ufo 550
New Member
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Suggested Fish For My Aquarium
- Thread starter ufo 550
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CletePurcel
Fish Fanatic
Your water is very hard, but as others have said some fish can adapt to it or tolerate it.
On the other hand if you can get free RO water and don't might frequent trips to the LFS then that might suit you.
My water is moderately hard and I haven't encountered any problems yet although I did think about getting a reverse osmosis unit. They're not that expensive.
There may be other options, but I will leave that to others with more experience to chime in.
On the other hand if you can get free RO water and don't might frequent trips to the LFS then that might suit you.
My water is moderately hard and I haven't encountered any problems yet although I did think about getting a reverse osmosis unit. They're not that expensive.
There may be other options, but I will leave that to others with more experience to chime in.
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
OM47 is member oldman47. You might try a PM to him. He has very hard water in his area but has mentioned keeping at least a couple of tanks at a lower hardness by combining RO water with a percentage of tap water. He may have some good range numbers for what the percentage of add-back tap water achieves in terms of hardness and perhaps what might be desirable for your desired fish. WD
I have almost the same water as ufo 55 is listing. MY GH and KH run around 12 German degrees which is in the same basic range as his. My pH tends to run around 7.8 and my tap water is treated with choramines so right after a water change I see the effect of breaking the chloramine bond and releasing ammonia at about 1 ppm from my tap water. My usual water change routine is to limit new water to less than 25% of the total so I never see more than 0.25 ppm of ammonia in the tank itself, and that is very short lived. What I have found is that almost all of my tanks do best with straight tap water. Some of the very sensitive fish that I sometimes keep get a mix of tap water and RO from my own RO unit, but most get straight tap water. The end result is that even some fish reputed to like low pH low mineral content water do fine in my tanks. The albino bristle nose plecos are even breeding regularly in water that people will tell you is completely unsuitable for them. On the other hand, my water makes typical common livebearers iron clad in my tanks. Plants can get all of their trace mineral needs right from my tap water with no additions needed.
I have exactly 2 of my 26 tanks that ever get a mix of RO and tap water. One is a tank where I am trying to breed Corydoras hastatus, which get a 3/1 mix of RO. Their tank pH is still 7.8 but the mineral content is much lower than in my tap water, at only about 100 ppm of TDS. My RO water has a pH near neutral and a mineral content of about 17 ppm of TDS, which equates to less than 1 degree of GH and KH, far purer than the water ufo 550 is getting from his pet shop.
The best advice I can offer, for the ongoing fish problems, is to stop using RO in any way. Instead, do a few small water changes over time using tap water. Let's say 10% water changes each time. After you have done 5 or 6 water changes that small every 2 days, your fish will be fairly well acclimated to your tap water mineral content and will tolerate much larger water changes with ease. Whenever I find a water problem in one of my tanks, every few months when you have as many tanks as I do, I do 90% or larger water changes. Right after a water change like that, all fish in the tank look far better than they did before the change. If necessary, based on testing results, I will repeat that water change daily. After a few days, my tanks often look like cycled tanks because I clone the mature media that I have in old established tanks, so I need not keep up that huge water change regime for very long.
When I set up a new tank, I never lose many fish. Instead I take very aggressive measures, with very large water changes, to keep ammonia and nitrites under control. I find that an auction, like the one I will attend tomorrow, often leaves me with the need to quickly bring on a new tank to house the new fish. As long as I remember that fish in the wild see new water daily, remember much of what we keep come from running streams, I find that my new fish are quite responsive to water changes. Rather than stress out about what the pH is going to do in a tank, I focus on the contaminants in my tank. No fish in the wild must put up with much ammonia or nitrite since the small stream they live in replaces its water several times each day. Rain does change the pH dramatically and also changes mineral content quite a bit in very short time periods yet the fish thrive in that small stream. What the fish tolerate easily is a pH change. They can also adjust to changing water mineral content, but not quite as quickly.
I have exactly 2 of my 26 tanks that ever get a mix of RO and tap water. One is a tank where I am trying to breed Corydoras hastatus, which get a 3/1 mix of RO. Their tank pH is still 7.8 but the mineral content is much lower than in my tap water, at only about 100 ppm of TDS. My RO water has a pH near neutral and a mineral content of about 17 ppm of TDS, which equates to less than 1 degree of GH and KH, far purer than the water ufo 550 is getting from his pet shop.
