Hard Water

[Covert]

Hey its been a while since ive been on, basically ive got a 50 liter tank 60cm x 30cm x 30cm with a single guppy in it at the moment (its been running for 13 months) and i was hoping to add some colour, such as neons to it this friday.

HOWEVER, my tap water is liquid rock, with a crazy gH of 16.8 (300ppm) and a pH of 8. Is this going to be a real problem for neons? I'd really like to hear from people who have had experience keeping them in similar conditions.

The other fish i was interested in are black neons and glowlights, if any of these would be better. I want to avoid more livebearers as im a little bored of them now.

Cheers,

Aleem.

 

[australia]

okay i dont think you will have a problem, if your water is to hard i use black water extract, it softens water and it makes a stable water condition for the fish and it also is %100 organic, or your second choice is to use rain water to soften the water, and for some more new fish, i would go for neon tetra and some tiger barbs and platys..

 

[Covert]

Cheers, any more comments on this? I'm thinking of getting 6 neons tomorrow, i'm hoping they'll be ok, otherwise i'll buy some tetra blackwater extract to try and soften it and lower the pH.

 

[Kay1123]

Hey its been a while since ive been on, basically ive got a 50 liter tank 60cm x 30cm x 30cm with a single guppy in it at the moment (its been running for 13 months) and i was hoping to add some colour, such as neons to it this friday.

HOWEVER, my tap water is liquid rock, with a crazy gH of 16.8 (300ppm) and a pH of 8. Is this going to be a real problem for neons? I'd really like to hear from people who have had experience keeping them in similar conditions.

The other fish i was interested in are black neons and glowlights, if any of these would be better. I want to avoid more livebearers as im a little bored of them now.

Cheers,

Aleem.

My gH has always been at 300ppm and my pH is at 8.4

I have black neons currently (have had them for about 4 months) and they are doing fine with exception of the ich I'm battling currently.

 

[rdd1952]

Not sure about the neons and the hard water. Most fish can adapt to a pH that is out of their optimal range. The thing you hae to be careful if is ammonia poisoning. Neons are not good cycling fish and don't handle ammonia well. In water that isn't in their normal range, they may be even more stressed. Since you only have one guppy, your tank is minimally cycled, i.e. there is only enough bacteria in the tank to handle the waste load present which isn't very much for one guppy. Introducing more than 1 or maybe 2 fish at a time will cause it to recycle as the bacteria try to catch up.

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Almost all fish can adapt to various ranges in Ph, however neons will be much more prone to infections and ammonia poisoning at 8.0 ppms. Ammonia is much more toxic the higher your Ph is, so any sign of it and the results are amplified. Also you can get water softening pillows. I have an extra large one and it works great. Doesn't stain your water brown like black water extract, and removes around 250 ppms from a 55 gallon tank in 2 days, but it must be recharged every2-4 days. (ie. after water changes).

Also reverse osmosis is a possibility, a dehumidifier waste water are both very pure sources of water, but both need to be re-mineralized before use.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

In my opinion the biggest problem with hard water is...scrubbing off that evil evil lime scale.

Do stock slowly, and keep a close eye on your water params. As long as you keep up a good maint. schedule your fish should be fine even if the water is hard/alkaline.

 

[Covert]

How would you "recharge" a softing pillow?

Cheers for the help.