Hard Water Queries

[dr hfuhruhurr]

Hello All,

I am a newbie fish keeper who has had a fishless, live planted (mediumly planted), 4 foot tank running with the filter on for over a fortnight. My long term aim is to introduce a shoal of Angel fish, with a few hardy fish and invertibrates as company. Im hoping to add the first few fish within the next two weeks.

My question regards an area that Im finding it hard to get info on. Put quite simply, I live in a hard water area (Essex, England) and the readings Im getting at this stage that are outside the recommended range.

Should I be overly concerned by this?
What fish can cope with this? And are there (preferably low maintenance) ways of conditioning the water to make it softer?

Are there are any fish I should defnitely avoid - I would like to know as I wouldnt want to introduce any fish that would get unduly stressed by the water chemistry.

Apologies if it sounds all a bit vague, but Im keen to get off to a good start!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when you say your water's hard..... what exactly are your readings.

there are various methods both natural and chemical of softening water however it's pretty tricky to get right, and fluctuating water conditions are much worse then stable but hard water.

you may decide it's going to be easier to stock fish that prefer hard water than play with it to get it softer.

but don't despair there's plenty of TFF members in very hard water areas who all manage fine so with a little research you should be fine too.

 

[dark_mushroom]

there is a site called www.thinkfish.co.uk with a good database of fish and there ideal conditions. I live in a very hardwater area, there are still plenty of options just have a look through the database!

Hello All,

I am a newbie fish keeper who has had a fishless, live planted (mediumly planted), 4 foot tank running with the filter on for over a fortnight. My long term aim is to introduce a shoal of Angel fish, with a few hardy fish and invertibrates as company. Im hoping to add the first few fish within the next two weeks.

My question regards an area that Im finding it hard to get info on. Put quite simply, I live in a hard water area (Essex, England) and the readings Im getting at this stage that are outside the recommended range.

Should I be overly concerned by this?
What fish can cope with this? And are there (preferably low maintenance) ways of conditioning the water to make it softer?

Are there are any fish I should defnitely avoid - I would like to know as I wouldnt want to introduce any fish that would get unduly stressed by the water chemistry.

Apologies if it sounds all a bit vague, but Im keen to get off to a good start!

 

[dr hfuhruhurr]

when you say your water's hard..... what exactly are your readings.

Well I did have a look for the readings this morning before work but was in a bit of a rush, so I dont have the exact figures, apologies - but I would classify it under what Dark Mushroom calls 'Very hard'.

TBH, I dont really want to condition it at all, Ive got enough things to worry about; and I would prefer my water to be more like water than a soup of chemicals.

But at the same time, I dont want to drop a fish in it that wont appeciate it. If I was to drop, say an Angel Fish into it that I was told would appreciate soft water conditions, what would be the likely outcome?

Is this a major issue, or another level of 'preferred micro management'?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dark_mushroom]

im in Bedforshire uk, and it is practicly liquid rock here.

What I would suggest is use that website i gave you and use the community creater on the top it's great tool tells you all about what goes with what ie i've picked zebra danios, 2 x dwarf gourami, and endlers. All are ok in very hardwater. I think Guppys would be good as well.

But like you I would't bother going down the route of of using chemicals in there. I'd rather work with what i got

when you say your water's hard..... what exactly are your readings.

Well I did have a look for the readings this morning before work but was in a bit of a rush, so I dont have the exact figures, apologies - but I would classify it under what Dark Mushroom calls 'Very hard'.

TBH, I dont really want to condition it at all, Ive got enough things to worry about; and I would prefer my water to be more like water than a soup of chemicals.

But at the same time, I dont want to drop a fish in it that wont appeciate it. If I was to drop, say an Angel Fish into it that I was told would appreciate soft water conditions, what would be the likely outcome?

Is this a major issue, or another level of 'preferred micro management'?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dr hfuhruhurr]

im in Bedforshire uk, and it is practicly liquid rock here.

Well Im just down the road, so you can have a guess at my eye opening readings.
Its good to hear that you've been successful despite the water hardness. Thanks for the reassurance.

Ive taken your advice on board.
I looked at the website you mentioned but havent really had time to negotiate it yet.
Its a shame I cant have exactly what I want at this stage, but Ive quickly learnt that this aquarium lark is a series of small steps.

 

[dark_mushroom]

another option i've been given is an RO unit (reverse osmosis) you can research it when you have more time or just buy RO water at about 80p a gallon that would solve all your problems

im in Bedforshire uk, and it is practicly liquid rock here.

Well Im just down the road, so you can have a guess at my eye opening readings.
Its good to hear that you've been successful despite the water hardness. Thanks for the reassurance.

Ive taken your advice on board.
I looked at the website you mentioned but havent really had time to negotiate it yet.
Its a shame I cant have exactly what I want at this stage, but Ive quickly learnt that this aquarium lark is a series of small steps.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I would be wary of that thinkfish.community creator, as some of its recommendations seem a little dodgy to me.

But generally speaking, common livebearers (platies, mollies, guppies, endlers and swordtails) prefer hard alkaline water. Many rainbows also do.

A lot of common community fish, such as danios, bristlenose plecs, the hardier corydoras (peppereds and bronzes) and the hardier tetras do not seem to mind. I would not perhaps recommend a dwarf gourami for a new tank as they are somewhat sensitive and often carry disease.

Fish you would want to avoid include rams, discus, neon tetras and most small rasboras.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when you say your water's hard..... what exactly are your readings.

Well I did have a look for the readings this morning before work but was in a bit of a rush, so I dont have the exact figures, apologies - but I would classify it under what Dark Mushroom calls 'Very hard'.

TBH, I dont really want to condition it at all, Ive got enough things to worry about; and I would prefer my water to be more like water than a soup of chemicals.

But at the same time, I dont want to drop a fish in it that wont appeciate it. If I was to drop, say an Angel Fish into it that I was told would appreciate soft water conditions, what would be the likely outcome?

Is this a major issue, or another level of 'preferred micro management'?

Thanks in advance.

i'm with you on working with what you've got rather than adding a heap of chemicals.

a good natural way to bring your ph down is a level of peat in your filter, softens the water naturally.

now with fish like angels that prefer soft water, i've kept them in a ph of up to 7.4 with no problems, so don't have a crisis over not being able to keep them.

if you buy fish that are bred and brought up in hard water they will be better, so find out from your lfs where they're fish are bred from, if they don't know or won't tell you they're a rubbish lfs so find another!

also find out the ph of the shop so you know what they're in at the time.

if there's a significant difference then you shoudl do drip acclimitisation over a period of several hrs.

if they're kept in water vastly different to they're optimum conditions they will be more susceptible to disease so you would have to be extra good with tank maintenance, quarantine fish before adding them to the tank and that sort of thing.

it can be done but will be extra work for you.

personally i would just look for fish that prefer hard water and work from there

 

[Dave Spencer]

What about keeping African Lake Cichlids. They should be happy in your type of water. Add a coral sand substrate and lots of rocky caves and conditions should be great for them. There are some fantastic looking fish that should be readily available.