Oh God, I Have A Big Problem.. And Im A Little Stressed Too.

MollyFresh · Jul 8, 2008

I bought a book of different fish and It tells me what type of water they like, like soft acidic water, medium to medium hard slightly alkaline etc.. My tapwater is very soft alkaline water. I tested it with a test strip and I know they are not very accurate but Im going to assume it is right. None of the fish in the book I bought have water like my tapwater. I would like some balloon mollies but they probably like medium to medium hard neutral to slightly alkaline water ( pH of 7-7.4) and I don't have that water. I wrote down some fish that I might be able to get but I am not sure. They are Penguin tetra and honey gourami.
It says the penguin tetras adapt to most conditions of water. Do they prefer any type of water? I am probably going to need to change my water for any fish I get and I don't want to because apparently thats a bad thing?? It would be easier for me to not change the water though. I am getting a 47 gallon and I am trying to decide what fish would go right and Im really stressed because of it. Now I don't think I can get fish at all.

jkrekord · Jul 8, 2008

To be honest whilst im not saying completly overrule the soft and hard water preferences, with a lot of fish it is'nt completly neccesary, this is due to the fact they are mass produced and many have never even experienced their natural water conditions. For example things like Neon Tetras are supposed to be softwater, yet will be perfectly fine in water of around 7.5 which is'nt exactly soft. So yeah i personally think you should'nt panic, Balloon Mollys would probably fine, and if your really that bothered you could always invest in a PH Buffer there are various types and LFS should stock them.

MollyFresh · Jul 8, 2008

okay thank you.

geo7x · Jul 8, 2008

It really doesn't matter all that much except with the most sensitive of fish.

Just buy what you like (as long as it's compatible with tank mates and tank size) from your lfs, they will already be acclimated to your local tap water so they will be fine

.

UBigBobby · Jul 8, 2008

The only fish I'd reccommend really worrying about that with would be cichlids and saltwater fish. Both can be remedied by using sand/gravel made from crushed aragonite which will raise PH.

Most normal freshwater fish don't REALLY give a hoot about your PH as long as you avoid the extremes. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are much more important for most FW than ph...other than african cichlids of course.

jkrekord · Jul 8, 2008

UBigBobby said:
The only fish I'd reccommend really worrying about that with would be cichlids and saltwater fish. Both can be remedied by using sand/gravel made from crushed aragonite which will raise PH.

Most normal freshwater fish don't REALLY give a hoot about your PH as long as you avoid the extremes. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are much more important for most FW than ph...other than african cichlids of course.

Hmm. Theres more than just cichlids and marine where PH matters, but yeah your pretty much right, with the majority of tropicals it isnt to important, as long as its not at ridiculous levels.

kj23502 · Jul 8, 2008

In regards to your comment "Sure don't reply just LOOK at my TOPIC! now im mad"....lol.

You have any idea how many people surf this site and aren't even members so they can't comment anyway. And why fill up the board with a TON of useless comments of people saying "I wish I could help you, but I don't know".

BTW, you can also buffer your water w/baking soda. Don't use a ton. Experiment (w/o fish) to find how much you need to get it neutral or where ever you want it to be.

If I were you I'd go w/African cichlids. Get some shelldwellers or Kribs. They raise their fry and protect them. Very cool...but I'm kinda partial to africans as I have a 125gallon tank of them

rocknurworld2006 · Jul 8, 2008

kj23502 said:
In regards to your comment "Sure don't reply just LOOK at my TOPIC! now im mad"....lol.

You have any idea how many people surf this site and aren't even members so they can't comment anyway. And why fill up the board with a TON of useless comments of people saying "I wish I could help you, but I don't know".

BTW, you can also buffer your water w/baking soda. Don't use a ton. Experiment (w/o fish) to find how much you need to get it neutral or where ever you want it to be.

If I were you I'd go w/African cichlids. Get some shelldwellers or Kribs. They raise their fry and protect them. Very cool...but I'm kinda partial to africans as I have a 125gallon tank of them

i would only use baking soda as an emergency , and not advise beginners to do this as its very easy to go from one disaster to the other extreme as it would come back down again if nothing is there to maintain it :good:

Corleone · Jul 8, 2008

kj23502 said:
In regards to your comment "Sure don't reply just LOOK at my TOPIC! now im mad"....lol.

You have any idea how many people surf this site and aren't even members so they can't comment anyway.And why fill up the board with a TON of useless comments of people saying "I wish I could help you, but I don't know". smile.gif

Additionally, I'm sure I'm not the only one who keeps tabs on threads whenever I don't know the answer to a problem waiting to see what comes up. Helps advance my own knowledge and find the answers to questions before I have to ask them myself.

vinylman · Jul 9, 2008

I wouldn't worry unless your tap water is extremely hard or extremely soft. If you bought the fish at a local shop, they'll have been acclimatised to the local water anyway. Just take your time acclimatising them again at home if you buy any more. Same with PH, don't worry unless your readings are at either extreme.

MollyFresh · Jul 9, 2008

They are extreme, my water is extremely soft and off the chart alkaline..

kj23502 · Jul 9, 2008

rocknurworld2006 said:
BTW, you can also buffer your water w/baking soda. Don't use a ton. Experiment (w/o fish) to find how much you need to get it neutral or where ever you want it to be.
quote]

i would only use baking soda as an emergency , and not advise beginners to do this as its very easy to go from one disaster to the other extreme as it would come back down again if nothing is there to maintain it

If she got africans she could use aragonite sand to buffer the water also. It's good to use for cichlids as it won't take the ph past like 8.2 or something right around there which is ideal for african cichlids :good: