tap water ph 8.0... what fish?

[Greentree]

Hi

A little advice please...

I have a tank 125 litre which has no fish currently. The ph in the tank is 7.8 and the water from the tap reads 8.0.

I know that this water is suitable for some African Cichlids but i'm worrried it will not be large enough for them... any other species to look at??

A rocky cave like tank would be suitable for cichlids but i had hoped for a planted tank...

Thanks

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[Ozymandias]

many fish are reality tolerant to water harness. also you can usally keeps plants at such levels, and i have a theory (thought i don't think i could prove it, and i don't remember any one mentioning any thing about this idea) that the plants absorb allot of the minerals and help the water hardness levels go down after a time.

[lauraleellbp]

Ozy your theory is correct, and a source of kH is actually recommended in Natural Planted Tanks, where the philosophy is to never do a water change (see Diana Walstad's book for more info).

Greentree- IMO one of the best things you could do is look for a local fish and/or aquatic plant club, and see what ppl around you are breeding and growing. Chances are if it's locally bred or grown it will already be acclimated to your water.

Otherwise, Ozy's right that most plant and fish can be acclimated to different parameters than those normally recommended if the acclimation is slow, and the new parameters are stable.

[Ozymandias]

Good to here it confirmed, it's strange but i rarely (or at least i don't remember) reading that about water hardness and plants much.

[Greentree]

So if i source locally bred fish i am not limited by my ph? Come to think of it there are loads of shops near by all busy so water ph cant be that much of a problem

[rekabrekab]

You will be fine with the Ph. I have kept fish in well water (Ph 8.6). Just do a good job acclimating them. Or you could add R/O water to your tap water. Avoid using Ph lowering supplements.

Some spices that I kept.

• Neon Tetras
• Mollies
• Cory Cats
• Ghost Shrimp

[fishscale]

pH isn't that important unless you want to breed fish. Even then, people breed soft water fish in hard water. It's more important to have stable, clean water. If you wanted to do harder water fish, you could try celestial pearl danios. But, you could really do whatever fish fit with your tank size.

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by Ozymandias

Good to here it confirmed, it's strange but i rarely (or at least i don't remember) reading that about water hardness and plants much.

That's b/c it takes a long time to happen, and in most tanks PWC replace whatever TDS are removed by the plants. Natural Planted Tanks don't use PWC, though, so kH must be supplemented since eventually the plants will use up all the carbonates in the water.