Water Chemistry Question

[Tank Sinatra]

Hi all,

I'm a beginner within the fish keeping sphere. I've done a heap of research regarding what fish I can have in my tank. All roads seem to lead back to hard water or soft water. Based on the advice of someone on here, I have recorded the following results of my tap water:

GH: 194.8
KH: 143.2
PH: 7.4
Nitrates: 20

I know that I live in a hard water area, but based on the readings, how hard is my water?

 

[Naughts]

195ppm is about 12dH and is "moderately hard".
If you want to keep very soft water fish you will need to use RO or rain water. However it is much more sustainable to use the tap water, and choose fish that suit it, especially for beginners.
Your tap nitrates don't give you any wriggle room but there are things that will help here, like lots of plants.

 

[Essjay]

195 ppm is also too low for many hard water fish.


If you avoid those species which need very soft or very hard water, it still leaves a wide selection. Look up fish that catch your eye on Seriously Fish and if your 195 ppm/12 dH falls within their range they are suitable for your water.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

195ppm is about 12dH and is "moderately hard".
If you want to keep very soft water fish you will need to use RO or rain water. However it is much more sustainable to use the tap water, and choose fish that suit it, especially for beginners.
Your tap nitrates don't give you any wriggle room but there are things that will help here, like lots of plants.

Ok great, thanks for letting me know.

The tank was set up today and has about 20-25 plants in there. How will the plants help with my nitrate?

 

[Tank Sinatra]

195 ppm is also too low for many hard water fish.


If you avoid those species which need very soft or very hard water, it still leaves a wide selection. Look up fish that catch your eye on Seriously Fish and if your 195 ppm/12 dH falls within their range they are suitable for your water.

That’s great, thank you. I will check the website out.

 

[Naughts]

An option for your shoal -

Pristella maxillaris – X-ray Tetra — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Nitrates rise as fish breathe and excrete ammonia but a heavily planted tank will utilise the ammonia so the nitrates are kept in check. Not overstocking, not overfeeding and regular maintenance will also keep the water quality in a healthy range.

 

[Essjay]

Without live plants, the beneficial bacteria turn all the ammonia into nitrite then nitrate, but plants turn ammonia into protein.

 

[Tank Sinatra]

Thanks a lot for your help. That’s cleared my questions up (for now). I’ll spend some time on Seriously Fish and come up with some ideas

 

[Colin_T]

You have medium hard water that is great water for guppies, platies, swordtails and a lot of other livebearers. Rainbowfish and a lot of barbs will be fine.

If you dilute it with rain or reverse osmosis water (50/50) you would have great water for tetras, gouramis, angelfish, Corydoras catfish, rasboras and a lot of other soft water fishes.