Stocking in MI hard water

[LHAquatics]

Hello everybody, for the longest time, I have buy fish and they would die maybe 2 weeks later. I made sure I did everything possible to introduce them properly, but U could never figure out why. Water was good, quarantined, acclimated, however they would just die. Then I bought the aquarium coop all in one test strips and realized my water was harder then diamond, very dark purple, i dont know if any fish can live within that range. Can you please help my out, its a 29 gallon tank. I want a community tank.

Thank you.

 

[A201]

You might try Swordtails or almost any other live bearer species.

 

[Fishfur]

Hello everybody, for the longest time, I have buy fish and they would die maybe 2 weeks later. I made sure I did everything possible to introduce them properly, but U could never figure out why. Water was good, quarantined, acclimated, however they would just die. Then I bought the aquarium coop all in one test strips and realized my water was harder then diamond, very dark purple, i dont know if any fish can live within that range. Can you please help my out, its a 29 gallon tank. I want a community tank.

Thank you.

Any of the common livebearing species will suit hard water - mollies, guppies, Platies, Endlers, or Swordtails and there are many more species of these fish that are much less commonly seen, such as Goodieds.

Many of the Rainbowfish would suit and if you have the right setup, Hillstream loaches like hard water too,

That’s off the top of my head. I’m sure there are more.

 

[kansas]

I recently got an RO filter so I can mix it with my tap water. It's not that much trouble and not expensive after the initial purchase.

 

[chaoticaquatics]

cichlids love hard water I"m pretty sure. my neighbor keeps some and we have rock hard water too up in the UP

cichlids love hard water I"m pretty sure. my neighbor keeps some and we have rock hard water too up in the UP

Of course, with a 29 gallon that would limit what cichlid species you keep

 

[LHAquatics]

How about a center piece fish ? I was REALLY hoping I could get some corydoras, I adore them. Is there a way I can maybe soften the water? A way that usnt much of a has and not expensive? I am a busy college student

 

[chaoticaquatics]

How about a center piece fish ? I was REALLY hoping I could get some corydoras, I adore them. Is there a way I can maybe soften the water? A way that usnt much of a has and not expensive? I am a busy college student

I know there's a product called PH down by API I think. To my knowledge it makes the water more acidic, thus softening it a bit. I could be wrong though, I haven't delved into it a ton.

 

[bgarthe]

Your costs and time are relative. But……mixing RO water with your tap should soften it up. You’ll have to experiment to find the ratio of tap to RO that works. This may very well involve a big storage container to mix, age, aerate, and/or heat your water prior to the next WC. I do this with my 5 tanks…..make my hard well water suitable for discus, tetras, corydorus, angels, and rasboras.

 

[kansas]

Some cichlids like hard water and some do not. Seriouslyfish.com has good info on specific fish.

As A201 says, livebearers do well in hard water. You could have a tank of male guppies for a lot of color with no fry, altho guppies are often week from being overbred.

 

[Fishfur]

I know there's a product called PH down by API I think. To my knowledge it makes the water more acidic, thus softening it a bit. I could be wrong though, I haven't delved into it a ton.

You need to delve a bit deeper . Reducing its pH & KH ( they work as a team, not individually) will not soften hard water.

Products intended to reduce pH (like pH Down) do not soften water and in well buffered water they won’t even work to lower pH, because the KH neutralizes the acid in the pH down and the pH bounces right back to where it was before the pH Down was added.

The only practical way to soften hard water (other than installing a water softener) is yo cut it with RO/DI water. But this reduces pH, KH & GH all together. So a balance has to be found.

 

[TClare]

cichlids love hard water I"m pretty sure.

Be careful, many cichlids need soft water. You are almost certainly referring to the Rift Lake cichlids (mainly those. from Lakes Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria). Central American cichlids also do well in hard water, while West African and South American species (including most dwarf species suitable for that tank size) require soft water.

I think shell dwellers would be the only hard water cichlid species suited to a 29 gallon tank, or possibly a pair of one of the smaller Julidochromis species.

 

[StarGirl]

I would say buy from your local fish stores if you cant mix water. They will most likely have the same hard water and the fish will be adapted. I got some snails from Bluefish yesterday and the bag pH was the same as my tank. 8.0- 8.2 range. The fish do better. Bluefish QTs for 10 days before selling.

 

[A201]

Fish stores that actually quarantine are not all that common anymore.
There's only one store in my area that stll does.

They QT new arrivals three or four days before making fish available.
The only negative aspect is the store keeps their tanks heated to 82 - 84 degrees. I'm guessing to combat gill flukes and other external parasites.

The warm water makes acclimating new purchases a much slower process. Oh well, you can't have everything. Lol.

 

[Fishfur]

Fish stores that actually quarantine are not all that common anymore.
There's only one store in my area that stll does.

They QT new arrivals three or four days before making fish available.
The only negative aspect is the store keeps their tanks heated to 82 - 84 degrees. I'm guessing to combat gill flukes and other external parasites.

The warm water makes acclimating new purchases a much slower process. Oh well, you can't have everything. Lol.

So far as I know only one of my local stores QTs new stock - usually for a few days but if something obvious shows up, like Ich, then they remain unavailable for sale until they are cured.

 

[LHAquatics]

These are my water parameter. Also can I get any plants? Or will the water affect it

 

[kansas]

There are some plants for every water. Some will grow in your water and some won't. Don't waste time with ones that don't do well for you, try something else.

I have hard water and crypts, anubius, frogbit and ludwigia do fine in it.

 

[Fishfur]

There are plants that will grow for you but not all of them will.

Any Crypt from Sri Lanka should do ok as Sri Lanka has pretty hard water. Crypt wendtii is Sri Lankan & there are more beautiful variants of wendtii than any other species.

C.walkeri, C.undulata & C.parva are all native to Sri Lanka too - in fact 14 species altogether are found there.

Helanthium tenellum & its variants also tolerate very hard water pretty well, though they come from fairly soft water - but they adapt well. .

Guppy grass should do well (Najas guadalupensis), also Hornwort & most of the Vallisnerias as well.

Pearlgrass (Hemianthus glomeratum) is good with hard water, along with Java ferns, Anubias & Java moss.

Floating plants don’t seem to mind how hard water is very much.

That should be enough for a start.

 

[StarGirl]

Any Crypt and Vals have done best for me. Along with Rotalas, Anubias. Swords survive but not happily. Java anything hasnt gone well. Floaters are so, so. I may have had too much current or moisture from the lids.