Dwarf Gouramis - Water Conditions?

webcricket

webcricket

(So chill.) No wonder it's freezing
Mar 22, 2006
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Syracuse, NY
Dwarf Gouramis - How does my water stack up for them?

I'm looking to purchase a pair of dwarf gouramis in the next couple of weeks. Ultimately they'll be going into my 20 gallon once the platy fry are cleared out. I am wondering if my water parameters will be okay for them. I've really never kept any other types of fish aside from what I have now and bettas. I'd looked into getting tetras, but my water being more alkaline and on the hard side is not ideal for them.

kH/gH = 125 stable
pH = 7.6 stable

Water changes with gravel vac are at least 3.5 gallons (cause that's what the bucket holds) every 3 to 10 days depending on my schedule. If it's been longer since my last change, I'll do a bigger change of 7 gallons. I test nitrates (drop test) like it's a religion and keep them under the 10 ppm range.

My danios, corys, and platys all thrive in my water, so I want to be sure I'll have a good shot of success with the dwarf gouramis before I get them. If they have little chance of adapting and thriving in my water, I'll just pick up a few more danios and corys instead. ;) Any comments or thoughts are appreciated.
 
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How hard is your water. Most gourmais like softer more acidic water. When you go to purchase the gourmais, see if you can find out what kind of water hardness they have been kept in (not just the lfs water). If they have been acclimated to harder water conditions and your water is hard they should be fine. However, if they have been raised in water that does not match or come into close proximity to the conditions in your tank, than you may run into problems. I hope this helps.

Marinemom
 
I don't really have to many tips for you, I'd just say use a drip-acclimate method, maybe even a little longer than suggested to make sure they'll be alright.
 
if you have acidic water the color will come out more vibrant
 
I suppose my water is not especially hard, but rather leans toward the hard/alkaline side of the scale. I don't have problems with calcium and mineral buildups on anything in the tank, so it really can't be all that hard.

I did some checking into our tap source water report for 2005 and found this...

total dissolved solids 120 ppm
sodium 7.7 ppm
alkalinity 100 ppm
pH average 7.7 (range 7.35 to 8.13)
total hardness 120 ppm

It's good to know my kH/gH and pH test kits aren't too far off from the official report! Of course, in terms of hardness, I've got nothing to compare it to - which is where some of my concerns come from. It's one thing to know the water alkalinity is 100 ppm, but where does that fall on the scale from slightly alkaline to really really alkaline? I guess I'll have to dig around some more and see what I can find out.
 
Your water parameters are fine for dwarf gouramis - I have a pair in water with almost exactly the same hardness and pH. Because they are farmed commercially like most of the popular community fish, they can easily thrive in a wide range of conditions.
 
They will do fine, keep up your set maintenance for consistency. I'll bet that not one of the DG have ever seen "soft" water.
 
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