Fish Choices?!

[N0body Of The Goat]

Neons or Cardinals are not likely to thrive in water with 328mg/l, that figure makes my Southampton water seem soft at 240mg/l (14 gH), which is considered pretty hard for most South American and Asian fish.

Besides Blind Cave Tetras and Odessa Barbs, that both come from very hard water, the only other non-risky schooling option I can think of is a group of one Rainbowfish species. Some Rainbows do better is neutral or even slightly acidic water, but good choices for hard water but be the likes of Lake Katubu; Bosemani; Red.

For something a little different with amazing colours, you could combine the Rainbows with a pair or two Empire Gudgeon.

 

[KittyKat]

Think I'll go with neon tetras as I do like the way they look in a school, but obviously don't want them to be food for any other fish I have!

I also still discourage you from neons, because of your hard water, but if you go for them, I very much encourage you to soften your water a lot with tannins (although this will cause problems if you ever need to do sudden water changes as large changes in pH/water hardness can kill fish). To soften the water, I recommend large amounts of tannin leaching bogwood, and oak, Indian almond leaves and/or any other suitable leaves for the bottom of the tank. Tannins are actually quite beneficial for most tetras, and especially so for neons.
As mentioned above, rainbows would be an excellent alternative. They are also schooling species, so you should go for 10+ of one species with a decent mix of males and females (to encourage good colour in males).

Would love some gourami's too! Think I'll add as I go along rather than buying all at the same time, and as always I'll ask advice on here first!
Also are gourami's best bought as a pair or groups etc?

That very much depends on the species and the tank size. Some species are schooling, so need to be kept in large groups (sparkling gouramis, for example); some are very aggressive, so need to be kept alone, unless the tank is big enough; some are peaceful and can be kept in small or large groups.
Whatever you decide on, pick only one species.
If you go for either of the two species I named above, 1 or 1m 2f would be best. The sex ratio there is very important as two males would not get along in a tank your size.

Neons or Cardinals are not likely to thrive in water with 328mg/l, that figure makes my Southampton water seem soft at 240mg/l (14 gH), which is considered pretty hard for most South American and Asian fish.

Did you know that most aquarium test kits measure GH as KH + permanent hardness, which means that to get the real GH, one needs to subtract the KH from it? And most water boards (and apparently everyone else too) measure GH as only permanent hardness?
I am having rather a lot of trouble believing that the OP has a permanent hardness of 328 ppm (18-18.5 degrees) as 100 ppm (6 degrees) is already "hard water" by aquarium standards.

Kevros, can you get a KH and GH test kit, and test your water yourself? Liquid ones please, they API set was about 6-8 pounds when I checked last. This will be *very* important if you want to keep neons.

 

[Kevros]

I am having rather a lot of trouble believing that the OP has a permanent hardness of 328 ppm (18-18.5 degrees) as 100 ppm (6 degrees) is already "hard water" by aquarium standards.

http/central.veoli...dex.aspx?pg=304

Typep in my postcode and looked at the water quality results for the 6 months from Jan - June 2011 - it said 328 mg/l

 

[KittyKat]

I am having rather a lot of trouble believing that the OP has a permanent hardness of 328 ppm (18-18.5 degrees) as 100 ppm (6 degrees) is already "hard water" by aquarium standards.

http/central.veoliawater.co.uk/index.aspx?pg=304

Typep in my postcode and looked at the water quality results for the 6 months from Jan - June 2011 - it said 328 mg/l

I just went on there and used the post code "SG1 1", here is what I see:
Alkalinity mgHCO[sub]3[/sub]/l 1 Min. 60 0 0 328 328 328

Alkalinity is NOT GH, it is KH, aka carbonate hardness, where carbonate is CO[sub]3[/sub] ions. It means that your water is very well buffered and your pH is not moving *anywhere*, not that it's hard or soft If you want a comparison, my KH is 13 degrees or so (230 ppm), so that's actually normal.

I'm off to look for the GH in those numbers…

 

[KittyKat]

Right, so I found this line in there:
Hardness (Total) mgCaCO3/l 1 No PCV 0 0 335 335 335

…which is slightly confusing because alkalinity is total carbonates, and calcium carbonate is a carbonate too.. I think this might actually be your KH, not the number I mentioned in the last post.

Permanent hardness is metal ions (Ca, Mg, etc)… the closest value I can find to your permanent hardness is this:
Calcium mgCa/l 1 No PCV 0 0 134 134 134

Which would indicate tht your GH is 134 ppm or 7.5 degrees, which is hard water, but a realistic value for it.

 

[Kevros]

I am having rather a lot of trouble believing that the OP has a permanent hardness of 328 ppm (18-18.5 degrees) as 100 ppm (6 degrees) is already "hard water" by aquarium standards.

http/central.veoliawater.co.uk/index.aspx?pg=304

Typep in my postcode and looked at the water quality results for the 6 months from Jan - June 2011 - it said 328 mg/l

I just went on there and used the post code "SG1 1", here is what I see:
Alkalinity mgHCO[sub]3[/sub]/l 1 Min. 60 0 0 328 328 328

Alkalinity is NOT GH, it is KH, aka carbonate hardness, where carbonate is CO[sub]3[/sub] ions. It means that your water is very well buffered and your pH is not moving *anywhere*, not that it's hard or soft If you want a comparison, my KH is 13 degrees or so (230 ppm), so that's actually normal.

I'm off to look for the GH in those numbers…

My postcode is SG2 but i'm not sure it makes too much of a difference, also looked at Water Hardness and it said 328 mg/l and also said Very Hard, it is a hard water area as when i have to frequently clean my kettle of limescale when i want a cup of tea

 

[KittyKat]

So my conclusions is (from the two previous posts) that your water is hard and well buffered… I think It would be easier if you could test it with an aquarium test kit as at least I know how to interpret them!

Edit: …and that my brain feels slightly #71###ed now.

 

[Kevros]

So my conclusions is (from the two previous posts) that your water is hard and well buffered… I think It would be easier if you could test it with an aquarium test kit as at least I know how to interpret them!

Edit: …and that my brain feels slightly #71###ed now.

Will do, i'll then post my results up here to determine what fish would be best suited in my water conditions! Thanks as always for your feedback! Hope your brain feels better soon