# Farm Raised Blackwater Species & Stats



## RJT (Mar 19, 2015)

Hello all....

I started fishkeeping many, many moons ago. Back then the emphasis was on keeping fish in water as close to native stats as possible, hopefully by testing your water first, then buying compatible species. 

Now I see stat after stat, profile after profile listing blackwater species as able to tolerate water to 20 or even 30 dGH in some cases, and pH to 8 or higher. The reasoning is supposedly that most blackwater fish today are farm raised. 

My question is.... did a few decades of breeding really make the pearl gourami, neon tetra, cardinal or cory able to *thrive and live a full life span *in 20 or 30 dGH and pH 8? It was my belief bred soft water fish might be somewhat more adaptable, to say moderate water that is slightly basic... say to 7 dGH / pH 7.4 ... but that would be the upper range to get a full life span and hopefully avoid disease as it relates to water chemistry. (IOW with all else being equal.)

I was thinking this must be marketing to make fish available to a wider market... then I pulled out my Baensch Atlas Vol 1 (5th ed 1996) and it states the pearl gourami can adjust to water from 5-30 dGH and to pH 8.5! I feel like I somehow got everything wrong. 

Are blackwater/soft water fish like the Neon, Cardinal, Cory, Gourami, etc commonly kept today in hard, basic water, successfully? Notwithstanding breeding... but living full, healthy life spans?? TIA!


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## RSVBiffer (Feb 3, 2014)

Farm bred fish are more tolerant of a wider range of parameters (ie not so sensitive) but it is still preferable to stay as close to the natural environment as possible. One way in which this can be observed in terms of Blackwater species is the colour change that will occur when it is moved from Whitewater to Blackwater conditions. I have Blackwing hatchets and if I introduce a new group they are far lighter in colouration although after a couple of days they cannot be told apart from the old boys.

Breeding, of course, is a wholly different matter.


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## RJT (Mar 19, 2015)

RSVBiffer said:


> Farm bred fish are more tolerant of a wider range of parameters (ie not so sensitive) but it is still preferable to stay as close to the natural environment as possible. One way in which this can be observed in terms of Blackwater species is the colour change that will occur when it is moved from Whitewater to Blackwater conditions. I have Blackwing hatchets and if I introduce a new group they are far lighter in colouration although after a couple of days they cannot be told apart from the old boys.


So sounds like you basically keep them in blackwater conditions. 

My attitude is consistent with yours... staying as close to native specs as possible is good... but I get the impression from visiting forums, profiles, etc. that this POV is somewhat outmoded. It seems a majority have moved on to 'they can adjust to any water.' And in some cases at least, it seems to be true. On another forum for Corys people said they [most species of Corys] can adjust to hard, basic water very well. In fact one guy had a shoal of albino Corys in pH 8, GH 13 that actually spawn, and he's had them for 3+ years so far. 

I know it depends on the species and Neons in particular have never been all that hardy, prone to NTD, so any advantage they have is a plus (like having blackwater conditions, or close to it). But in general... ?? I feel like my attitude is a little behind the times and that blackwater fish have done some evolving over the last 25 years. ?


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