Advice needed on Angel fish tank with my hard water

[Antlese]

I'm thinking of setting up a 75 gal heavily planted tank. Always wanted an angel fish tank. Was thinking of 6 angels, 6 congo tetras, 6 to 10 hatchet fish, maybe a pair of German blue rams, and some dwarf Corys.

I'm on a well in Greely. My water Ph is 8.0. My understanding is that this ph is too high for angel fish.

Would anyone have any advice? I could install a RO system if I need to. But I would rather not.

Should I pursue this type of tank with my hard alkaline water?

Thanks,
Antlese.

[guck]

I can tell I recently setup a 75g with 7 angels.  Now they are growing and from my point of view, 4 angels would suffice.  Particularly since 2 of them have been breeding like crazy lately.  I have a recent thread on this.  I believe someone else here has a 75g with seven angels and mentionned he considered the tank over crowded.

Besides, there are 3 corys and 4 otos but those are not really space invaders.  I am sure someone will have something to say about the other fishes you are considering.

pH, I don't really know.  It is my understanding that normally fishes will adapt and that is better than trying to achieve a particular pH target.  Nonetheless, driftwood will naturally drop the pH.  My pH is around 6.5 for my angels and I don't do anything to change it.  Another thank does not have driftwood, yet the pH is much higher.  Aroud 8.  No angels in that tanks, 10g is too small

[Antlese]

Hey guck.
Thanks for the reply.
Maybe I will put a little more driftwood in than i was planning, and see what that does to my pH. Perhaps some peat moss or an almond leaf...
Thanks for the suggestion of only having 4  angels. I'm gonna go with that and see how they do.

Have not purchased the tank yet...still in the planning stages.

Antlese.

[exv152]

Hey guck.
Thanks for the reply.
Maybe I will put a little more driftwood in than i was planning, and see what that does to my pH. Perhaps some peat moss or an almond leaf...
Thanks for the suggestion of only having 4  angels. I'm gonna go with that and see how they do.

Have not purchased the tank yet...still in the planning stages.

Antlese.

I have 2 large tanks with angelfish, one is a 75g and the other a 125g. Because angels are cichlids, you want to keep them in groups of min 5-6, only because they begin bullying the smallest amongst them. The larger the group, the more spreadout that aggression becomes. But in a 75g you're limited to how many you should add. The rule of thumb with angels (and discus) is 8-10 gallons of water per adult fish. As for the pH, they will acclimate to the harder water, but they do much better (show off colours, spawn and are more active) in softer water. Also, I wouldn't recommend both angels and congos together. Both are dominant and like to fin nip, I would consider one or the other.

[Shawn84]

They will be fine. Just do a drip system acclaiming over the span of a few hours for them to get adjusted to the harder water. I also wouldn't recommend keeping convos together with the angel in that size of tank. If you had a bigger tank like a 125 and up you can consider that.


Shawn

[Jeff1192]

I used to live in the country on hard well water and kept Angels no problem    However from my experience your Rams may breed but the eggs won't be viable due to the hard water. My rams spawned a number of times but the eggs were never good. 

[guck]

Hey guck.
Thanks for the reply.
Maybe I will put a little more driftwood in than i was planning, and see what that does to my pH. Perhaps some peat moss or an almond leaf...
Thanks for the suggestion of only having 4  angels. I'm gonna go with that and see how they do.

Have not purchased the tank yet...still in the planning stages.

Antlese.

You are welcome.  More knowledgeable people have provided sound advice advice.  Thanks exv152.  Indeed I read about the bullying.  Another thing, make sure the water fully cycle before you add the fishes.  You don't want to end up like it did form me...

[Antlese]

Picked up my 75g last night. This will be my 2nd planted tank. Excited to start gathering the materials and build the stand. I haven't kept angels since I was a kid. Looking forward to it.
Thanks for the advice.
Antlese

[sas]

Congrats on the new tank .
Be sure to post your build in "Freshwater Tank Builds", so we can all drool.