No needing advice just a comment

[Tyler777]

I was just re searching bout water parameters n other inf bout fish I want in my future 125 G tank n I was totally confused bout what I found out.
I checked 3 different websites for info bout the same fishes n EVERY website gave me a different level of PH , hardness n Alkalinity plus different water Temps.
What I read bout gouramies or any of the fishes I checked it out each website gave me different water parameters than the other two.
I got so confused.
Good thing I have you guys for real advice

 

[Rhysp87]

I'm still very new to the hobby and found the same thing. There is so much conflicting information out there that its no surprise people make mistakes. I'm learning which sites and people I trust (this forum being one of them), and then ignoring the others.

 

[Colin_T]

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

Depending on what the GH of your water is, will determine what fish you should keep.

Domesticated angelfish, discus, most tetras, most barbs, Bettas, gouramis, rasbora, Corydoras and small species of suckermouth catfish all occur in soft water (GH below 150ppm) and a pH below 7.0.

Livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), rainbowfish and goldfish occur in medium hard water with a GH around 200-250ppm and a pH above 7.0.

If you have very hard water (GH above 300ppm) then look at African Rift Lake cichlids, or use distilled or reverse osmosis water to reduce the GH and keep fishes from softer water.

 

[sharkweek178]

Seriously Fish is probably the most authoritative site there is on fish keeping. They can tell you everything you need to know about most species. Including tank size, water parameters, etc. It's my and a lot of other peoples' go to.

Seriously Fish — Feeling fishy?

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[GaryE]

Seriously fish is great, as is ignoring all hobby lore and going to reports on the fish in nature. You can often find what the water is like where they come from, which is way more reliable than reports of how they did in the water at Ed's house somewhere in the world.

 

[Lateral Line]

As requested, a comment. Many of the common species in the trade have never been in their native waters, but have been produced in breeding stations perhaps on a different continent.

 

[GaryE]

As requested, a comment. Many of the common species in the trade have never been in their native waters, but have been produced in breeding stations perhaps on a different continent.

This is very true, but not that crucial. Breeders who want numbers of fish will breed them in waters as close to nature as possible - a softwater region in Asia will produce softwater tetras from South America, for example. They don't sidestep millions of years of evolution in a generation or ten.
I know one farmer with hardwater, and he's a livebearer specialist. If you look at the availability lists from Indonesian, Malaysian or Thai farms, you can see what the local water is like by what they are able to breed. Farms need success more than hobbyists do, and they adapt their projects to local conditions.

I'm in Canada, but in ten minutes I can be at a lake as blackwater as anywhere in the tropics. Since that's my water source, I have reasonable success breeding (and keeping) rainforest, softwater species from Africa and South America. It's the water conditions, not the location.