Aquarium environment compatability???

[kbd517]

Hi All I may not be asking this the right way, but I can't seem to find this out any other way... We want to start a community tank, and aren't sure what "the most important" water conditions are... is it better to have fish who require the same temp, hardness, pH, or whatever? Ex. fish A likes soft, acidic water, fish B likes soft alkaline water- is it more important for them to have the same hardness or pH needs? As we consider fish, it's become a struggle to find ones we like who have the exact same requirements. If I'm not saying this well enough, could somebody please help? Thanks
Kristen

[shawmutt]

From what I read, most fish can be adapted to neutral water conditions--provided the water conditions are constant. For example, cardinal tetras and angels come from highly acidic, soft water, but they can definitely live in neutral water.

However, if you are planning to breed fish, it's a different story. I can't speak for all fish, but I know my cardinals will not breed in nuetral water. For the most part, breeding fish and newborn fry need optimum conditions, which means their environment should emulate their natural habitat.

[zephyr]

I keep acidic water fish together, alkiline fish together, and neutral fish together. That probably seems like a stupid thing to say. But basically i'm trying to say that most fish can tolerate the ph being slightly different to their natural waters. Temperature is the same.
If you want, you can post a group of fish you would like to keep, asking if they would be compatabile. Then we will be able to tell you if they are or aren't. I only keep fish that will tolerate a nuetral ph because I know I can provide them that.