Best Fish For High Gh Aquarium?

[ShamefulCrayon]

Hello all

I had my heart set on getting some Corydoras Habrosus for my new aquarium once the fishless cycle is done - should be about another week at this point. But my GH is too high for Habrosus to survive and without spending hundreds on a distiller, I just can't have them as it wouldn't be fair to them.

So I'm wondering what fish would be OK with a high GH instead. Preferably a fish that's at home in the bottom of the tank as I'm planning on also having 10 Ember tetra and my Betta in with them.

Any suggestions? Still gutted about the Habrosus. I'm wondering if a different type of catfish would be OK for a 64L tank?

Thanks

 

[Byron]

It will help us to know the actual GH, and the KH and pH too.  You should be able to obtain these numbers from your local water authority, probably on their website.
 
Ember Tetra and Betta are soft water fish too, but there is some room for fluctuation from preferred levels with many fish provided it is not extreme, so knowing the numbers is important here.
 
Byron.

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

I did a GH test earlier and I used 15 drops before it turned green! I may have done it wrong though. I'll be sure to give it a much heartier shake before I next test the water. Need to test Am and NO2 at 9:15pm as the tank's still cycling so I'll do GH and KH testing then.

My betta's not had any problems apart from a tiny bit of fin curling which has now been sorted out with a better diet.

I know that Habrosus are far more sensitive to GH and KH than betta's and ember tetra though, which is why I thought it'd be unfair to keep them without softer water. I'm thinking about getting a distiller if I can afford it, but I don't know if I can yet.

 

[Byron]

I did a GH test earlier and I used 15 drops before it turned green! I may have done it wrong though. I'll be sure to give it a much heartier shake before I next test the water. Need to test Am and NO2 at 9:15pm as the tank's still cycling so I'll do GH and KH testing then.

My betta's not had any problems apart from a tiny bit of fin curling which has now been sorted out with a better diet.

I know that Habrosus are far more sensitive to GH and KH than betta's and ember tetra though, which is why I thought it'd be unfair to keep them without softer water. I'm thinking about getting a distiller if I can afford it, but I don't know if I can yet.

 
If the tests are accurate, that is fairly hard water.  I would still check the municipal water authority though, just to confirm or correct.  It is always possible that something in the tank might raise the GH/KH/pH and it is wise to know the source water levels.  If you were to decide to adjust the parameters, knowing these is essential so that you know what's necessary.

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

Thanks Byron. Local water supplier says the GH is 3.32mm\l

I have two big chunks of African rock in the aquarium at present. Any chance this could be raising the hardness?

I'll be sure to check the tap water too.

 

[Byron]

Thanks Byron. Local water supplier says the GH is 3.32mm\l

I have two big chunks of African rock in the aquarium at present. Any chance this could be raising the hardness?

I'll be sure to check the tap water too.

 
First, let's get the measurement worked out, as we are dealing with different scales.  Your test kit (presumably API) uses dGH, each drop being 1 dGH.  This unit is common, and another used in the hobby is ppm (parts per million).  You can convert dGH to ppm by multiplying by 17.9, and convert ppm to dGH by dividing by 17.9.  And ppm is the same as mg/l (milligrams per litre).
 
The scale used by the water supplier is mm/l -- do they explain this somewhere?

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

No, they don't have any explanations on their site. Just tested the water though

Tap water GH - 19dGH. KH - 11

Tank water GH - 18dGH. KH - 10

ph is a steady 7.4 in both tank and tap.

Weird, I would've thought the rocks would've made it higher.

 

[Byron]

It depends upon the substance of the rock, as with sand or gravel.  If these are composed of calcareous minerals such as calcium--as would be limestone, marble, coral, shells, dolomite, aragonite--then they will slowly dissolve and raise the GH and pH.  But inert rock/sand/gravel will have no impact on this.
 
I am still wondering about their numbers...so there is no definition as to what "mm/l" is?  I'm wondering if it might be millival, as millimetre per litre makes no sense because millimetre is a length not a volume measurement.

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

On, sorry Byron. I misunderstood you at first. Mm\l is millimols per liter here. I'll see if I can find the full water report again...
Total hardness as Calcium (mg/l) 132.8
Total hardness as Calcium carbonate (mg/l) 332
Total hardness as Degrees Clark (°Clark or °e) 23.107
Total hardness as Degrees French (°f) 33.2
Total hardness as Degrees German (°dH) 18.858
Total hardness as millimoles (mmol/l of Ca) 3.32

 

[Byron]

On, sorry Byron. I misunderstood you at first. Mm\l is millimols per liter here. I'll see if I can find the full water report again...

 
OK, that makes sense now.  The 3.32 millimols/litre is equivalent to 18.7 dGH, which is basically 19 dGH.  Or 340 ppm.  So at least your test is in agreement with the water authority.

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

Indeed. I think I may have to just bite the bullet and pony up the coin for a distiller or RO unit as that'll be cheaper in the long run. I don't even know where to start with those!

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

Well... Bought the RO unit. Decided I only needed a 3 stage unit, so the price was pretty reasonable (I think).

Tank's still taking 2 days to cycle. It's so close I can almost taste the success! Lol. Very excited to get it planted up and post pictures here. Even more excited about finally seeing all the fish playing around and enjoying their new home. Any who, getting rather off topic now. I still have plenty of patience, but its lovely to see a plan coming together.

 

[StevenF]

Well... Bought the RO unit. Decided I only needed a 3 stage unit, so the price was pretty reasonable (I think).

Tank's still taking 2 days to cycle. It's so close I can almost taste the success! Lol. Very excited to get it planted up and post pictures here.
 

 
Plan on it taking a day to install the RO unit.   I have done two but in each case the hardware under the sink was different  and had to make an additional trip to the hardware store for some additional items.  After that you need to purge and sterilize the unit. which takes about a day  Once done the water from the RO unit wil have a GH of about 25ppm and a KH of about 0ppm.
 
RO water works great for an unplanted tank.  However for a planted tank you will have to add micro nutrients to the water.  If you don't the plants will die.  If you want shrimp or snails in the tank you will also need to add calcium and magnesium the )the plant micro nutrients wore not enough for my tank).  I add a 50/50 mix of calcium carobnate and magnesium carbonate.  Otherwise the shrimp cannot molt and sails can't grow there shells and they will die.  I recently have had problems with blue dream shrimp dieing and that problem appears to have been due to iodine deficiency.  It will take a couple of months to be sure.

 

[ShamefulCrayon]

I got the RO unit, but realised I can't use it as I'm in a third floor council flat and not allowed to fit it.

So, changed my mind on the cories and opted for red cherry shrimp instead, which are arriving later today. Tank's finished cycling and I planted it up and did an extra week of cycling just to make sure all is well.

 

[Far_King]

Get yourself some copper pipe (connect RO to this) and a hose attachment to connect directly to a tap.  Seal one end of the pipe. Hose attachment over the tap for water in.  Put the waste down the sink and the RO into a large container.  It'll take a couple of hours to produce ten litres or so depending on pressure.  You should be ok if you don't crank it too high and use a hose clip to secure if necessary.
 
It's not a permanent fixture then and removable.  Just run it while you're there and keep an eye on it.