Schooling Fish for 7.4 pH

[BraydenAppell]

I recently bought a 55 gallon tank and am keeping mollies in it. I would like to add a school of small schooling fish in with them, but most of the fish that I am finding seem like they would prefer a more acidic pH than my 7.4. Any suggestions?

 

[Byron]

I recently bought a 55 gallon tank and am keeping mollies in it. I would like to add a school of small schooling fish in with them, but most of the fish that I am finding seem like they would prefer a more acidic pH than my 7.4. Any suggestions?

It is the hardness of the water, the GH, that is the more important parameter. A pH of 7.4 could suit a huge array of fish, both soft and hard water species, but the GH might limit you. You don't need a test for GH, if you can ascertain the GH of the source water from the municipal water authority.

 

[SAChichlidLover]

I recently bought a 55 gallon tank and am keeping mollies in it. I would like to add a school of small schooling fish in with them, but most of the fish that I am finding seem like they would prefer a more acidic pH than my 7.4. Any suggestions?

To be honest your pH isn't too bad and is only slightly above neutral, alot of fish can thrive in slightly above neutral pH even softwater species but it depends on GH like @Byron explained in the post above mine. If I was you I'd check out some smaller species of tetra like cardinals as they are surprisingly very adaptable for their size and won't nip at your mollys. They also do not have a very large bioload at all but will also tell you if somethings wrong in the water. In general they seem to be hardier than the average neon tetra however neon tetras are still beautiful so I'd try finding out the GH and then researching which schooling fish can thrive in it and I'm positive you'll be able to find a few which you like the look of

 

[Byron]

We need to know the GH before we start suggesting fish. For example, cardinals and mollies can really not be healthy together because the mollies need it much harder, and the cardinals much, much softer...and never the twain shall meet, as the saying goes. When we have the GH we will know where we stand--it may be the GH is too low for mollies, we don't know yet.

 

[BraydenAppell]

Thank you for informing me about the importance of water hardness.

I found a water quality report for my city on the official city website, but the levels suggest that the water is really hard. Is it normal for water hardness to be 706 ppm? Should I trust this or should I go out and buy a test kit?

 

[Essjay]

Are you on state water or well water? The average for state water is 82 ppm (aka mg/l calcium carbonate) while it's well water which is 706 ppm.

I've never seen a hardness of 706 ppm before. Even water in south east England, which is known to be very hard, is less than half that amount.

 

[Byron]

I must say that confuses me. If the range low to high is 26 to 144, how do they get an "average" of 706?

As I was typing @Essjay posted and likely has the answer. So if you are on municipal water and not well, you actually have very soft water. This is not going to bode well for mollies long-term, but cardinals and soft water fish will thrive. To help sort this out though, you might want to ask a reliable fish store to test your GH (of the source water that comes out of the tap)?

 

[BraydenAppell]

I must say that confuses me. If the range low to high is 26 to 144, how do they get an "average" of 706?

As I was typing @Essjay posted and likely has the answer. So if you are on municipal water and not well, you actually have very soft water. This is not going to bode well for mollies long-term, but cardinals and soft water fish will thrive. To help sort this out though, you might want to ask a reliable fish store to test your GH (of the source water that comes out of the tap)?

I think that getting my water tested sounds like a good idea, just so I can be sure I really know what is going on.

 

[BraydenAppell]

Just got my water tested, and it came back as 300 for hardness. So, I guess the question has now become what schooling fish can I keep with a pH of 7.4 and a gH of 300?

 

[Essjay]

That hardness is great for mollies but it does rule out many shoaling fish.

X ray tetras are one of the few tetra species which can cope with this level of hardness

Pristella maxillaris – X-ray Tetra — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Most rainbowfish species are hard water fish, though some of the larger species would need a bigger tank than yours. I am not well acquainted with American tank sizes; is a 55 gallon tank 48 inches long? Look at these profiles, many of them will be suitable for your tank size (length is the most important) and hardness -

Search Results rainbowfish — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[BraydenAppell]

That hardness is great for mollies but it does rule out many shoaling fish.

X ray tetras are one of the few tetra species which can cope with this level of hardness

Pristella maxillaris – X-ray Tetra — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Most rainbowfish species are hard water fish, though some of the larger species would need a bigger tank than yours. I am not well acquainted with American tank sizes; is a 55 gallon tank 48 inches long? Look at these profiles, many of them will be suitable for your tank size (length is the most important) and hardness -

Search Results rainbowfish — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Thank you, those x-ray tetras seem very interesting, and I will keep my eyes peeled for them at my LFS. A 55 gallon is indeed 48 inches, or as us crazy Americans say, 4 feet. I briefly looked at the profiles for the different rainbow fish, and will check those out more in depth (pun intended) later. Is there one type that you are particularly fond of that would work for my setup?

 

[Essjay]

I have soft water so I don't usually consider hard water fish. There are some stunning rainbowfish in other members' tanks and I would interested in those if my water was right for them.