AquariumBoard Forums - View Single Post - Mollies With High Blood Pressure: Potassium Chloride Instead?

Phet Phishcake · 05-20-2006, 08:10 PM

Obviously I'm kidding with that title, but seriously, many of the fish I have were inherited and I now find myself with a tank containing mollies, platy's, tetra's, and Cory's...and even a male betta. I know what you are thinking- opposite ends of every conceivable spectrum...but all are thriving beautifully.

The town I live in provides very soft tap water with a pH around 6.4, and GH and KH ~0. Therefore, I have many options to choose what ideal chemical water conditions would "minimally" accomodate all species, using municipal water.

I decided on the following:
pH=7.0 In a messed up community tank like this, that is your only option.
KH=whatever amount of NaHCO3 (sodium hydrogen carbonate/sodium bicarbonate) it takes to make a pH of 7.0- usually this equates to a dKH value of 4 to 6, depending on how old the water is.
GH=8 I use MgSO4 (magnesium sulphate) to acheive this, as it has no bearing on KH.
Phosphates tend to be around 1ppm
Nitrates about 10-20ppm, and I use the nitrate value to determine when a partial water change needs to be performed.
NaCl (salt)=0 My logic here is that I have read that mollies can adapt to a salt-free environment, whereas cory's and some tetra's (in this case, bloodfins) cannot.

What I really want to know is, because I have read varying opinions on the adaptibility of mollies to no-salt climates (and also some opinions about platy's), what is your take on this issue, as I have to say they seem to be thriving under current conditions...

05-20-2006, 08:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
Phet Phishcake Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 49	Mollies With High Blood Pressure: Potassium Chloride Instead? Obviously I'm kidding with that title, but seriously, many of the fish I have were inherited and I now find myself with a tank containing mollies, platy's, tetra's, and Cory's...and even a male betta. I know what you are thinking- opposite ends of every conceivable spectrum...but all are thriving beautifully. The town I live in provides very soft tap water with a pH around 6.4, and GH and KH ~0. Therefore, I have many options to choose what ideal chemical water conditions would "minimally" accomodate all species, using municipal water. I decided on the following: pH=7.0 In a messed up community tank like this, that is your only option. KH=whatever amount of NaHCO3 (sodium hydrogen carbonate/sodium bicarbonate) it takes to make a pH of 7.0- usually this equates to a dKH value of 4 to 6, depending on how old the water is. GH=8 I use MgSO4 (magnesium sulphate) to acheive this, as it has no bearing on KH. Phosphates tend to be around 1ppm Nitrates about 10-20ppm, and I use the nitrate value to determine when a partial water change needs to be performed. NaCl (salt)=0 My logic here is that I have read that mollies can adapt to a salt-free environment, whereas cory's and some tetra's (in this case, bloodfins) cannot. What I really want to know is, because I have read varying opinions on the adaptibility of mollies to no-salt climates (and also some opinions about platy's), what is your take on this issue, as I have to say they seem to be thriving under current conditions...