Salt & Ph In My Tank?

[countrygirl61658]

I have a 29 gallon tank that has been established for some time. I recently added guppies. I also purchased some mollies about a week ago.I read that they like salt in their water. I also read that not all fish stores have salt in the water.Their is a platy and a cory cat also besides the guppies.I would like the mollies and guppies to breed. Is the salt ok for my other fish and also is it then a problem if I buy new fish without a salted tank.Also my ph is 7.2 I know the mollies like it a little higher but how about the other fish.

I forgot their are also a few glo light tetras that so far arent nipping fins.

I have a 29 gallon tank that has been established for some time. I recently added guppies. I also purchased some mollies about a week ago.I read that they like salt in their water. I also read that not all fish stores have salt in the water.Their is a platy and a cory cat also besides the guppies.I would like the mollies and guppies to breed. Is the salt ok for my other fish and also is it then a problem if I buy new fish without a salted tank.Also my ph is 7.2 I know the mollies like it a little higher but how about the other fish.

I forgot their are also a few glo light tetras that so far arent nipping fins.And one betta.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi countrygirl and welcome to TFF!

I'm sure the members will get you sorted out with a plan. They love a challange when it comes to stocking.

Its a bit of a misunderstanding that all mollies need salt. What they really need is very hard water (water hardness is a measure of the mineral content of water, mostly calcium and magnesium.) With a pH of 7.2 its unlikely but not impossible that your water is hard. It may be that you could call your shop and see if they would do a hardness test (both GH and KH) if you brought them some tap water (get numerical results from them in "degrees of hardness.")

It may be that all of your fish would be tolerant of greater hardness in the tank (don't know about the glowlights!) or that your mollies would find the not-so-hard water to be stable enough and they wouldn't get sick. We'll hope our experts come along and offer more insight. The salt is usually quite a negative thing to introduce to the tank unless its being used as a medication in a hospital tank. Fish are extremely sensitive to keeping the balance of water and salt just right across their cell boundaries.

Have you got a good liquid-reagent based test kit? When adding fish, its important to check whether the filter bacteria have responded quickly enough to keep the water safe!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[countrygirl61658]

Hi countrygirl and welcome to TFF!

I'm sure the members will get you sorted out with a plan. They love a challange when it comes to stocking.

Its a bit of a misunderstanding that all mollies need salt. What they really need is very hard water (water hardness is a measure of the mineral content of water, mostly calcium and magnesium.) With a pH of 7.2 its unlikely but not impossible that your water is hard. It may be that you could call your shop and see if they would do a hardness test (both GH and KH) if you brought them some tap water (get numerical results from them in "degrees of hardness.")

It may be that all of your fish would be tolerant of greater hardness in the tank (don't know about the glowlights!) or that your mollies would find the not-so-hard water to be stable enough and they wouldn't get sick. We'll hope our experts come along and offer more insight. The salt is usually quite a negative thing to introduce to the tank unless its being used as a medication in a hospital tank. Fish are extremely sensitive to keeping the balance of water and salt just right across their cell boundaries.

Have you got a good liquid-reagent based test kit? When adding fish, its important to check whether the filter bacteria have responded quickly enough to keep the water safe!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum CountryGirl.
I breed mollies because I like them, not much money in it beyond the cost of their food. I find that they do not require salt but instead they tolerate salt better than many other fish. A good set of water readings for mollies or guppies would be much like I get from my tap water. It would have a pH between 7.5 and 8.0 and be rather harder water than average. In my own tanks that is a KH and a GH of over 10 german degrees. My tap water is also over 200 ppm of total dissolved solids. With mollies, the salt seems to be a relic of a time when people had trouble measuring hardness and TDS and instead came to the conclusion that by adding some sea salt they could almost guarantee that their mollies would get a high enough pH and TDS. In the hard water my mollies look like this a few weeks after a fry drop.

My guppies and endlers also thrive and reproduce like crazy in that same water. This is my endlers, a close relative of guppies, at feeding time.

My platies also do very well in my water but I can only keep cories, not breed them. My water is too hard to be breeding cories but they live well in it. I keep all 3 of the dwarf species of cories, the habrosus, hastatus and pygmaeus.
Hastatus

Habrosus

Pygmaeus Note the fish on the right is a less common livebearer but the one on the left is a Corydoras pygmaeus.

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, I never knew hastatus were so pretty!

 

[OldMan47]

Sorry to steal your thread for a moment CountryGirl.
Look at the eyes in that picture WD. Some have a dark outline around the eye that makes the eye seem bigger while others have a silvery outline that makes the eyes more pinpoint looking. Both variations are found in wild populations of the fish and that is where mine came from. The vendor that sold them to me imports them from wild collections and sells them on at retail.

