Any advice welcome and appreciated re water parameters

[MammaBearinTN]

Will it be possible to keep new world cichlids without changing my water parameters too much? I've kept fish before and know I have to keep my water within certain parameters, but I don't want to feel like I'm knocking my head against a brick wall, either.

https://www.amwater.com/ccr/chattanooga.pdf

Alkalinity (ppm) 57
Hardness (ppm) 74
Hardness (grains/gallon) 4.3
pH (units) 7.1

 

[Wills]

I'm really rubbish with hardness readings but I think that means your water is pretty soft. Which is very enviable as it means South Americans are best suited to your tank, I say enviable as there is a really broad range of fish you can choose from, from the smallest dwarfs upto big heroine types like Severums.

What size tank are you thinking of?

Wills

 

[MammaBearinTN]

After not keeping fish for years, I just bought a 30G long (36") Seapora, and I am thinking I will eventually get one more tank the same size. I've never been interested in the larger tanks probably because I'm only 5'1" and the shorter tanks are much easier for me to maintain.

Anyway, I'm mostly interested in new world cichlids. If I'm lucky I'll be able to keep two pairs in a 36" tank, but I'm prepared to just have one pair per tank. I also love gouramis.

 

[Colin_T]

Your water is soft with an almost neutral pH. A pH of 7.0 is neutral.

WATER HARDNESS
1-50ppm = very soft
50-150ppm = soft
150-250ppm = medium
250-350ppm = hard
350-450ppm = very hard
above 450ppm is extremely hard.