Aquarium Supplies in Hobart
Gallery Aquatica is a reef and freshwater aquarium store in Tingalpa, Brisbane, and we ship aquarium gear to Hobart. We have no shop in Tasmania, but the dry-goods range posts down, and Hobart has the gentlest starting water in the country to work with.
What Hobart tap water means for your tank
Hobart has the softest mains water of any Australian capital. Supplied from protected mountain catchments, hardness averages down around 10 to 24 milligrams per litre with total dissolved solids near 49 and a pH close to neutral. In plain terms there is almost nothing dissolved in it before you start, which is a genuine advantage and a small catch at the same time.
The advantage is that soft, low-mineral water is exactly what planted tanks, shrimp and soft-water community fish want, and it makes RO/DI treatment very efficient for a reef tank because the unit has so little to remove. The catch is that water this soft carries very little buffering, so it holds pH poorly and gives hard-water species nothing to work with. A reef tank, or any African cichlid or livebearer setup, needs minerals and alkalinity built back up to a target rather than stripped out. It is chlorinated, so a freshwater tank still needs the chlorine dealt with on fill.
The gear that suits Hobart water
- Buffers and mineral supplements to build hardness and alkalinity up for reef and hard-water species, the key step on water this soft.
- A water conditioner to handle the chlorine for a simple freshwater tank.
- An RO/DI setup for a reef tank, which runs very efficiently here given how little is in the tap to begin with.
- A test kit to keep pH and hardness where your livestock wants them, since soft water drifts easily.
Shipping to Hobart
Dry goods ship to Hobart with Australia Post or Aramex, so all of the water gear reaches you normally, though remote Tasmanian postcodes may need an individual freight quote. Livestock is restricted by law: live algae and snails cannot be sent to Tasmania at all, and fish ship Airport to Airport by custom arrangement. We usually dispatch within seven business days of full payment, and once a parcel is with the courier the delivery time is theirs, so we do not promise a day. Full rules are on our freighting and packing page, and everywhere we deliver is on the Australia-wide shipping page.
Common questions
Do you deliver aquarium supplies to Hobart?
Yes. All dry goods ship to Hobart via Australia Post or Aramex, with remote postcodes quoted individually. Live algae and snails cannot be sent to Tasmania by law, and fish ship Airport to Airport by arrangement.
Is Hobart tap water soft?
Very. It is the softest mains water of any Australian capital, drawn from protected mountain catchments, with hardness around 10 to 24 mg/L. Great for soft-water species, but reef and hard-water tanks need minerals added back.
Do I need an RO/DI unit in Hobart?
For a reef tank it still gives the cleanest, most consistent baseline, and it runs very efficiently here because the incoming water is already so low in minerals. Many freshwater keepers can manage with a conditioner and, where needed, remineralisation.
How long does delivery to Hobart take?
Orders are usually dispatched within seven business days of full payment, then Australia Post or Aramex handle delivery. We do not promise a delivery day, your tracking shows the carrier's estimate.