Geo's water parameters

[ammerman19]

Looking for some thoughts on my setup from somebody with similar water parameters and experience with geo's.*

*I was thinking of getting some geophagus*dicrozoster and*sp. ‘red head Tapajos’. The only concern I really have is my water parameters. Indianapolis tap water is quite hard the hardness is 300ppm. The p.h. is about 7.8. I was wanting some thoughts on wether that type of water would be ok for those fish or not. I really don't feel like wasting money or fish or the fish themselves.*

*I recently added some driftwood to the tank (125 g) to maybe soften it up some. If I need to use some RO water that is fine but I would prefer not to if it would be unnecessary. This kind of leads me into my next question of whether or not it would be possible to do 6 of each in a tank that size. I have some buenos aires tetras for dithering/cycling purposes right now. I know this will be a little overcrowded but kinda shooting for peace through population. I do have other tanks that would be available if I needed to separate any of them for any reason.*

I know they are meant more for soft water but I have read some articles saying that they will also do fine in hard water as well.

Thanks

 

[peathenster]

pH7.8 is not the end of the world and I've seen people do it before. I'd say give it a try, but make sure you acclimate the fish well when they arrive.

 

[bbortko]

Your water is similar to the water we have up here and geos do just fine in Chicagoland.

 

[Piscine]

I keep my Geos in the high 7's, which varies depending on rain and other factors.

 

[cdubel01]

i have orangehead geos and a couple bahia red geos in a 125 with some discus and others and no issues. I have driftwood in there that has lowered my ph to like 6.8 last time I checked it. I just use tap water and treat it with dechlorinizer, and no issues for me. I think u will be fine as long as u acclimate them slowly...g/l

 

[ammerman19]

Right on thanks for the input guys.

 

[aclockworkorange]

JK47 has kept a lot of species at water similar to yours. He did use RO at one point to attempt some breeding. Shoot him a PM and ask his opinion on it.

 

[JK47]

JK47 has kept a lot of species at water similar to yours. He did use RO at one point to attempt some breeding. Shoot him a PM and ask his opinion on it.

This is true and I have messed around all over the board trying to provide best for them. I ended up switching to centrals for this very reason. OP, orange heads (tapajos) are pretty hardy and should fair just fine in your water. Mine were always in pH 7.8 their whole life and were beautiful/bred many times. Advice if you do go this route is make sure you don't skip water changes.. I will tell you that you can add all the driftwood you want and it will not soften your water. Soft water is easy to soften further via enough driftwood etc.. Hard water is an entierly different story and will not budge without the use of something like a good RO filter. Even though they may do fine in the hard water, I will tell you from experience the difference between the same fish after having been switched to RO is pretty big. It's your call, GL either way!

 

[Allan01230]

Most of the geo's now are tank raised and they will do fine in that water, Just keep up on the weekly water changes.

 

[Piscine]

Most of the geo's now are tank raised and they will do fine in that water, Just keep up on the weekly water changes.

Too add to what I said earlier, part of my group is WC....My largest WC male has bred with my smallest WC female in this water.