New 75 gallon with EBAs and what else?

[Retired Viking]

Sorry not great at converting the figures do you know what that is in ppm?

187ppm like @Kaycar posted, it is the same. My city's well water comes in at 244ppm but I am lucky in that the part of town where I live my water comes from Lake Michigan and is run through the city's RO filtering plant and is at 134ppm so it is easier to reduce the hardness with RO water.

 

[Essjay]

187 ppm is middling rather than hard. I am not well up on fish like EBAs so I'll leave it to someone else to say if that hardness is OK for them.
Of the other fish mentioned, it's at the top end of angelfish range, and OK for bristlenoses and some species of barb.

 

[Wills]

Ah appologies - I dont think 187ppm is that hard though, I dont think it would limit your choices too much

 

[Kaycar]

Does anyone do a mix of tap with jugs of RO water? I am set on getting EBAs, don't know why I want them so bad, but I do. I was thinking of i did a mix it would maybe bring my hardness down enough for these species.

 

[Essjay]

Mixing RO and tap water will reduce hardness. It should be mixed in a bucket (or something) before it is added to the tank, and the amounts of tap and RO should be exactly the same in each bucketful.

The reduction in hardness is linear - half and half will halve the hardness; one quarter RO and three quaters tap will reduce the hardness by a quarter etc.

 

[Kaycar]

Mixing RO and tap water will reduce hardness. It should be mixed in a bucket (or something) before it is added to the tank, and the amounts of tap and RO should be exactly the same in each bucketful.

The reduction in hardness is linear - half and half will halve the hardness; one quarter RO and three quaters tap will reduce the hardness by a quarter etc.

Thank you! I think this is what I will do for my 75 and that way I can give these fish the parameters they need.

 

[Lajos_Detari]

Actually, Electric Blue Acara can live in hard water without any problem if based on the websites below.
You water GH is good enough for EBA.

You don't even need the RO water.

Andinoacara pulcher – Blue Acara — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Electric Blue Acara Care Guide & Species Profile

The electric blue acara is a freshwater species of cichlid. Electric blue acaras are popular due to the fish’s iridescent blue coloring.

www.fishkeepingworld.com

 

[Kaycar]

Actually, Electric Blue Acara can live in hard water without any problem if based on the websites below.
You water GH is good enough for EBA.

You don't even need the RO water.

Andinoacara pulcher – Blue Acara — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Electric Blue Acara Care Guide & Species Profile

The electric blue acara is a freshwater species of cichlid. Electric blue acaras are popular due to the fish’s iridescent blue coloring.

www.fishkeepingworld.com

I thought it was on the higher end of acceptable, but I think I'll still use RO water for a couple other fish i would also like in the tank

 

[Lajos_Detari]

I thought it was on the higher end of acceptable, but I think I'll still use RO water for a couple other fish i would also like in the tank

Sorry, my mistake. I just realized that yours is in mg/l not ppm which is considered very hard water.

Water Hardness - Atomizing Systems Inc

Raw water consists of much more than just the hydrogen and oxygen atoms with which we are all so familiar. It also contains combinations of calcium, magnesium, sodium, silica and a variety of other dissolved minerals deposited from environmental sources. Water hardness is primarily the...

www.coldfog.com

 

[Essjay]

mg/l CaCO3* and ppm are the same thing. 187 ppm or mg/l CaCO3 is not hard - it is the same as 10.7 dH which is too soft for hard and too hard for soft. That's why I called it 'middling'.
It is too soft for most hard water fish, and too hard for fish which need very soft water but there are many soft water fish which have that hardness in their range.

*There is also the unit mg/l calcium (Ca) which is often used by UK water companies. This is why we always ask for the exact unit of measurement used by any water provider.

 

[Kaycar]

mg/l CaCO3* and ppm are the same thing. 187 ppm or mg/l CaCO3 is not hard - it is the same as 10.7 dH which is too soft for hard and too hard for soft. That's why I called it 'middling'.
It is too soft for most hard water fish, and too hard for fish which need very soft water but there are many soft water fish which have that hardness in their range.

*There is also the unit mg/l calcium (Ca) which is often used by UK water companies. This is why we always ask for the exact unit of measurement used by any water provider.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Guyb93]

Hello,
I have a new 75 gallon 48"×20"×18 that I am getting up and running with a marineland 360 canister filter. There will be sand substrate with primarily rocks and driftwood and a few plants throughout. My plan is to have at least 2 EBAs, a school of Barbs, a couple bristlenose plecos and maybe a few angels. What are your thoughts and what would you add/remove? I am open to suggestions with the EBAs as the only ones that are not negotiable lol. Thanks!!

I keep eba and I agree they are not replaceable lol with them I keep geophagus and Columbian tetra , I like electric blue acara because you can almost stock anything with them they are large enough to hold there own with big fish and gentle enough to keep with small passive fish , i would say you could keep anything with them

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Rainbowfish do very well in hard water too. And they're beautiful and easy to get along with.