Tank set up with hard water ideas

[Equestrian to aquarium]

Hi, I am new to fish keeping ,but like everything else I find so many different answers to the same question. So come to you for advise. I’m setting up a 36 gallon tank for guppies. I have hard water form a well but live on sandy soil so PH is not bad,  Ive read some people will buy a RO system and use half and half water to solve this. Then Ive read about adding the different chemicals to tank or filter pellets  etc....to change your GH.    would love to hear what has worked for everyone.  Thanks so much Sandi

[AdamTill]

Howdy fellow horse person!

First, how hard is hard? Do you know pH/KH/GH from your well? No worries if not, but it helps. Ours is Rocky Mountain runoff so very hard as well, but well can be even “worse” at time.

Next, RO is totally an option, but is orders of magnitude more annoying. Emergency water changes etc are also harder if you notice a problem.

Most fish prefer consistent water rather than “perfect” water.

[OceanTruth]

If you're planning on housing guppies, you don't need to do a thing. Guppies like hard water.

[Equestrian to aquarium]

Thanks , i have read they like hard i have an API test kit it reads P.H 7.2 high range 7.8 ammonia 0.25 nitrite 0 ppm nitrate o ppm i only have a tetra easy strip test for GH so not sure i trust it I will order API’s kit for GH but paper strip saying very hard 300 or higher so that scared me a little. I have a 10 gallon now i keep 7 guppies in so I’m in no hurry to get fish in the 36 gallon tank trying to figure the best way to start cycling the tank. Thank you. All input super appreciated!

[lefty o]

if the guppies you currently have look healthy, and happy, i wouldnt overly worry about anything with the water.

[Equestrian to aquarium]

28 minutes ago, OceanTruth said:

If you're planning on housing guppies, you don't need to do a thing. Guppies like hard water.

 

38 minutes ago, AdamTill said:

Howdy fellow horse person!

First, how hard is hard? Do you know pH/KH/GH from your well? No worries if not, but it helps. Ours is Rocky Mountain runoff so very hard as well, but well can be even “worse” at time.

Next, RO is totally an option, but is orders of magnitude more annoying. Emergency water changes etc are also harder if you notice a problem.

Most fish prefer consistent water rather than “perfect” water.

Sorry just figured this is how you reply , please check my posting on water parameters , thanks  

[OceanTruth]

I honestly think your guppies will do great in your water once the tank is cycled and ammonia is at zero. My water parameters seem to be similar to yours and I think my guppies are thriving; pH: 7.8, GH: 300, KH: 180.

[Equestrian to aquarium]

10 minutes ago, lefty o said:

if the guppies you currently have look healthy, and happy, i wouldnt overly worry about anything with the water.

Well truth be told I bought spring water treated it with prime and added fish after only 2 days of cycling with stability ,and still lost a few fish 

[Equestrian to aquarium]

1 minute ago, OceanTruth said:

I honestly think your guppies will do great in your water once the tank is cycled and ammonia is at zero. My water parameters seem to be similar to yours and I think my guppies are thriving; pH: 7.8, GH: 300, KH: 180.

So 300 or over GH doesn’t scare you ? Just treat with prime and start the tank running , no additional stuff ?  

[lefty o]

Just now, Equestrian to aquarium said:

Well truth be told I bought spring water treated it with prime and added fish after only 2 days of cycling with stability ,and still lost a few fish 

if you are going to try a quick cycle, you really need a source of beneficial bacteria to get the cycle kick started. something from an already established aquarium or a product like fritzyme7 or other similar bacteria starter. after only 2 days, fish loss is to be expected, no matter how good the water parameters are.

[KaitieG]

I'm on a well here in Wisconsin, and we have very hard water with a lot of calcium.  GH 300, KH 200, PH 8.2.  My guppies do fine.  The first ones I bought were shorter-lived than I expected--they were already about 9 months old when I got them and lived for between an additional 6-18 months.  Females lived longer than the males.  The generation that bred in my tank has been going for 18+ months and has had very few losses, again only males (there was a Science Daily article that showed that wild males also have a significantly shorter lifespan than females--not sure if that's the case for everyone, but it's been consistent for me).  

Anyway, Guppies and other livebearers are known for doing well in hard water, so I think you've chosen a good fish for your water and would just maybe suggest based on my own experience and a couple things I've read that you stick with them for a generation or two breeding in your own water as fry born in your water will likely be very well adapted to it throughout their lives.  

[Equestrian to aquarium]

5 minutes ago, lefty o said:

if you are going to try a quick cycle, you really need a source of beneficial bacteria to get the cycle kick started. something from an already established aquarium or a product like fritzyme7 or other similar bacteria starter. after only 2 days, fish loss is to be expected, no matter how good the water parameters are.

