General stocking questions

[Essjay]

I agree. That is too low for mollies, which need hard alkaline water. It is OK for the other species mentioned though.

It doesn't matter what the water at the fish store is, the fish are only there for a very short time (they don't make money if they don't sell fish).
Fish have evolved over thousands of years in a specific hardness and pH. It takes more than a few generations to change the DNA of fish.

Naughts just converted your GH from one unit (ppm) to another (dH). Like converting inches to cm. Some fish profiles use dH while others use ppm, so we need to know our hardness in both units.
KH and GH are different things. GH measures the minerals calcium and magnesium in water, KH measures the amount of buffer, which is mainly carbonate and bicarbonate.

 

[Jared Learn]

Or GH to DH I mean. And according to the tests my KH is 40 if that helps at all

 

[Jared Learn]

So should I rehome the mollies take them back to the store or what?

 

[Essjay]

You posted while I was typing!

Your KH is quite low which means there is not much in the water to keep pH stable. The natural tendency of a tank is to produce acidic things. KH reacts with acids to stop the pH falling. If KH is low it can get used up, leaving nothing to stop the pH dropping.
I have low KH as well, I keep the pH stable by doing water changes, 50%+ a week, and this is enough to keep the KH replenished.



You can either take the mollies back or set up another tank, and add something to that tank to make the water harder. But that does mean two tanks instead of one.

 

[Jared Learn]

I'm definitely not even going to try changing my water parameters

 

[Jared Learn]

You two have both been very helpful and I appreciate it. I've been looking myself online but is there any articles or lists you could point me towards that could educate me on fish that would be good for my specific water parameters?

 

[Jared Learn]

As of right now two tanks really isnt .possible for me

 

[Essjay]

The best site for fish profiles is Seriously Fish http://www.seriouslyfish.com This is written by experts not just someone who thinks he is an expert like a lot of sites. In each profile is a section on the water type needed by that species. For hardness, some of them use dH, others use ppm. Naughts converted yours so you have both already for your water.





One lesson we've all had to learn is that the vast majority of fish store workers give rubbish advice. Never believe anything they say till you have researched it yourself.

 

[Jared Learn]

The best site for fish profiles is Seriously Fish http://www.seriouslyfish.com This is written by experts not just someone who thinks he is an expert like a lot of sites. In each profile is a section on the water type needed by that species. For hardness, some of them use dH, others use ppm. Naughts converted yours so you have both already for your water.





One lesson we've all had to learn is that the vast majority of fish store workers give rubbish advice. Never believe anything they say till you have researched it yourself.

That is good advice. so I checked out seriously fish and it seems like a good website with lots of info. Where do I look on this site to find out which fish with thrive in my particular water situation?

 

[Essjay]

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. The way to use it is to look at what fish are in your local stores then look them up.

 

[Jared Learn]

Unfortunately it doesn't work like that. The way to use it is to look at what fish are in your local stores then look them up.

That's what I've been doing but it's giving me no information on parameters just general breed information

 

[Jared Learn]

Never mind I figured it out thank you

 

[Byron]

Both essjay and Naughts gave you (Jared) very good info on the issue you raised of store water and fish, but this is such a misconception in the hobby that it can never be over-stated.

Freshwater fish species have evolved over thousands of years to function best in a very specific environment. Environment means water parameters (these are GH, KH, pH and temperature) and the natural habitat conditions (substrate, wood, rock, leaves, plants, light, water current). Some species have a much lower tolerance for any deviation from this environment, while others are somewhat more adaptable. But the best chance of keeping the species healthy for their entire normal lifespan is to provide reasonably similar environmental conditions. This should be the aim of every aquarist, because fish are living creatures and forcing them into less suitable conditions is not humane and it absolutely will affect the fish negatively.

Stores intend selling their fish quickly and most fish are able to tolerate such conditions temporarily, though some species will be significantly affected. So it does not matter what water the store uses, it is what you provide at home that is important for the health of the fish.

Most fish are not bred locally (unless you live in places like SE Asia where the majority of fish farms are located) so the store water may be vastly different from the water in which the fish were reared to begin with; but regardless, it is the water you provide that matters.

Welcome to TFF.

 

[Jared Learn]

I understand that and then I'll make sense and you guys are all correct. I stand corrected. Unfortunately I stand much much more confused at what fish I was supposed to get now.. at first I thought my problem was that I just needed high pH fish. so now I can't get a Molly because I have a low KH. but I have two mollies that I have to get rid of now and not sure which fish I should get. Or if I should just get out of the hobby now, this is getting very frustrating I'm not a chemist

 

[Jared Learn]

I understand that and then I'll make sense and you guys are all correct. I stand corrected. Unfortunately I stand much much more confused at what fish I was supposed to get now.. at first I thought my problem was that I just needed high pH fish. so now I can't get a Molly because I have a low KH. but I have two mollies that I have to get rid of now and not sure which fish I should get. Or if I should just get out of the hobby now, this is getting very frustrating I'm not a chemist

Now I have water that has high pH high GH but low KH that doesn't even sound like it makes sense