Even rainwater would be cleaner. Don't use dehumidifier water! I'm not a Notho guy but I think they are less bothered by hardness than even Fundulopanchax. Why don't you try the tap for a couple of months and see how it works out. If not, it is time for an RO unit. Is it Calcium carbonate hardness or maybe some other mineral?

From your site name I guess you are Canadian? There are some killie keepers in your neck of the woods. Gary Elson is up near Quebec City. A group are down nearer Toronto and Burlington. There was a "CKA(Canadian Killifish Association) but I am not sure if it still active. Mostly guys from Ontario. We all used to get together every other year but the border nonsense with transporting fish got so bad things have pretty much died out.
Bill Shenefelt

I know what you mean about a well. The water from mine is off the roof in calcium. I could dig a 5 gallon bucket of lime from inside my water heater once a month! Water tasted like licking a piece of shalk. Finally I got city water and a RO uint which made things easier. I just wanted to be sure on your pH and hardness. A lot of people who keep fish from local fish shops do not even know anything about hardness but do know pH test kits. Usually with killies it is Ca carbonate that "hardens" unfertilized eggs preventing fertilization. I think as we keep them thru many generations we tend to strain out extremely sensitive eggs only raising fish from those not so picky thus making a new strain that is less touchy to hardness or other conditions. I think what you have should be fine. You can raise them in very hard water. It is just breeding egg fertility) that seems to require soft water.
With your water most killies should be ok as long as you avoid or use a higher percentage of your ro for some like Diapteron. They like cool (mid 60s) and very soft (2DH)water.

I think you might be getting pH and hardness mixed up. A hardness of 7 DH is about 110 ppm TDS which is fine for australe and most other Aphyosemion species. PH is how alkaline or acidic water is but hardness is how high the mineral content of the water is. Peat will lower pH but has only a minor impact in reducing hardness. I think you may be looking at pH. Did you use a color solution or a test strip to look for a color change from blue to yellow or green? That is a measurement of pH. Green is usually around 7.0, blue toward 8.0 and yellow toward 6.0 pH.
Hardness is usually measured in the home using an electrical resistance meter. Very pure water is not a good conductor of electricity(high resistance). Mineral rich water has a higher conductivity (lower resistance to electricity. Such a meter usually reads in ppm TDS(Total Dissolved Solids) or in microseimens. These have a correspondence to GH or DH (Degrees Hardness and General Hardness). The most common ground mineral that causes water to be high in mineral content is calcium. Limestone dissolves in the water in the ground and raises the mineral content (hardness)and usually increases the pH along with it. The solution is calcium carbonate which raises pH as well as hardness. Usually hard water is not very acidic but that is not always the fact. I would take a sample of your water to the local fish store and ask if they can measure the hardness for you. Hard water will not hurt your fish or eggs but it may keep you from getting fertile eggs from your Aphyosemion killifish when they mature. If your water is slightly acidic (lower than 7.0 pH) it will help with preventing food and waste buildup in a fry container causing problems with ammonia. Just for information, a 2.5 gal tank is probably a little large for a hatch out container. Maybe use a container like you get chip dip or other spread in for a few weeks to start. Once the fry get closer to baby guppy size the 2.5 would be ok for a few months or so. Compared to cichlid fry, the austral fry are tiny. They are about the size of betta or tetra fry. A 2.5 is a lot of room for such small fry to look for food.

First, A.australe do best in upper 70's degree water. They like it acidic (6.5 to 6.9pH), and reasonably soft, 4 to 8 DH (60 to 150 ppm Total dissolved solids(TDS)). Use a shallow small container for hatching so they will be close to new live food.
Eggs do ok even if put in chlorinated tap (but not containing chloramines). They do not seem to be sensitive to light exposure. Eggs take about 2 to 3 weeks to develop and hatch. Newly hatched fry should be fed microworms or newly hatched brine shrimp. They are unlike many eggs in that they hatch out hungry and have no egg sack to survive on so require live food within about 6 hours of hatching to do well. If the eggs are "eyed up" meaning you can see a black spot in the egg and it is browninsh in color they will probably hatch within a few days so start some brine shrimp eggs going. If you can get some microworms, they are nice to have on hand since they keep for weeks and are instantly available for fry versus 30 hours or so to wait for brine shrimp eggs to hatch out. I attached a picture of some eyed up eggs for reference. If it does not show up try this link:
http://sheneskillies.com/egg.jpg

With most any species of gardneri, watch out for nipped fins especially on male fancy guppies. Gardneri are not much worse than tiger barbs but will shorten tails on fish like fancy guppies or male bettas. Try siphon cleaning the gravel every month into a container and keep the water-gunk you siphoned out for a few days. Gardneri fry will start to hatch out typically since their burried eggs can wait till released from the gravel to hatch.

Most Aphyosemions are shy and with other fish in a 50 might seldom be seen! Few like it as warm as discus like. Be careful what species you get and be sure to tell the seller the temperature you plan to have!

Most Aphyosemions are shy and with other fish in a 50 might seldom be seen! Few like it as warm as discus like. Be careful what species you get and be sure to tell the seller the temperature you plan to have!

I would recommend Aphyosemion australe. There are several color morphs. There is a "redgold, an ornange and an old strain that used to be called "the cape lopez lyretai. I prefer the old strain over the lighter colored strains. As I said in my email to you. check the "local clubs" for available species. 80 is a bit warm for many Fundulopanchax and Aphyosemion but australe prefer a temp of around 78 so 80 is probably just fine. Your hardness seems fine also. Get two pair. With shippig what it is today, the shipping may cost as uch as 2 pr of australe whether it is one , two or 3 pr you get. If you have at least 2 pr, if you lose a fish, you still have a pr. Even if yosu lose two fish,s you have a 50 50 chance of still having a pr. If you buy a single pr, a second shipment with its cost and risk will be needed for a replacement pr. Give each pair a 5.5 gal tank with a big mop and feed well. If nothing happens within a couple of weeks, switch mates and see if that helps.
See "Breeding mopspawners" on my site at http://sheneskillies.com/Articles/breedingmopspawners.htm
Another good starter article is at
http://sheneskillies.com/Articles/beg ... 0guide%20to%20killies.htm

Remember killies like to jump especially when in new surroundings so NO OPENINGS or he may wind up on the floor. Careful of hang on filters etc. If he can fit out and he gets upset, he will get out. Avoid the nothos since I would think you have water movement like with aeration or filtration and they do not do well in such conditions.