Thank you , I will look into fritzyme, this time around I’m in no hurry will let it cycle a couple weeks. I suppose if I’m buying fish from the area all of Minnesota has hard water, and dumped them in spring water ,maybe shocked the poor babies, I will figure this out ,just need a place to start Thanks again  

[OceanTruth]

6 minutes ago, Equestrian to aquarium said:

So 300 or over GH doesn’t scare you ? Just treat with prime and start the tank running , no additional stuff ?  

It would only scare me if I was trying to keep fish that do well in soft, acidic water. I used to be big into goldfish and they did well in my water as well.

[KaitieG]

9 minutes ago, Equestrian to aquarium said:

So 300 or over GH doesn’t scare you ? Just treat with prime and start the tank running , no additional stuff ?  

I've had that in my tanks since I started a couple years ago and haven't had much trouble with anything.  Even my corydoras, which I think were the most marginal, have done very well for me and are nearly 3 years old.  

[Equestrian to aquarium]

2 minutes ago, KaitieG said:

I'm on a well here in Wisconsin, and we have very hard water with a lot of calcium.  GH 300, KH 200, PH 8.2.  My guppies do fine.  The first ones I bought were shorter-lived than I expected--they were already about 9 months old when I got them and lived for between an additional 6-18 months.  Females lived longer than the males.  The generation that bred in my tank has been going for 18+ months and has had very few losses, again only males (there was a Science Daily article that showed that wild males also have a significantly shorter lifespan than females--not sure if that's the case for everyone, but it's been consistent for me).  

Anyway, Guppies and other livebearers are known for doing well in hard water, so I think you've chosen a good fish for your water and would just maybe suggest based on my own experience and a couple things I've read that you stick with them for a generation or two breeding in your own water as fry born in your water will likely be very well adapted to it throughout their lives.  

Thank you ! 

 

[lefty o]

1 minute ago, Equestrian to aquarium said:

Thank you , I will look into fritzyme, this time around I’m in no hurry will let it cycle a couple weeks. I suppose if I’m buying fish from the area all of Minnesota has hard water, and dumped them in spring water ,maybe shocked the poor babies, I will figure this out ,just need a place to start Thanks again  

you are correct that pretty much all of mn has hard water. i run a water softener, but at times bypass the softener to keep some hardness in the water for the fish.

[Equestrian to aquarium]

7 minutes ago, KaitieG said:

I've had that in my tanks since I started a couple years ago and haven't had much trouble with anything.  Even my corydoras, which I think were the most marginal, have done very well for me and are nearly 3 years old.  

Thanks !

[Equestrian to aquarium]

11 minutes ago, OceanTruth said:

It would only scare me if I was trying to keep fish that do well in soft, acidic water. I used to be big into goldfish and they did well in my water as well.

Okay. Thanks 

[Equestrian to aquarium]

11 minutes ago, lefty o said:

you are correct that pretty much all of mn has hard water. i run a water softener, but at times bypass the softener to keep some hardness in the water for the fish.

Okay i have my confidence back, Thank you 

[lefty o]

dont worry too much, it gets easier and less stressful once things get up and running smoothly. most people struggle a little at first while learning what works for them, and their chosen fish.

[Equestrian to aquarium]

53 minutes ago, lefty o said:

dont worry too much, it gets easier and less stressful once things get up and running smoothly. most people struggle a little at first while learning what works for them, and their chosen fish.

One more question ,hope you don’t mind , when you quarantine new fish how long do you watch them before adding to your main tank and do you run like quarantine trio through them first or anything. , I would never bring home a new horse with out a vet check ,worming and shots all up to date . No fish vet check , what is your procedure?   Thanks 

[mouseturd13]

I am in Arizona have very hard water. I don’t have guppies but I have zebra danios and otocinclus and they seem fine in the water. From what I understand, in the Coop videos, is that it is better to keep parameters stable than to constantly chase things like hardness and ph. My fish have no problems in the liquid rock water I have and from the above comments it sounds like you’ve chosen appropriate fish for your water! 🙂  the good thing is that usually harder water has more stable ph and that will make one thing a little easier to manage in your tank hopefully! 

[OceanTruth]

20 minutes ago, mouseturd13 said:

I am in Arizona have very hard water. I don’t have guppies but I have zebra danios and otocinclus and they seem fine in the water. 

Thank you for that tidbit. I always thought that otocinclus were sensitive, but I'm glad they are a possible option for me. Always found them super cute.

[JettsPapa]

2 hours ago, OceanTruth said:

Thank you for that tidbit. I always thought that otocinclus were sensitive, but I'm glad they are a possible option for me. Always found them super cute.

It's not so much that they're sensitive; the problem is that they're often difficult to keep alive for the first week after bringing them home.  After that they seem to be pretty hardy.  It's my understanding that most of the ones sold in stores are wild caught, and after being caught they've often gone without food long enough to cause irreparable harm to their digestive systems before reaching the store.