What ph+kh+gh do you keep your livebearers at?

100suno

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I have swordtails and guppies, recently I just found out my gh and kh were on the low side so I'm looking to fix that. However I think I might end up raising the ph to 8.0+ in the process...
 
My water is ridiculously hard and alkaline, and my platys and mollies did well enough. I lowered the pH with some chems when it started going upwards of 9 though.
 
I have semi-hard water but with a high (9.14) PH. I just got into this a year and 1/2 ago but read forums a lot as well as books (you should read the discrepancies between books). But when I first started I realized by PH was overly high - a PH of 9 will kill most freshwater fish. But, with a few exceptions, all freshwater fish will do ok between 6.5 and 7.8O so for now, let that be your target - then decide on the "perfect" PH for your tank. Mine is 7.0 and god-love them that PH only hurts the best fish in the world - the Dojo - who prefers a PH of 8 and a lower PH shortens their livespan. We use Equality Reducer and some times PH up or PHdown. We will nail it right on 7 but then find that the PH starts going down to almost exactly 5.4 by 7 days, so we MUST do a large weekly water change to allow our 9.4% water that we adding to what is now a 14,4 tank!

I ASUMME PH% is additive (can anybody verify)?

ALSO-FYI- I was informed by our City water offer (a project manager no less!! - they know we all want GOOD water and that it's not always used for drinking). A number of water departments, municipalities etc, are adding increasing levels of Ammonia. So one day we had at least 6.4%PH in the tank and did a water change adding 9.14% and forgot to add the equality reducer which is how we got our 14.4% water PH. Killed about 80% of one tank of fish - and we just did it again recently. We need to religiously measure our water before we do a water change even though the concentration of that PH will be deluted MOST, but not ALL of the time or we will continue to lose large groups - Bye Mr Coffee, by Bighbird - you were excellent fish.

OH I had been looking for a 2nd Chocolate Gourami for our first once and the online store for petzone has them for $14.99 (mine was originally $34). Even thevy've both bassed now I really miss the cappuccino look to these fish. For a small fish (and brown at that) they have pretty
markings,,

Also DON'T forget to change the water temperature as you fill your tanks, people have a tendency to get colder in water, even if the water stays warm so once you've got your water temperature in the right zone LEAVE IT ALONE!
 
That differs overhere. For I've got livebearers that do well in hard water and there are a number of species that do well in softer water. So, not all livebearers need or do well in hard water. I really like to point this out. For I do read too often that all livebearers do need hard water. That's a complete misunderstanding... It really depends on the kind of livebearer species we're talking about. Claiming otherwise would suggest a lack of knowledge.
 
Most people keep just guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies. I try to remember to use the term 'common livebearers' rather than just livebearers but I do forget the 'common' at times.
 

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