Guppies And Soft Water?

[rob158]

Hi,

I live in scotland so the water is soft but I hear thay like hard water, is there some way to turn it into hard water? or will soft water be fine?

thanks,

 

[KittyKat]

I found that they (and all livebearers) do considerably better in hard water. You can add rock which will release calcium or, for example, reef bones to the aquarium to harden the water in the long term. You could also add coral sand to the filter.

Do keep in mind that farmed guppies are very week and tend to have a lot of health problems. It is well worth finding a reputable breeder.

 

[rob158]

ok thanks, im looking for some guppy breeders but there hard to find

 

[OldMan47]

Any calcium carbonate present in your tank will tend to raise both the carbonate hardness and the water's pH. One of the most readily available forms is simple limestone. A few limestone rocks in the tank will definitely harden your water and raise your pH. As most other livebearer keepers can attest, high mineral content and a high pH is really a positive thing for any of the more common livebearers. There are some livebearers that do best with low mineral content water but they are far less common in the hobby than things like guppies. I have found, as a livebearer specialist, that almost any readily available livebearer will thrive in the high pH and high TDS regime. BTW I consider things like goodeids to be readily available because a dedicated club participant does not find most goodeids to be too hard to find. I have some nice blue goodeids, A. towerii, in my tanks and they fall right in line with the rest of my fish, even though many people would have a hard time finding a breeding colony of them. Any dedicated hobbyist can find them along with other livebearers. I absolutely admit they cannot be found in a pet shop, any pet shop, but they are not all that hard to find in hobbyist locations. I got mine at the ALA convention last year.