More important for softwater fish: fix pH, general hardness, or none of the above?

[cwt]

Haven't made up my mind what I want to put into the 10G tank and some of the small-tank options include tetras, South American river varieties, maybe even a few shrimp, etc, which are always listed as requiring a pH of under 7. The pH of water coming out of the local tap (by my own testing and the City of Columbus Water Dept) is 7.5-7.7, and the general hardness is high (no specific numbers there). Should I even be worrying about this, and if I wanted to correct it, what should I shoot for first?

[wierdkid]

The most important thing with freshwater chemistry is stability. So long as the fish are properly acclimated they will adapt to the conditions with no problems (my family has had tropical fish in water with a pH of around 8.0 and hardness nearly double of what you have for well over 20 years and our fish do very well, just don't expect to be able to breed anything other than livebearers). If anything hardness (particulary carbonate hardness or KH) is a good thing as it helps to stabilize pH, even if it is at a higher than "ideal" pH.

[bs6749]

I can tell you that depending on what type of shrimp you want pH may play an important role in their life cycles. Certain shrimp need a certain pH not only to breed but also to live normal lifespans. I breed a few species of shrimp and know a little about them so if you have any questions I may be able to help. For most fish, the pH won't matter as long as it is stable. Harndess mainly plays a role when breeding fish.

I guess, it may be best to post a list of the inhabitants you have in mind for the 10g tank to see if your water parameters will be suitable for them.

[cwt]

thanks for the replies... being a 10 gallon tank, I'm not looking to do any breeding in it (if I breed the shrimp I might start up my 5G tank to do the brackish water some of them require), so if stable parameters are the key, then I won't worry about it too much. Tank's probably a week out from being cycled, am looking around at stores to figure out what I'll put in, so no list yet ;0