The Puffer Forum

My tap water is very hard, almost like liquid rock.

pH: 8.2
GH: 17 degrees (304.3ppm)

Currently, when doing weekly water changes, I have been mixing 50% reverse osmosis water and 50% dechlorinated tap water. This yields a GH of 8 degrees (143 ppm) and a pH of 7.2.

1. Is it worth the hassle to do this? Should I just use full tap (liquid rock) water. Or should I keep up this regiment?

2. What are the optimal water conditions for a dwarf puffer? What are the water parameters of their natural habitat?

I understand that they are quite adaptable to most water conditions, so long as the water conditions are stable. But stability is not the issue here as I measure out both the RO and tap water when mixing. I'm merely trying to find water conditions that they are most at home at.

NOTE: If I do decide to go to full tap, I will drip acclimate.

Thanks for your help.

They shouldn't care about hardness, your tap water is fine.

Pufferpunk wrote:They shouldn't care about hardness, your tap water is fine.

Thanks Pufferpunk. I have heard people using hard tap for their DP's with no problems.

But do you know approximately the water parameters of their natural habitat?

It varies a great deal all over their habitat. Some areas are slow moving and totally covered in plants, which make for water with low TDS with few carbonates. Other areas are near rocky soils and have much fewer plants, and tends to be hard. A certain time of year, flooding at the river mouths makes for very high mineral, high PH water creeping into their habitat. Not so much salt as even the levels used to treat ich(they do quite poorly in salty water or brackish water longterm) but significant carbonate minerals. Check out how complex their native rivers in Kerala, India(Malabar) and you will get some idea just how diverse and varied the waters of their home really are.

Most DPs sold here are spawned in tap water, not wild-caught.

Absolutely, I was just accounting for their natural versatility in that regard. The original wild stock never had the kind of consistency needed for the fish to specialize biologically to certain water conditions.

Nick wrote:It varies a great deal all over their habitat. Some areas are slow moving and totally covered in plants, which make for water with low TDS with few carbonates. Other areas are near rocky soils and have much fewer plants, and tends to be hard. A certain time of year, flooding at the river mouths makes for very high mineral, high PH water creeping into their habitat. Not so much salt as even the levels used to treat ich(they do quite poorly in salty water or brackish water longterm) but significant carbonate minerals. Check out how complex their native rivers in Kerala, India(Malabar) and you will get some idea just how diverse and varied the waters of their home really are.

Wow! Thanks for that bit of insightful info Nick. That's really interesting to know just how ever-changing their water conditions are. I suppose that's good that puffers aren't too picky about their water conditions, and will live in most types of water without problem.

Pufferpunk, I tend to think that the quality of my tap isn't so great (San Jose - Silicon Valley area), but that's purely subjectively based on me, the human user. Why? Well, it's heavily chlorinated especially in the mornings when first being used, you can actually smell the chlorine. It's hard like I was saying which leaves my skin dry and itchy after taking a shower. And on top of that, when doing ammonia test of straight tap water, I see miniscule signs of ammonia using an API tester, (> 0.25ppm ammonia) which leads me to believe that they are using chloramines. However, when testing Peanut's tank water, I see no trace of ammonia. Bacteria are doing their jobs.

All of this gives me the impression of not so great water, you know. Now like I was saying, this is all purely subjective, and aside from the water hardness, the chloramines and heavy chlorination have no affect on Peanut whatsoever once I administer Prime water conditioner. It's just one of those things though that leaves a not so great feeling in the back of my mind when using full tap. At least when using 50% RO + 50% tap, I get some "piece of mind" knowing that not all the water is crap, but instead is diluted crap ^_^

I'm not saying it's logical at all by any means. But I don't drink the stuff. Might as well be drinking pool water at the local YMCA

Here in Austin, all of our water comes from a limestone aquifer, and while it is very pure and clean (my wife and I don't buy bottled water ever), it is extremely hard ("liquid rock" as you mentioned). That said, I've kept DPs using our tap water for years with no problems.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/downlo ... _jan10.pdf

jread wrote:Here in Austin, all of our water comes from a limestone aquifer, and while it is very pure and clean (my wife and I don't buy bottled water ever), it is extremely hard ("liquid rock" as you mentioned). That said, I've kept DPs using our tap water for years with no problems.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/downlo ... _jan10.pdf

Yeah, you're water seems fairly hard at 206 MG/L (ppm), but your pH is insanely high! Your water would be great for Tanganyika cichlids! But I do see your point though. My tap water, as hard as it is, as crummy as it seems to me, the human user, is just fine for Peanut.

thanks!

genetao wrote:

jread wrote:Here in Austin, all of our water comes from a limestone aquifer, and while it is very pure and clean (my wife and I don't buy bottled water ever), it is extremely hard ("liquid rock" as you mentioned). That said, I've kept DPs using our tap water for years with no problems.

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/water/downlo ... _jan10.pdf

Yeah, you're water seems fairly hard at 206 MG/L (ppm), but your pH is insanely high! Your water would be great for Tanganyika cichlids! But I do see your point though. My tap water, as hard as it is, as crummy as it seems to me, the human user, is just fine for Peanut.

thanks!

Funny you mention that because cichlids are extremely popular around here. People use the porous, limestone rocks found around the outskirts of the city for their cichlid tanks (Texas Holey Rock).

The PH seems to level out after the water has sat for awhile as it's not usually so high in my tanks.

Ever heard of a Texas cichild? It's the only cichild from the US of A.

Nick wrote:Ever heard of a Texas cichild? It's the only cichild from the US of A.

I just did some quick research on a Texas Cichlid. They are mean little suckers <actually not so little>, and it's recommended that a single one is housed in a minimum of 75 gallon tank. They tear up plants, dig like crazy, and will fight fiercely to defend their territory. I remember once cleaning a friend's Convict tank. I accidentally stumbled upon a nest (unbeknownst to me) as I was gravel vaccuming, and the male actually up to my hand and bit me! And it was a hard bite too! Not at all timid by any means.

Jread, I'd imagine cichlids being popular where you live because of your high pH / Hard water. Makes sense. I think I just make things harder for myself as I am a big fan of fish from South America, usually fish of the smaller variety that come from acidic soft waters. Hence my need to use Reverse Osmosis water. It's a PITA to go get water every week, but I do it for the love of the fish.