Water hardness confusion....help! :)

[aqua.land]

Hi,
So I've recently bought an API 5-in-1 aquarium test kit.
I tested everything a few times, this is the most recent reading:
GH - 180 ppm (mg/L) so 10 dGH
KH - 80 ppm (mg/L) so 4.5 dKH.
PH - 7.5
No2 - 0
No3 - 20 ppm (mg/L)
I am planning on keeping platies and maybe some corys/ a butterfly pleco along with shrimp and snails.

On the instructions it says that the GH for tropical community aquariums should be 3.4 dGH - 6.7 dGH.
For cherry shrimp it is only 4-8 dGH....also platies may hunt these shrimp so I may not keep them.
The internet says 12-18 dGH for platies and 2-18 dGH for butterfly plecos, and 3 stripe corys to 18 dGH.

I am a bit confused....which one is right?
How can I raise/lower my water hardness?

Please hep!
Thank you

 

[seangee]

TBH I wouldn't change anything. That's a nice middle of the road reading that gives you quite a lot of flexibility in stocking. Its quite rare (at least in the UK) to have tap water that can accommodate both hard and soft water fish, as long as you stick to species that don't need extremes at either end.
Platies will be ok but you should avoid fish that need very hard water such as mollies. Most cories are also fine with this. Cherry shrimps are fine in most tanks - I have kept these all the way up to 16dGH. They do need stable parameters but they are not especially fussy.

What is your tank size? Butterfly plecs grow up to 6" so should be in a tank of at least 4'.

 

[Colin_T]

On the instructions it says that the GH for tropical community aquariums should be 3.4 dGH - 6.7 dGH.
For cherry shrimp it is only 4-8 dGH....also platies may hunt these shrimp so I may not keep them.
The internet says 12-18 dGH for platies and 2-18 dGH for butterfly plecos, and 3 stripe corys to 18 dGH.

There is no such thing as a set GH for a freshwater tropical community aquarium.

Each species of fish comes from water with a particular pH, GH & KH. A lot of fish come from soft acid water (pH below 7.0 and a GH below 150ppm). Other fish come from water with a pH around 7.0 and a GH above 150ppm. Some fish come from water with a pH around 8.5-9.0 and a GH above 400ppm.

So disregard the instructions in the test kit relating to GH for a community aquarium.

----------------------
Platies should have a GH around 200ppm or above, and a pH above 7.0.

Wild caught plecos and Corydoras should have water with a GH below 100ppm and a pH below 7.0.

Captive bred plecos and Corydoras will be fine with a GH around 180ppm and a pH of 7.5, and so will the platies.

I would not worry too much about the water if you want to keep those fish. The platies would prefer slightly harder water but 20ppm is unlikely to make much difference. The catfish would prefer slightly softer water but again, 20-30ppm is not going to make a lot of difference.

As for your pH, it is fine right where it is. So is the KH.

The nitrates are the only thing I would be concerned about. Normally we try to keep nitrates under 20ppm. If you have lots of floating plants in the tank, they will help to reduce the nitrates. Otherwise you will need to pre-filter the tap water to remove the nitrates before using that water in the aquarium.

 

[aqua.land]

TBH I wouldn't change anything. That's a nice middle of the road reading that gives you quite a lot of flexibility in stocking. Its quite rare (at least in the UK) to have tap water that can accommodate both hard and soft water fish, as long as you stick to species that don't need extremes at either end.
Platies will be ok but you should avoid fish that need very hard water such as mollies. Most cories are also fine with this. Cherry shrimps are fine in most tanks - I have kept these all the way up to 16dGH. They do need stable parameters but they are not especially fussy.

What is your tank size? Butterfly plecs grow up to 6" so should be in a tank of at least 4'.

Thank you so much!
By butterfly plecos I mean This - it says maximum size they grow to is 7.5cm....but yes, maybe they are too big, my tank is only around 10 gal.
I am probably not going to get them

 

[Colin_T]

Borneo scooter as we call them in Australia, are small and only grow to about 2 inches.

Don't get them until the tank has established and been running for a couple of months because they are sensitive to poor water quality.

 

[aqua.land]

Borneo scooter as we call them in Australia, are small and only grow to about 2 inches.

Don't get them until the tank has established and been running for a couple of months because they are sensitive to poor water quality.

Thank you, will definitely keep that in mind.

 

[seangee]

Thank you so much!
By butterfly plecos I mean This - it says maximum size they grow to is 7.5cm....but yes, maybe they are too big, my tank is only around 10 gal.
I am probably not going to get them

What are the dimensions of your tank? A 10G really is too small for platies as well as most cories. You may be better off using this tank for a betta or some shrimp. Possibly both - but some betta will just eat all the shrimp

 

[aqua.land]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.....
Unfortunately I already got 4 platies today......
If I see they aren't getting on well in the tank I'll try to find a larger one....or re-home them...
However they are still very small (like 2 cm) so we will see.

 

[Essjay]

The API test strips only measure up to 180 ppm, they can't measure any higher than that. So if you had hardness of, say, 250 ppm, it would still read as 180 ppm.

Please don't assume your water is 180 ppm, it could be that level or anything higher. What does your water company give for yuor hardness?

 

[aqua.land]

No idea.
Before getting the aquarium we tried to dig up the 'water meter' but once dug up could not find the numbers.
I should ring up the company and check, or check any notes that I may have.

 

[Essjay]

What is the name of the water company?

 

[Byron]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.....
Unfortunately I already got 4 platies today......
If I see they aren't getting on well in the tank I'll try to find a larger one....or re-home them...
However they are still very small (like 2 cm) so we will see.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but this is not the way to do it and it is not kind to the fish. You have a 10g tank and this is not sufficient space for platies. I realize they are still small, but they will grow within very few months. They need at minimum a 20g tank, and a 20g long would be better than a 20g high.

Unless you now have a 20g tank, I would return the platies. We often have plans for a second tank, or a larger tan, but until you actually have it running, please do not acquire fish needing it. This is not fair to the fish.

 

[aqua.land]

Hi.
Yes, I’m sure you know what you are talking about, however there are so many websites saying that a 10g tank is fine.
However I completely respect your decision, and you for sure more experienced than me, so you probably know best.

 

[Byron]

Hi.
Yes, I’m sure you know what you are talking about, however there are so many websites saying that a 10g tank is fine.
However I completely respect your decision, and you for sure more experienced than me, so you probably know best.

This comes up a lot in this hobby, the conflicting advice. The bottom line is that you cannot rely on anything you read or see online unless you know the reliability of the source. Anyone can set up a website, or post videos, but that does not mean they have a clue what they are doing, and many do not. I always check into who owns/runs any site I use, and if I know them either personally or by reputation to be educated, knowledgeable and reliable, fine; if not, move on.