I have very hard water and high pH water and I am going to set up a 55 gallon aquarium and I need very colorful pretty fish that will do good in this water I can lower ph a bit though I REALLY wanted discus but I can't afford a reverse osmosis system. Is there any way I can have discus or is there any other fish like them I can have? Please help and thanks!!! Also I have a hot water softener if I use that and let it cool before putting that in would it soften the water??? Thanks!
Beautiful colorful fish for hard water aquarium?
- Thread starter Sara3502
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African cichlids may be a good choice for you. Makes for a great display.
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I had discus in well water, where the pH was 8.0. They did fine but never spawned.
But discus tend to be expensive, especially when you need 6 or more to balance things out. Depending on what else you'd like, here are a few ideas:
1. A 'easy' rift lake setup: 6 yellow labs and 6 demasoni. Bright yellows and bright blues and you should get spawning. A bristlenose pleco will help with algae, and smaller synos like petricola will do good too.
2. Rainbowfish. A dozen or so of the larger ones will look nice. Toss in some otos and cories too.
3. A large school of tetras, like lemons or neons. Think 25-30. Then 10 cories, otos or a bristlenose. Or farlowella cats would do nice too.
4. Betta central. 10-12 female bettas and one male. The standard cories for cleanup, or shrimp.
But discus tend to be expensive, especially when you need 6 or more to balance things out. Depending on what else you'd like, here are a few ideas:
1. A 'easy' rift lake setup: 6 yellow labs and 6 demasoni. Bright yellows and bright blues and you should get spawning. A bristlenose pleco will help with algae, and smaller synos like petricola will do good too.
2. Rainbowfish. A dozen or so of the larger ones will look nice. Toss in some otos and cories too.
3. A large school of tetras, like lemons or neons. Think 25-30. Then 10 cories, otos or a bristlenose. Or farlowella cats would do nice too.
4. Betta central. 10-12 female bettas and one male. The standard cories for cleanup, or shrimp.
Darn server problem keeps eating my posts!
I'm with Misa. If you want plants, go with the bows: Glosseopsis incisus, Melanotaenia lacustris, Melanotaenia boesemani. If plants aren't your thing, go with the Africans.
I'm with Misa. If you want plants, go with the bows: Glosseopsis incisus, Melanotaenia lacustris, Melanotaenia boesemani. If plants aren't your thing, go with the Africans.
The rainbows will be easier. Less fighting. I wouldn't use the softened water. It adds salt. I have a rainbow tank with 8.3 pH and really high KH and GH. The rainbows are easy. You can put other fish with them also. I don't know if neons will be too happy in your water. I've found some fish do just fine and others kind of fade away. They don't get noticeably sick, they just kind of die off little by little. Serpaes have done great and I'm trying a school of tiger barbs (13) now. They seem to be doing really well also.
I've had (and still have) African cichlids. They are gorgeous, but can be kind of mean. Every now and then I come home to a beat up or dead cichlid. It is usually many months between murders, but they still happen. I have all males now, so that seems a little better. They are still more challenging.
Here's a pic of my tank. Very blurry, but you get the idea.
Here's another picture from about a year ago (before the tiger barbs).
Have fun creating your new tank! You can do a lot with it, even with the high pH. And it is a whole lot easier to work with the water you have, than it is to change it and have to deal with changing it for every water change.
Lisa
I've had (and still have) African cichlids. They are gorgeous, but can be kind of mean. Every now and then I come home to a beat up or dead cichlid. It is usually many months between murders, but they still happen. I have all males now, so that seems a little better. They are still more challenging.
Here's a pic of my tank. Very blurry, but you get the idea.
Here's another picture from about a year ago (before the tiger barbs).
Have fun creating your new tank! You can do a lot with it, even with the high pH. And it is a whole lot easier to work with the water you have, than it is to change it and have to deal with changing it for every water change.
Lisa
Definitely try to bypass the softening system if you can. There may be a faucet in the house even (for me it was my kitchen).
I would definitely say 'bows are an option, as would quite a few African cichlid setups. Livebearers are also a good choice.
That being said I wouldn't say you have to restrict yourself to "hardwater" species. With proper acclimation you may have more choices than you think. Misa already touched on that with some of their ideas.
I would definitely say 'bows are an option, as would quite a few African cichlid setups. Livebearers are also a good choice.
That being said I wouldn't say you have to restrict yourself to "hardwater" species. With proper acclimation you may have more choices than you think. Misa already touched on that with some of their ideas.