The best advice I can offer, for the ongoing fish problems, is to stop using RO in any way. Instead, do a few small water changes over time using tap water. Let's say 10% water changes each time. After you have done 5 or 6 water changes that small every 2 days, your fish will be fairly well acclimated to your tap water mineral content and will tolerate much larger water changes with ease. Whenever I find a water problem in one of my tanks, every few months when you have as many tanks as I do, I do 90% or larger water changes. Right after a water change like that, all fish in the tank look far better than they did before the change. If necessary, based on testing results, I will repeat that water change daily. After a few days, my tanks often look like cycled tanks because I clone the mature media that I have in old established tanks, so I need not keep up that huge water change regime for very long.
When I set up a new tank, I never lose many fish. Instead I take very aggressive measures, with very large water changes, to keep ammonia and nitrites under control. I find that an auction, like the one I will attend tomorrow, often leaves me with the need to quickly bring on a new tank to house the new fish. As long as I remember that fish in the wild see new water daily, remember much of what we keep come from running streams, I find that my new fish are quite responsive to water changes. Rather than stress out about what the pH is going to do in a tank, I focus on the contaminants in my tank. No fish in the wild must put up with much ammonia or nitrite since the small stream they live in replaces its water several times each day. Rain does change the pH dramatically and also changes mineral content quite a bit in very short time periods yet the fish thrive in that small stream. What the fish tolerate easily is a pH change. They can also adjust to changing water mineral content, but not quite as quickly.
ufo 550
New Member
Thanks OldMan47, there's a lot in your reply to digest. So I'll take on you advice and others, to stop using the RO or certainly phase it out. I'll report back in a few weeks to see how I'm (or the fish more like) fairing.
ufo 550
New Member
Well, just a bit of an update if anyone can offer advice. Since my last post I have started to reduce my RO content with tap water. Before that last Tuesday, one of my red Platty's died. Looked poorly for a while and stayed away from the other fish. Last seen swimming vertically before I found it dead. Still thinking of giving it a few more weeks before asking advice on where to go with fish.
ufo 550
New Member
It's been nearly three weeks since my last post and on a positive note; I have not lost any more fish. After the last red Platty died, its stable mate looked a bit poorly. It had a white shine to it and its dorsal fins looked very flat. Thinking it was some kind of fungus, I used an anti-fungus treatment and a daily dose of API Melafix. The fish has since recovered. I've also followed Oldman 47 advice and stopped using RO water. I clean the tank and give it a 25% water change using tap water. Water test of the discarded water show very low levels of Nitrate & Nitrite, and 0 ammonia. PH is 7. Perhaps by the end of the month I could report back and seek advice on new fish for my tank?
waterdrop
Enthusiastic "Re-Beginner"
Glad to hear this UFO. For every general water type there are various fish out there that would love to live in it! I'm sure with the help of the members you will find some sort of new combo for your tank. WD
ufo 550
New Member
I think my tank is ok and stable enough now to purchase some new fish. From my original community, I have left:
4 x Cardinal Neon’s
2 x X-Ray Tetras
1 x Zebra Danios
2 x Harlequins
1 x Red Plattys
My tank holds 78 litres and I have a couple each of live & artificial plants. I also have one largish piece of bogwood taking up some space. Can someone make some suggestions on new fish? I expect I will be advised to add to the ones I already have, but would like to have some slightly larger fish and perhaps some ground dwellers.
4 x Cardinal Neon’s
2 x X-Ray Tetras
1 x Zebra Danios
2 x Harlequins
1 x Red Plattys
My tank holds 78 litres and I have a couple each of live & artificial plants. I also have one largish piece of bogwood taking up some space. Can someone make some suggestions on new fish? I expect I will be advised to add to the ones I already have, but would like to have some slightly larger fish and perhaps some ground dwellers.
ufo 550
New Member
Bump?
In your situation I think I would flesh out the number of rasboras first. If that goes well and you like your platy, a few more platies would absolutely thrive in your tap water. I focus on mostly livebearers because they fit my water so well and your water is much like mine. A small group of the smaller corydoras species would also be nice, but give the tank some time to respond to other additions before adding any. If I had softer water, I would have several tanks full of nothing but various separate Corydoras species, they are delightful when kept in large numbers.
ufo 550
New Member
Thanks OldMan47, I'll add some Rasboras playing safe with buying just 3 more for the time being.
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