry took over the tank and I'm not really interested in breeding at this time...

you can just get males, if you get all females there may be a chance she was already pregnant

 

[Woodlol]

You said you've got the GH down from 180 to 150 ppm but 180 ppm is not very hard at all. However, I need to ask if you found that number on your water provider's website or by testing it yourself - and if you tested it yourself, what tester did you use? The reason I'm asking is that some strip testers only measure up to 180 ppm and if the water is harder than that it will still show as 180.

Great question... So I used the API 5in1 test strips. You're 100% right though it might be even harder than 180...

@Willis
Your point is why I'm concerned... the fish might be OK in the water, but I'd rather not loose them early due to being not in their natural parameters. I should checked the provider though, I'm worried the water might be harder than 180 as Essjay suggested since that's what the test strips are showing.

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

You need to find out exactly what the GH (general hardness) and KH (carbonate hardness) of your water supply is.
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Angelfish, most tetras, barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0, or around 7.0 for barbs.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

---------------------
If you water has a GH of 180ppm, then gouramis and barbs should be fine.

Please stop using liquid CO2. It contains a harmful substance (glutaraldehyde) that can adversely affect fish.

 

[Crispii]

I've never heard of medaka! Have you had them in the past?

I have and they're really easy to breed.

 

[Wills]

Great question... So I used the API 5in1 test strips. You're 100% right though it might be even harder than 180...

@Willis
Your point is why I'm concerned... the fish might be OK in the water, but I'd rather not loose them early due to being not in their natural parameters. I should checked the provider though, I'm worried the water might be harder than 180 as Essjay suggested since that's what the test strips are showing.

When I said they would be ok I meant that they would be in a thriving situation. Pearl Gourami are a really widely distributed fish in the wild so you can see from this profile that their hardness range is well into the 300ppm

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trichopodus-leerii/

Similarly the ruby barbs are rated as doing well upto the mid 200s so at 180 you are going to be doing great - it does mention lower softer water for wild fish but they are not exclusive to the acidic ponds/lakes of south east Asia, which I suspect most wild caught fish are from.

Pethia nigrofasciata – Black Ruby Barb (Barbus nigrofasciatus, Puntius nigrofasciatus) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

And then for your panda garra check this out

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/garra-flavatra/

Again upto the low 200ppm, but look at the habitat pictures fast flowing rivers with large rocks and boulders, they are going to encounter a range of water hardness throughout the year.

160-180ppm is not hard enough to be concerned and I think you are limiting yourself too much.

Wills

 

[Fishmanic]

what is your PH?

 

[Woodlol]

what is your PH?

Somewhere around 7-7.5