Hard/soft Water Areas

[MermaidMel]

Hi everyone

I'm from the South East (Essex to be exact) and we have some of the hardest water in the whole of the UK. This seems to have affected very much the fish I can keep (and how long for) without softening or buffering my water. I think it would be cool if people from other areas can also make similar lists to compare whether the hardness/softness of the water makes a difference to your fish keeping or not.

ESSEX/HARDWATER

Fish that died very quickly in hard water area (neutral pH)
ANGELFISH (few months)
RAMS (few weeks)
ELEPHANT NOSE (few weeks)
BGKF (few weeks)
PANDA CORY (lasted a few months)
CARDINAL/NEONS (few weeks)
GUPPIES (few days)
SPOTTED L NUMBER PLECS
GOURAMI (few weeks)

Fish that do very well in hard water area (neutral pH) and last months/years
CONGO TETRA
RTBS
BLACK NEONS
ALBINO CORIES
HORSEFACED LOACH
KEYHOLE CICHLIDS
GOLD SEV
SYNOS
PANAQUE PLECS AND L NUMBERS WITH STRIPE PATTERNS
BETTAS
HARLEQUINS AND OTHER RASBORAS (GALAXY, MICRO SPECIES)
BRISTLENOSE
BARBS
SILVER TIP TETRA
PRISTELLA TETRA

 

[pauld]

do you really believe that ? your local fish store keeps them wiv no prob they make money out of it. think a lot of it is we dont know what we are doing we control our water reakon a lot of it is we pick a fish cause we like em even though they dont match wat weve got ,

 

[MermaidMel]

do you really believe that ? your local fish store keeps them wiv no prob they make money out of it. think a lot of it is we dont know what we are doing we control our water reakon a lot of it is we pick a fish cause we like em even though they dont match wat weve got ,

LFS don't have fish for that long though and they are doing water changes daily and they have huge filtration systems

 

[pauld]

dont we copy that in our own tanks i do 25 percent every other day fully planted , my water is the nuts never a problem when testing im going to get shot down ere i think ph is bollox along as our fish aint suffering who cares lfs have same water as us.

 

[MermaidMel]

dont we copy that in our own tanks i do 25 percent every other day fully planted , my water is the nuts never a problem when testing im going to get shot down ere i think ph is bollox along as our fish aint suffering who cares lfs have same water as us.

But I happen to travel several miles to buy my fish, or buy online, they could come from anywhere in the UK
I don't do 25% every other day but have a very over filtered tank
I'm not saying you should agree with me, I was just interested to see if people living in soft water areas had better luck with the fish I had lost

 

[pauld]

heres a honest 1 we all have a sqaure or rectangle of water we call our tank or hobbie its really not that hard to make it perfect for our fish , hard soft watever ph this or that and im not haveing a pop im keeping new world and african chicilads in the same tank but thats me if we were all to be honest fish are better off in rivers and lakes but we love em .

 

[MermaidMel]

heres a honest 1 we all have a sqaure or rectangle of water we call our tank or hobbie its really not that hard to make it perfect for our fish , hard soft watever ph this or that and im not haveing a pop im keeping new world and african chicilads in the same tank but thats me if we were all to be honest fish are better off in rivers and lakes but we love em .

Yeah ok mate

 

[Bignose]

ESSEX/HARDWATER

Fish that died very quickly in hard water area (neutral pH)
ANGELFISH (few months)
RAMS (few weeks)
ELEPHANT NOSE (few weeks)
BGKF (few weeks)
PANDA CORY (lasted a few months)
CARDINAL/NEONS (few weeks)
GUPPIES (few days)
SPOTTED L NUMBER PLECS
GOURAMI (few weeks)

Here is why I suspect that husbandry or poor stock has more to do with the deaths than the water -- a lot of these fish on your "died" list should be fine to even prefer hard water.

Firstly, most angels and rams are commercially bred in hard water today. Unless your specimens came wild-caught or some other micro-breeder, if they came from the mass breeders in Asia or Florida, they were reared in hard water. Panda cories possibly the same way, though they still have a significant amount wild-caught. Neons are almost 100% mass bred, again in the hard waters of Asia or Florida. Most cardinals are still wild-caught, so they may not have adapted.

Now, hard water (assuming no ammonia and the like) is zero excuse for guppies and gouramis. Both of their native waters are hard and alkaline.

The other fish on your list, I don't have direct experience with.

But, again, rather than blaming water for deaths on this list, I'd be looking into other factors. Again, your husbandry should be one. The quality of the stock of fish from the store or stores you bought from. Are you quarantining? etc.

