# Can softwater fish and hard water fish live together



## pat3612

Ok heres my story I bought my 50 gal with fish keep in mind these were not my fish they came with the tank. There were 4 cichlids african there is 1 pleco I think common as hes big one 12 in loach and a silver dollar . I was going to rehome the pleco and the loach since its alot of work for me with 4 tanks but now my husband has fallen for the loach and pleco and wants to keep them I told him he will have to get a 100 gal at least and he said ok. It will be a few months yet but Iam wondering since these fish have always been kept in hard water is that ok or should we set up the 100 gal to be soft water with the water softener . Iam just talking about the loach and pleco here. Thanks Pat


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## Darkblade48

There is no problem with keeping your Clown Loach in the water you have, of course, unless we're talking extremely hard water (liquid rock, maybe?)

From your other post in the water softener thread, I've already mentioned that "soft" water that is made from a sodium chloride water softener will a) increase the TDS, and b) increase the sodium cation concentration. The first might be OK, but I would definitely worry about the second one.

Also, remember that the amount of Na+ that goes into your water will be proportional to how hard your water is.

Of course, a better alternative to all of this if you insist on using a water softener is to use KCl.


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## pat3612

Thanks since the fish seem to be doing so well after the big move I think I will just stick with the water I have. I will just bypass a tap for my water changes Thanks Pat.


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## kweenshaker

from my experience, most fish seem to do fine in water out of the tap (pH wise I mean, you still have to treat it for chems). The only time I've noticed problems is when I try to mess with the pH (the constant changes stress the fish) or tried to breed them. I'm no expert, but I would go more by the personalities of the species than the pH they prefer.


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## Shattered

kweenshaker said:


> from my experience, most fish seem to do fine in water out of the tap (pH wise I mean, you still have to treat it for chems). The only time I've noticed problems is when I try to mess with the pH (the constant changes stress the fish) or tried to breed them. I'm no expert, but I would go more by the personalities of the species than the pH they prefer.


That's the best way of putting it.


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