Water Hardness - Is My Level Ok?

[FlyingFish78]

I'm new to the hobby and I'd just like to check whether my water hardness will be suitable for tropical species such as tetras, zebra danios and other such small fish.
 
I presently have the facilities to test for PH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, but unfortunately not for water hardness.
 
I looked on my local water company's website and viewed the water test results for my postal code (ZIP code). Apparently the 'Total Hardness as CaCO3' is 275. Is this rating suitable for tropical fish, such as those I mentioned earlier, or must steps be taken to reduce the hardness?
 
Many thanks,
 
~ FlyFish78

 

[508]

Your water is hard which isn't what most tropical fish prefer but it should be fine. Chances are your LFS keeps their fish in local tap water so it shouldn't cause any problems.

 

[FlyingFish78]

I'm thinking about using a little peat to reduce the hardness a touch... If need be.

 

[daizeUK]

My water is 300 mg/l CaCO3, slightly harder than yours. I try to avoid species of fish (such as rummynose) which don't do well in hard water. There are lots of species that will do fine with this hardness and others such as livebearers and some species of barb and rainbowfish that will thrive.

 

[FlyingFish78]

My water is 300 mg/l CaCO3, slightly harder than yours. I try to avoid species of fish (such as rummynose) which don't do well in hard water. There are lots of species that will do fine with this hardness and others such as livebearers and some species of barb and rainbowfish that will thrive.

 
Oh I don't want livebearers. I can do without a population explosion inside the aquarium. I've heard Lemon and Glowlight Tetras are pretty good for hard water.

 

[hobby5]

Check on seriouslyfish.com before you get a new fish. They list the prefered water parameters for each species.

 

[daizeUK]

Oh I don't want livebearers. I can do without a population explosion inside the aquarium. I've heard Lemon and Glowlight Tetras are pretty good for hard water.

Very wise! I keep male and female livebearers in separate tanks for that reason.
Lemon tetras should be fine and cherry barbs are another good option for hard water. Also check out the blue eye rainbowfish species.

 

[FlyingFish78]

Also check out the blue eye rainbowfish species.

Wow what a beautiful species of fish! Thanks for letting me know about them. I might add 8-10 blue eyes once the tank is mature.

Tested the water again today and the readings are the same as before.

Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrite - 0.1
Nitrate - around 30-50

The readings aren't particularly accurate, though, due to the poorer quality Nutrafin test kit. I'm expecting the API test to kit to arrive any day now so I'm looking forward to taking readings then. If it shows consistently negligible readings for ammonia and nitrite/nitrate I'll think about adding some more fish in a week or 2.

It's probably a good idea to add some floating plants soon but I'll do a lot of research first and make sure that I obtain a variety which will be suitable for the hardness of the water and which won't cause problems for the aquarium; like duckweed which takes over and you can't get rid of it!