Finally, please don't take the above personally, because it is not meant that way at all. It is just that blaming hard water for the deaths of many of those species does not agree with the known physiologies and preferences of many of the fish on the list, as well as the experiences of many members who have kept them in hard water.

 

[MermaidMel]

ESSEX/HARDWATER

Fish that died very quickly in hard water area (neutral pH)
ANGELFISH (few months)
RAMS (few weeks)
ELEPHANT NOSE (few weeks)
BGKF (few weeks)
PANDA CORY (lasted a few months)
CARDINAL/NEONS (few weeks)
GUPPIES (few days)
SPOTTED L NUMBER PLECS
GOURAMI (few weeks)

Here is why I suspect that husbandry or poor stock has more to do with the deaths than the water -- a lot of these fish on your "died" list should be fine to even prefer hard water.

Firstly, most angels and rams are commercially bred in hard water today. Unless your specimens came wild-caught or some other micro-breeder, if they came from the mass breeders in Asia or Florida, they were reared in hard water. Panda cories possibly the same way, though they still have a significant amount wild-caught. Neons are almost 100% mass bred, again in the hard waters of Asia or Florida. Most cardinals are still wild-caught, so they may not have adapted.

Now, hard water (assuming no ammonia and the like) is zero excuse for guppies and gouramis. Both of their native waters are hard and alkaline.

The other fish on your list, I don't have direct experience with.

But, again, rather than blaming water for deaths on this list, I'd be looking into other factors. Again, your husbandry should be one. The quality of the stock of fish from the store or stores you bought from. Are you quarantining? etc.

Finally, please don't take the above personally, because it is not meant that way at all. It is just that blaming hard water for the deaths of many of those species does not agree with the known physiologies and preferences of many of the fish on the list, as well as the experiences of many members who have kept them in hard water.

I wasn't blaming it on hard water, I was asking other people to comment to see if the hardness of our water could be a factor, as my water stats and cleaning routine are not the problem and when other fish in the tank are fine, I have to find out why certain species never survive with me. I've tried every type of gourami, over time, not one of them survived for me. It could be bullying, temperature (I have never been able to keep bulldog plecs because they prefer cooler water, and 2 plecs later I didn't know this until it was too late). I do find it strange that I can't keep certain fish, yet others will survive for years, if my husbandry was poor, sooner or later this would affect other fish in my tank.

 

[simonas]

Hi everyone

I'm from the South East (Essex to be exact)

an essex girl eh!! lol

we're lucky with our water its pretty neutrak and soft so no real problems

I remember living in farnborough years ago the water was rubbish, shower gel wouldn;t lather very well and it tasted awful

 

[MermaidMel]

Hi everyone

I'm from the South East (Essex to be exact)

an essex girl eh!! lol

Yes but a very classy one

 

[simonas]

Hi everyone

I'm from the South East (Essex to be exact)

an essex girl eh!! lol

Yes but a very classy one

of course!!!

 

[Bignose]

...we have some of the hardest water in the whole of the UK. This seems to have affected very much the fish I can keep...

I wasn't blaming it on hard water...

Mel, you can't say "I wasn't blaming it on hard water" when that is very much what your 1st post says...

Whatever it is, again, blaming it on the water hardness doesn't jive with the experiences and natural waters of many of the those fish and other fishkeepers. If you are convinced it isn't your husbandry, then perhaps you should be taking a closer look at your stock and where they are coming from. Perhaps there is a common link there.

 

[MermaidMel]

...we have some of the hardest water in the whole of the UK. This seems to have affected very much the fish I can keep...

I wasn't blaming it on hard water...

Mel, you can't say "I wasn't blaming it on hard water" when that is very much what your 1st post says...

Whatever it is, again, blaming it on the water hardness doesn't jive with the experiences and natural waters of many of the those fish and other fishkeepers. If you are convinced it isn't your husbandry, then perhaps you should be taking a closer look at your stock and where they are coming from. Perhaps there is a common link there.

"This seems to have affected very much the fish I can keep (and how long for) without softening or buffering my water. I think it would be cool if people from other areas can also make similar lists to compare whether the hardness/softness of the water makes a difference to your fish keeping or not."

I was attempting to conduct an experiment, sorry if my wording confused or offended you, I've been keeping a lot of fish very successfully for 10 years, if I was crap at looking after them, I wouldn't have any fish left would I

 

[MermaidMel]

Or you could just delete the thread cos I'm getting irritated that nobody thinks pH and water hardness matter to fish at all, when it's one of the most commonly listed requirements in fish books and websites (listed with temperature, feeding, aggression levels, community compatibility and sexing/breeding)