Endlers and soft water

hotshotdevil32

Hello me and my brother are currently in the process of converting his 10 gallon community tank into a planted tank for endlers livebearers. Normally I would not place fish in less than perfect water conditions but our water is naturally very soft (30ppm dh) with a low ph. If I added an alkaline buffer to the system would the endlers livebearers be alright. Eventually I will be adding a substrate designed for chiclids to harden the water up but unfortunately it is very expensive. Infact one 20 pound bag of it is 30$! could I add the endlers now and slowly convert it over to a planted tank... Buying one piece of equipment at a time?

Olympia

I wouldn't risk endlers in soft water, they need the minerals otherwise it makes them vulnerable to disease, and weakens their slime coat. Wait till you can afford everything. Build the fence before buying the cattle.
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hotshotdevil32

Yea that makes sense it's just frustrating you know

Fishpunk

Endler's livebearers are hard water fishes. If you have soft water, your best bet is to either use crushed coral as substrate, or gradually acclimate the fish to brackish conditions. Problem is, you are making a planted tank.

Probably you should pick fish that are more appropriate for your water, like neon tetras or perhaps some killies.

hotshotdevil32

I appreciate the input. actually I called the water company and went to a LFS for water testing and it turns out my KH and DH tests are off. Both the company and the tests from the LFS said that the water we have here is actually moderately hard and based on research I have been doing within perfectly acceptable ranges for endlers livebearers.