Best fishes for my water parameters?

[Supermassive]

I want to setup a 29G community tank with cherry shrimp. My tap water GH is 100-120ppm and KH is around 70-80ppm. TDS meter says 180ppm. Ph usually settles at 7.6-7.8. What fishes would that be ideal for? I'm thinking any of the livebearers would do well but I'm not sure if they actually need harder water than that or what my other options could be.

[Miranda Marie]

None of those perimeters look too far on any end of the spectrum. They actually seem to be sitting pretty much in the middle, or the "ideal" for most fish. As long as you aren't intending to put fish that need crazy hard or very soft water (which would be noted on care guides when you do some research), you can probably do just about anything with water like that.

Edited January 18 by Miranda Marie

[NOLANANO]

Live bearers are pretty adaptable in my experience so they would work fine in your tank.  My favorite type is the Endler Livebearer, they are wildly entertaining to watch. They have awesome colors, come in a wide variety and stay pretty small compared to their guppy "cousins".  Due to their small size, they won't be able to eat many (if any) of your shrimpletts and you'd be able to stock a larger number than its larger livebearer counterparts.  You could do all males which have all the colors and watch them "duel" which means they dance and strut in front of each other.  Or you could do males and females and have both the shrimp and Endlers breeding.

[Whitecloud09]

On 1/18/2024 at 11:18 AM, Supermassive said:

I want to setup a 29G community tank with cherry shrimp. My tap water GH is 100-120ppm and KH is around 70-80ppm. TDS meter says 180ppm. Ph usually settles at 7.6-7.8. What fishes would that be ideal for? I'm thinking any of the livebearers would do well but I'm not sure if they actually need harder water than that or what my other options could be.

I recommend white cloud minnows as they can live in a wide range of parameters. U can prob go with 10-15 of them for a 20+ gal.They do great with Cherry shrimp too

Just make sure ph is between 7 and 8

I mean 6 and 8

[Supermassive]

 

On 1/18/2024 at 12:09 PM, Miranda Marie said:

As long as you aren't intending to put fish that need crazy hard or very soft water (which would be noted on care guides when you do some research), you can probably do just about anything with water like that.

If my PH is within half a point of a recommended PH range would that be okay for most fish? Say ideal PH is 6.5-7.5. Would 6-8 be okay in reality?

[Whitecloud09]

I think so. If u are getting a certain fish u can see what they’re water parameter needs are.That’s why I 100% recommend the white clouds because u basically don’t have to worry about the paremeters but u need decent paremeters

On 1/18/2024 at 12:48 PM, Supermassive said:

 

If my PH is within half a point of a recommended PH range would that be okay for most fish? Say ideal PH is 6.5-7.5. Would 6-8 be okay in reality?

 

[Miranda Marie]

On 1/18/2024 at 10:48 AM, Supermassive said:

 

If my PH is within half a point of a recommended PH range would that be okay for most fish? Say ideal PH is 6.5-7.5. Would 6-8 be okay in reality?

6.8 is getting towards softer water, which some fish don't like as well and some fish prefer more. It just deoends on the species. Like others have said, there are some hardier fish species that don't care that you could try. 6.8 itself isn't that bad, but I'd be a bit more conscientious of what fish I got as things like driftwood and lack of water changes could soften it further over time. Still, 6.8 isn't crazy outside the normal.

[JettsPapa]

As others have said, you can have a wide variety of fish with those parameters.  I have quite a few in my tanks, and my water is harder than yours, with higher pH.

Edited January 19 by JettsPapa

[Guppysnail]

On 1/18/2024 at 12:48 PM, Supermassive said:

If my PH is within half a point of a recommended PH range would that be okay for most fish? Say ideal PH is 6.5-7.5. Would 6-8 be okay in reality?

6.5-7.5 is listed as correct parameters for most fish on internet care guides because it’s midrange. I do not put much stock in those numbers. Most fish I’ve kept that recommended those mid ground numbers are quite fine up to 7.8-8. And have even done ok when my water hits 8.2-8.4 thought to live their entire life that crazy high would probably have some negative impact. I only look to see if it says needs soft low ph water like below 7 or if they say needs really hard water.  


 

[Supermassive]

On 1/18/2024 at 9:48 PM, Guppysnail said:

6.5-7.5 is listed as correct parameters for most fish on internet care guides because it’s midrange. I do not put much stock in those numbers. Most fish I’ve kept that recommended those mid ground numbers are quite fine up to 7.8-8. And have even done ok when my water hits 8.2-8.4 thought to live their entire life that crazy high would probably have some negative impact. I only look to see if it says needs soft low ph water like below 7 or if they say needs really hard water.

Okay perfect, that is exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you very much.

