Confusing data on Furcatus

[vanalisa]

I was reading about my fish on the Seriously Fish website.

In the first part of the article it explains the conditions of the water as:
"In 1981 the water temperature was measured at 75.2 – 83.3 °F/24 – 28.5 °C, pH 7.0 – 8.0, and hardness 90 – 180 ppm."
I'm not sure as to if this is ideal, or if this info was describing one occurence wherein the fish were gathered in a dry season.

Later on the article, when describing requirements for care:

"Temperature: The air and water
temperatures in its natural habitats
do not vary a great deal and in
aquaria the fish tend to fare poorly
unless maintained within the range
24 – 28 °C.
pH: 7.0 – 8.0
Hardness: 268 – 536 ppm"

So I'm a bit confused. My fish seem very healthy and displaying plenty of breeding shennanigens.
---------------------------------
I do know that my geographical area's water hardness is:
180ppm
(10.5 gpg)
(So, on the low end of hard...)

And water ph: is
within range
And my temp is:
within range

Are there any tank conditions that would cause harder water, as it seems the SF article recommends harder water...?
Can I provide my fish with better water conditions, and if so, how?

 

[Colin_T]

The following link is the best one to go to for information about rainbowfish.

Melanotaeniidae and Pseudomugilidae

A website dedicated to Rainbowfishes of Australia and New Guinea

rainbowfish.angfaqld.org.au

If your pH is above 7.0 and the GH is above 150ppm, then the water is fine for Pseudomugil furcatus. Keep the temperature around 24-26C because they age faster in warm water.

I kept mine in tanks with a pH of 8.0 and a GH around 250ppm and they were fine, other people kept them in water with a pH around 7.6 and a GH around 100ppm and they were fine.

 

[AquaBarb]

Just looked these up, they look pretty cool

 

[vanalisa]

@Colin_T , thanks, that makes me feel better!
@Russjw , thanks, they are beautiful and very active, but not in a Danio way.
(Although my LFS has a tank full of Long Finned Danio, I think they are blue. Anyway these Danio are very calm and peaceful. I think that is because there are so many of them. If I had a LARGE community tank I might consider getting a couple dozen. They are attractive fish)!