 

[countrygirl61658]

Welcome to the forum CountryGirl.
I breed mollies because I like them, not much money in it beyond the cost of their food. I find that they do not require salt but instead they tolerate salt better than many other fish. A good set of water readings for mollies or guppies would be much like I get from my tap water. It would have a pH between 7.5 and 8.0 and be rather harder water than average. In my own tanks that is a KH and a GH of over 10 german degrees. My tap water is also over 200 ppm of total dissolved solids. With mollies, the salt seems to be a relic of a time when people had trouble measuring hardness and TDS and instead came to the conclusion that by adding some sea salt they could almost guarantee that their mollies would get a high enough pH and TDS. In the hard water my mollies look like this a few weeks after a fry drop.

My guppies and endlers also thrive and reproduce like crazy in that same water. This is my endlers, a close relative of guppies, at feeding time.

My platies also do very well in my water but I can only keep cories, not breed them. My water is too hard to be breeding cories but they live well in it. I keep all 3 of the dwarf species of cories, the habrosus, hastatus and pygmaeus.
Hastatus

Habrosus

Pygmaeus Note the fish on the right is a less common livebearer but the one on the left is a Corydoras pygmaeus.

Welcome to the forum CountryGirl.
I breed mollies because I like them, not much money in it beyond the cost of their food. I find that they do not require salt but instead they tolerate salt better than many other fish. A good set of water readings for mollies or guppies would be much like I get from my tap water. It would have a pH between 7.5 and 8.0 and be rather harder water than average. In my own tanks that is a KH and a GH of over 10 german degrees. My tap water is also over 200 ppm of total dissolved solids. With mollies, the salt seems to be a relic of a time when people had trouble measuring hardness and TDS and instead came to the conclusion that by adding some sea salt they could almost guarantee that their mollies would get a high enough pH and TDS. In the hard water my mollies look like this a few weeks after a fry drop.

My guppies and endlers also thrive and reproduce like crazy in that same water. This is my endlers, a close relative of guppies, at feeding time.

My platies also do very well in my water but I can only keep cories, not breed them. My water is too hard to be breeding cories but they live well in it. I keep all 3 of the dwarf species of cories, the habrosus, hastatus and pygmaeus.
Hastatus

Habrosus

Pygmaeus Note the fish on the right is a less common livebearer but the one on the left is a Corydoras pygmaeus.

My water is 7.2 out of the tap and well water.Will they be ok at this ph or do I need to try to change them?

 

[OldMan47]

A pH of around 7.2 is as low as I would want to go but do you have any idea whether you have hard or soft water? For mollies, higher mineral content is almost a must.

 

[countrygirl61658]

A pH of around 7.2 is as low as I would want to go but do you have any idea whether you have hard or soft water? For mollies, higher mineral content is almost a must.

I really don't know.I don't get any kind of spots or mineral deposits.Also can the platy or betta take harder water.Is crushed coral the way to raise the PH. Reading all the articles has me confused.How do I keep it stable and keep the ph right in my water changes if I raise it since my well water is 7.2. What do I have to add to make the water harder. I checked one of the links that ended up with the chemistry lesson and then got really confused.Thanks for all your help.

 

[OldMan47]

The chemistry lesson is where you end up if you start trying to move around the water chemistry to suit the fish. In my tap water I keep Betta splendens and platies. Both do fine with high mineral content water but I don't think the bettas really need it. I use a TDS meter that I picked up for around $20 to determine my mineral content. I also have a test kit to measure KH and GH. I am a bit of a water geek I guess. It sounds like you probably have nice water for a South American type tank where the water needs to be fairly soft. That means you could have great success with angels, cories and several similar fish, but typical livebearers will struggle a bit with your natural water. I would not keep livebearers if I had your water but instead would stock with fish that appreciate the softer water. Many people who have water like mine spend quite an effort to soften their water, so that they can get the fish that they prefer. If you like neons, angels and similar fish, use the water that you already have. Matching your stock to the water is always a better idea than trying to change the water to suit the fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Sorry to steal your thread for a moment CountryGirl.
Look at the eyes in that picture WD. Some have a dark outline around the eye that makes the eye seem bigger while others have a silvery outline that makes the eyes more pinpoint looking. Both variations are found in wild populations of the fish and that is where mine came from. The vendor that sold them to me imports them from wild collections and sells them on at retail.

Wow... again!

 

[countrygirl61658]

The chemistry lesson is where you end up if you start trying to move around the water chemistry to suit the fish. In my tap water I keep Betta splendens and platies. Both do fine with high mineral content water but I don't think the bettas really need it. I use a TDS meter that I picked up for around $20 to determine my mineral content. I also have a test kit to measure KH and GH. I am a bit of a water geek I guess. It sounds like you probably have nice water for a South American type tank where the water needs to be fairly soft. That means you could have great success with angels, cories and several similar fish, but typical livebearers will struggle a bit with your natural water. I would not keep livebearers if I had your water but instead would stock with fish that appreciate the softer water. Many people who have water like mine spend quite an effort to soften their water, so that they can get the fish that they prefer. If you like neons, angels and similar fish, use the water that you already have. Matching your stock to the water is always a better idea than trying to change the water to suit the fish.

I already have the fish and l.ike them so is there anything I can do??? I am going to pick up a test for hardness and check exactly what it is.Will the fish get sick at this ph or just not reproduce?