[Tony s]

Most fish will adapt to ph ranges. Consistency is key. Try finding a local fish store that has close to your water parameters. Chances are you can keep almost exactly what they can. While it’s very possible to change your pH and your water parameters, it does create a ton more work. And can add inconsistencies to your tank water. I should know, I make 200 plus gallons of RO water every week and then re-mineralize it so it comes out almost exactly like what you have been given. I would stay away from some of the harder types like rams, or discus. Or things like the soda lakes fish, which need very hard water and high pH. Even African cichlids would need a ph boost. But using aragonite for substrate would work well for that. But with your water you have SO many options. Note: wasn’t talking about keeping anything with the shrimp. Just your water.
 

Now for shrimp

the endless would be great. Small Rasbora. Like chili or dwarf. Celestial pearl danios are very popular. Ember tetras or neon green Rasbora (kubotai). I can’t think of any small fish that wouldn’t go with your water. The key being they have to be small enough to not eat shrimp, and for 29 gallons you’ll need a lot so you can easily see them

[Supermassive]

On 1/18/2024 at 10:18 PM, Tony s said:

While it’s very possible to change your pH and your water parameters, it does create a ton more work. And can add inconsistencies to your tank water.

Yeah that's why I'm asking for my tap water parameters. So I don't have to mess with anything and can just do water changes. I mix water for my betta tank but its only 10 gallons so its pretty easy to do once a week.

 

On 1/18/2024 at 10:18 PM, Tony s said:

the endless would be great. Small Rasbora. Like chili or dwarf. Celestial pearl danios are very popular. Ember tetras or neon green Rasbora (kubotai). I can’t think of any small fish that wouldn’t go with your water. The key being they have to be small enough to not eat shrimp, and for 29 gallons you’ll need a lot so you can easily see them

I like the idea of having endlers and Ive always really liked chili rasboras since ive seen them.

Would they work well together or should I stick with one or other.

[Tony s]

I don’t think they’ll bother each other. And should be fine. I haven’t done that combination, but I can’t think of a reason why not. Their mouths are too small 

but you’ll need a lot of both . Eventually, maybe start small, figure out what works to raise each type. And then worry about the display 

 

you could also add otocinclus , they’re kind of cute. And they’d help with glass algae that shrimp won’t  

 

just curious, what are you mixing in with your betta water. I’m trying to make my water very close to yours. Trying to get my angelfish fry to survive. But I’m not adding anything to that water for bettas. I’m trying to find a stable water formula for all my fish. I may not be able to. 
 

but you do appear to have really good water. dGh 5-6. dKh3-4. Very much on soft side. But very versatile. The thing to think about, most fresh water fish are tank bred and raised. So using a lfs will get you fish already adapted to your water. If you buy fish from a different water source and they’ve been living in and adapted to hard water, you’ll actually cause an imbalance in osmotic pressure inside your fish. The higher gh and kh will try to even out into the tank, sometimes causing severe problems.  Going the other way, your soft water fish will have an easier time adapting as the gh and kh slowly enters the fish. 
 

but that’s really not going to be a problem with your water . Yours is mostly soft to neutral.

Edited January 19 by Tony s

[mynameisnobody]

Endlers are great, but if you add a pair to a 10 gallon, it’ll be rather full in a couple of months tops. If that is something you don’t want to deal with, then I’d go all male endlers. 

[Tony s]

On 1/18/2024 at 11:56 PM, mynameisnobody said:

Endlers are great, but if you add a pair to a 10 gallon, it’ll be rather full in a couple of months tops. If that is something you don’t want to deal with, then I’d go all male endlers. 

I haven’t done them before. But was wondering if their populations would stabilize like platys do. I currently have 20-30 platys in a 20g multi generational. But very stable 

[mynameisnobody]

Personally I haven’t had any livebearer stabalize. I’ve had multies balance themselves out after a few years, but that’s about it. 

[Tony s]

On 1/19/2024 at 12:25 AM, mynameisnobody said:

Personally I haven’t had any livebearer stabalize. I’ve had multies balance themselves out after a few years, but that’s about it. 

Depends on what you call stabilizing. I have platys ranging from 3 year old to 3 day old fry in same tank. With hornwart for fry protection. The population stops growing. Have had a constant population around 30 for about 18 months now. Very stable water conditions as well. My most stable tank.

Populations grow until they reach their carrying capacity of the tank and population won’t grow afterwards. All animal species only grow to the carrying capability of their environment. wasn’t sure what that looked like for endlers. Could be a huge number 

[Supermassive]

On 1/18/2024 at 11:49 PM, Tony s said:

Eventually, maybe start small, figure out what works to raise each type. And then worry about the display

Im not really sure what you mean here.

On 1/18/2024 at 11:49 PM, Tony s said:

you could also add otocinclus , they’re kind of cute. And they’d help with glass algae that shrimp won’t

I was thinking about them too but have read they can be somewhat difficult. Ill have to see how things end up.

