Howdy, need stocking advice... (Rare well water parameters?)

[luxsee]

[FONT=&quot]Hello everyone, new member here, I hope this is the proper place for this thread. I've been given a 46-gallon bow front tank, Fluval U4, Penguin powerhead, heater, and gravel. The previous owner was making room for a larger tank. We removed the fish and decor, drained the tank while vacuuming the gravel really well, and took it to my house.

I set everything up by replacing 1 sponge and half of the biomedia in the filter, added limestone and plastic plants for habitat. This system has been running for 3 weeks with water from my private well dosed with API Quick Start. I also bought a 36" Current [FONT=&quot]Satellite[/FONT] LED unit for lighting.

My well water parameters are as follows...
Nitrate = 0 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
Nitrite = 0 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]GH[/FONT] = 25 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]KH[/FONT] = over 300 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
pH = 8.5

My current tank parameters are ...
Nitrate = 20 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
Nitrite = 0 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]GH[/FONT] = 75 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]KH[/FONT] = over 300 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT]
pH = 8.5

So, I have highly alkaline soft water that has been verified by my [FONT=&quot]LFS[/FONT]. The limestone in my tank increased the hardness some but not much so far. The same person who gave me the tank gave me 2 Kenyi cichlids and now that I've researched the species I'm wishing I'd have turned them down... The bigger one spends its day hunting the smaller one... going from cave to cave until found then the chase is on. Luckily, my L[FONT=&quot]FS[/FONT] accepts unwanted fish as "donations", so I have an out on the Kenyi.

Technically, I have a blank slate with the only constraints being my water parameters and the size of my tank. I'm still leaning toward Cichlids but I honestly don't know what to stock. Ideally, I'd like fish that will not hide all day. I'd also prefer for everyone to get along with each other. I do not necessarily want a breeding tank because I don't want the hassle of figuring out what to do with the fry. (my buddy has around 30 Kenyi and counting) I'm not married to the gravel or the limestone either[FONT=&quot].[/FONT]

So, my question is… what would you stock if you had my well water and a cycled 46-gallon tank? Cichlids? Mollies? Cuckoo Cats? Snails? Clams?... I could go for all of those or something totally different... should I ditch the gravel and go with sand? What would you stock to build a "happy" non-planted tank? In what order would you stock the tank?

Questions? Concerns? Sage advice? I'm all ears...

[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Thanks [FONT=&quot]everyone...
[FONT=&quot]luxsee[/FONT]
[/FONT][/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

[Delapool]

Hi, welcome!

Just checking here but as the readings seem to be missing ammonia I'm wondering if these were taken with cardboard strip tests? If the case I find both the aquarium and pool ones will give funny results. The solution / vial tests like API Freshwater master test kit are considered more accurate (well water gh and kh are possible but I'm wondering on difference, so thought to ask).

 

[luxsee]

Hello Delapool,

You are very perceptive. I did get my initial results with Tetra EasyStrips, and recognized them as odd. So I took a sample to my LFS who verified my results using an API kit. Furthermore, I have a freshly calibrated digital pH meter. Highly alkaline soft water has been confirmed in triplicate.

So, I have offered reliable numbers. I did not include Ammonia because couldn't remember the precise result from the LFS, but wasn't an issue. I'm using a fresh Seachem Ammonia alert in the tank, and it shows <0.02ppm as I type.

Hope this helps...

 

[Delapool]

Sounds good. Some thoughts on fish to look into would be danios, some of the barbs like rosy barbs would I think be fine and say a gourami as centre piece. For cichlids I don't really keep those so can't help there.

 

[luxsee]

Thanks for the suggestions... Cyprinids and Labyrinth fish are both categories that I hadn't researched yet.

Danios & Barbs... Looks like Danio Rerio, Puntius Titteya, Puntius Tetrazona, and Puntius Conchonius, are all strong contenders.

A Gourami as a center piece... Trichogaster Leerii, and Trichogaster Trichopterus look like worthy centerpieces.

I'll place the above on my short list.

Any lurkers out there with more fish for me to consider?




P.S. I took your advice and picked up a API Master Kit and API GH & KH kit too.

 

[luxsee]

The more I learn, the less I know...

Okay, with the API GH/KH kit. Took 3 drops on the GH to go green so around 50ppm, but the KH took 24 drops to turn yellow. The KH range on the instructions stop at 12 drops... so how do I interpret the KH? Do I literally multiply 17.9 by 24 to produce 430 ppm KH? Is the API kit accurate at such a high range?

Also, it is my understanding that KH is a reference to the buffering capability of the water. As such, KH is only a problem if it is too low. When choosing fish, GH is most important factor concerning hardness. Is this accurate? Does my high KH limit my options with fish?

I assume the high KH is behind my high pH. Some people say most fish are generally not affected by high pH. Should I ignore those people? For example, could I put Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi on my list?

If it matters, I also bought a TDS meter and calibration solution. After calibration, I read 497 ppm dipping straight into the tank @ 80f/26.7c. Does this have any application to an aquarist while selecting fish? For reference, my well water measures 375 ppm TDS.

Thanks everyone

 

[Delapool]

Possibly some sort of catfish or loach on bottom as well but I'm leading you away from cichlids

That's my understanding as well that ph is used as a proxy for kh, gh, TDS, etc so that if I change ph I may change quite a bit of tank chemistry. So warnings on ph shifts I think actually refer to a warning on shifting the entire tank chemistry. With a CO2 injected tank I daily shift ph (nothing else) and all is ok. I would also think gh is more critical than kh.

My own preference is to pick fish in the range of tank chemistry or hardy, adaptable fish.