0-15ppm gH......any fish thrive in water this soft?

[FishObsessed]

I'm back into the hobby after a long hiatus. Previously I had harder water, so I'm not used to current tap water which has little to no hardness at all. I have a 38 gallon tank stocked with 3 male platies and 16 tiger Barb's (8 regular, 6 green platinum, and 2 Starfire Red GloFish). I clean it once every 2 weeks, syphon the gravel, and do 30 to 60 % water change. The tank is almost 4 mos old. 

My fish don't seem to be thriving. I've tried an airstone, aquarium salt, a ph adjuster, and beneficial bacteria. The tiger Barb's don't seem as active as I think they should be (i.e....a handful of them just hanging out not moving much for large portions of time du ing the day, unless I get close to the tank).

My question is, should I adjust my tap water to suit the fish, or get fish that are suited for my tap water? I feel like I have the perfect water for a Discus but my tank is too small. What other fish are good in water this soft and acidic ph (6.0-6.5)?

[gcalberto]

You might be successful with some Amazonian fish, like tetras and dwarf cichlids. Maybe even discus. They do enjoy very soft water.

Another option would be to use a substrate like crushed coral, or maybe rocks/ a wondershell to naturally raise the water hardness and ph. 

 

[Brandy]

Yeah, all fish can thrive in that water because is easy to raise the hardness with coral or aragonite. In a way, I feel like I won the jackpot, because you can make any water you want with out an RO system. It will just take a little tinkering and a test kit.

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Brandy

[FishObsessed]

That's a good way to look at it Brandy!

I got a WonderShell tonight and we'll see what happens. If that, and other measures doesn't work, then I'll go for more fish like gcalberto mentioned.

Thanks guys!