 

On 1/18/2024 at 11:49 PM, Tony s said:

just curious, what are you mixing in with your betta water. I’m trying to make my water very close to yours. Trying to get my angelfish fry to survive. But I’m not adding anything to that water for bettas. I’m trying to find a stable water formula for all my fish. I may not be able to.

I'm just mixing my tap water with distilled in a 50/50 ratio to bring my KH and PH down a bit. In my betta tank its about 40ppm KH and PH anywhere from 7.0 to 7.6. I dont test PH very often. I just monitor my KH and GH. GH is 80-100ppm in the betta tank.

 

On 1/18/2024 at 11:56 PM, mynameisnobody said:

Endlers are great, but if you add a pair to a 10 gallon, it’ll be rather full in a couple of months tops. If that is something you don’t want to deal with, then I’d go all male endlers.

Endlers are for the 29 gallon. The 10 gallon I mentioned was my betta tank.

[Tony s]

If I haven’t raised a type of fish before, I tend to go slow until I fully understand what they need. If it was me, I might just do 6 until I get them figured out. Then in a 29, I’d go 25 just for visibility since they’re really small. For endlers. Maybe 6, and just let them go town.

most otos you’re going to find are wild caught. They’re supposed to have a pea sized belly pudge for health. If they don’t have that they’re already very hungry to starving. If they do they’re mostly okay to raise. They can lose a lot of energy in transit. Sometimes you can grow that belly but not always 

for the betta dgh 5 to 15 is preferred. 3-8 dkh would work. So 100-300 ppm gh and 60-160 ppm kh. I have 6 bettas currently. They all do fine in hard water. Or used to, anyway. But I am now changing the hardness for the angels and hopefully some rams and discus. But yeah, your water is fine for bettas. You shouldn’t have to change it for them. Bettas are really tough. Wild caught ones are found in large mud puddles 

[Schuyler]

Dr. Anthony Mazeroll came and spoke at the Portland Aquarium Society. He was talking about water chemistry.

One of his big points was that as long as you're just looking to keep fish and not necessarily breed them, then you can get almost any fish to live in your water as long as it's been acclimated. His example was that he keeps discus in hard water with a pH of 8.

Now, he is a professor of biology with decades of experience so maybe not everyone could pull off discus like that. But the point is that with good husbandry you can make it work.

Your water isn't crazy hard. You could probably do most fish easily (outside of black water fish). If you can get locally bred fish then you'll have nothing to worry about at all.

[Tony s]

On 1/19/2024 at 10:31 AM, Schuyler said:

Dr. Anthony Mazeroll came and spoke at the Portland Aquarium Society. He was talking about water chemistry.

One of his big points was that as long as you're just looking to keep fish and not necessarily breed them, then you can get almost any fish to live in your water as long as it's been acclimated. His example was that of experience so maybe not everyone could pull off discus like that. But the point is that with good husbandry you can make it work.

Your water isn't crazy hard. You could probably do most fish easily (outside of black water fish). If you can get locally bred fish then you'll have nothing to worry about at all.

Exactly correct. breeding is a different matter. Supermassive's water from my perspective runs soft to neutral. so, a great range of options. mine run 14dGh and 8 dKh so hard to very hard. I can grow everything except rams . My problem is I have massive amounts of iron in my well. So I'm running everything through RO. I can only aspire to create what he gets naturally. I could probably use softened water but eventually the salt would kill the plants.  Well, and the fact we use hydrogen peroxide injector to elimiate iron bacteria from our well. it also eliminates the beneficial bacteria 

[Schuyler]

On 1/19/2024 at 8:22 AM, Tony s said:

Well, and the fact we use hydrogen peroxide injector to elimiate iron bacteria from our well.

No Easy Iron needed for you lol

Have you considered aging your water before doing a water change? Hydrogen peroxide isn't very stable so if you put some water in a bucket with an airstone (and maybe a light) overnight it should all be gone.

[Supermassive]

I've decided to do guppies with the cherry shrimp instead of endlers. I also want to do a school of either chili rasboras or neon tetras but I don't know how many I should get. I'm going to start with either 6 or 9 guppies so how many rasboras/tetras could I go for?

[Tony s]

Chili's are really tiny. to even see them it's going to take what seems like an absurd amount. s0, in your 29g, maybe 30

[Tony s]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:06 PM, Supermassive said:

I've decided to do guppies with the cherry shrimp instead of endlers. I also want to do a school of either chili rasboras or neon tetras but I don't know how many I should get. I'm going to start with either 6 or 9 guppies so how many rasboras/tetras could I go for?

That sounds like a really cool combination. I have a couple of empty tanks, I may borrow your idea 😀

Edited January 30 by Tony s