105litre stocking (28 us gallons)

bowsersram · Jun 11, 2020

i currently have https://www.tetra.net/en/produkte/tetra-starter-line-led-105l-aquarium and it is planted and i was planning on adding a few fish if i’m not already fully stocked. i run two bubblers and an active carbon filter , i do 40% water changes every two weeks. i currently only have three plants but i’m getting 4 more this weekend. at the moment i have:
1 bolivian ram
2 female guppies
3 hillstream loaches
3 peppered corydoras
11 neon tetra.
after adding the plants this weekend i was thinking of adding 2 more corys and maybe 6 neon tetra depending on what people think. it doesn’t look very busy in the tank at the moment

aqua.land · Jun 11, 2020

Hi!
I think that adding 2 corys would be okay, because you have quite a large floor area.
I'm not sure about the neon tetra though, maybe someone else will give more advice.

Essjay · Jun 11, 2020

The first thing you need to find out is the hardness of your water - look on your water company's website for hardness, you need a nu,ber and the unit of measurement (there are several they could use).

While we are waiting for that, some general points.

Cories need to be in a bigger group than 3. At least 8, maybe more.
Hillstream loaches need fast flowing water; the other fish in your list will not be happy with this.

1 Bolivian ram is fine provided your water is not hard to very hard.
Neon tetras - fine, provided your water is soft to middling
Guppies need hard water - and don't forget that any female which has been in a tank with a male for longer than about 5 minutes at any time during the last few months will be carrying sperm and will potentially have babies every month for several months.

bowsersram · Jun 11, 2020

essjay said:
The first thing you need to find out is the hardness of your water - look on your water company's website for hardness, you need a nu,ber and the unit of measurement (there are several they could use).

While we are waiting for that, some general points.

Cories need to be in a bigger group than 3. At least 8, maybe more.
Hillstream loaches need fast flowing water; the other fish in your list will not be happy with this.

1 Bolivian ram is fine provided your water is not hard to very hard.
Neon tetras - fine, provided your water is soft to middling
Guppies need hard water - and don't forget that any female which has been in a tank with a male for longer than about 5 minutes at any time during the last few months will be carrying sperm and will potentially have babies every month for several months.

I went onto my water company and this is what i’ve got. when it comes to fish in my water they all seem to be doing just fine with each other and swimming around normally. as for the hillstream loaches they go all around that tank where there is different flow, sometimes right next to the air stone and sometimes hidden peacefully behind the filter and they have been doing this for months since i got them. thanks for the help and what would you suggest stocking wise

also, my tap safe says it naturalises heavy metals if that is water hardness?

Essjay · Jun 11, 2020

The two units used in fish keeping are ppm (aka mg/l calcium carbonate) and dH (or German degrees). Your water is 18.07 dH and 322.81 ppm.

To be honest, that is too hard for most of the fish you have. What happens when soft water fish are kept in hard water is that their bodies retain too much of the calcium in the water and they get calcium deposits in their kidneys, which means they won't live as long as they should.

But it's fine for guppies.

bowsersram · Jun 11, 2020

essjay said:
The two units used in fish keeping are ppm (aka mg/l calcium carbonate) and dH (or German degrees). Your water is 18.07 dH and 322.81 ppm.

To be honest, that is too hard for most of the fish you have. What happens when soft water fish are kept in hard water is that their bodies retain too much of the calcium in the water and they get calcium deposits in their kidneys, which means they won't live as long as they should.

But it's fine for guppies.

will this affect their behaviours or make them go through any pain? how do you think i am stocking wise? would you reccomend that i get some test strips to see my water hardness after my tap safe?

Salty&Onion · Jun 11, 2020

essjay said:
Hillstream loaches need fast flowing water; the other fish in your list will not be happy with this.

They will be fine in slow moving waters too and in temperatures of 80-85 F although the lowest the better.

Essjay · Jun 11, 2020

The hardness will be the same after adding tap safe.

I don't know if the calcium deposits cause them pain. But necropsies on dead fish do show these deposits.

There is one, somewhat expensive, alternative - mix your tap water with pure water such as reverse osmosis. A 50:50 mix would lower the hardness to 9 dH. This is not something to rush into, but soemthing to think about for the future.

seangee · Jun 11, 2020

In addition to what @essjay posted there are some significant issues. Hillstream loaches should not be kept in temperatures above 24C. Bolivian rams should not be kept in temps below 24C. There is no common ground. Hillstream loaches require a very high flow, rams, tetras and guppies do not like a high flow. You don't say what your tank size is but both of these species need a 3' tank - which is unlikely for 105 litres.

You can find good info on species profiles at seriouslyfish.com. I would suggest you spend a bit of time reviewing the needs of what you have before thinking about new fish. As things stand today the guppies are the only species that you have that can be expected to thrive in your tank.

Salty&Onion · Jun 11, 2020

seangee said:
In addition to what @essjay posted there are some significant issues. Hillstream loaches should not be kept in temperatures above 24C. Bolivian rams should not be kept in temps below 24C. There is no common ground. Hillstream loaches require a very high flow, rams, tetras and guppies do not like a high flow. You don't say what your tank size is but both of these species need a 3' tank - which is unlikely for 105 litres.

Hillstream loaches will thrive in water temperatures up to 80-85 F with slow water current. This is what I heard about Cory in this video:

bowsersram · Jun 11, 2020

Salty&Onion said:
They will be fine in slow moving waters too and in temperatures of 80-85 F although the lowest the better.

This is the same information i went off before buying them. the temperate of my tank is 25 which is fine for hillstream loaches some sources say. i am currently keeping them in 25c/77f so i’m not sure what to think. also when it comes to the size of my tank some people have even kept them in 20gallons so i don’t know if they will be needing 55 gallons.

Salty&Onion · Jun 11, 2020

bowsersram said:
This is the same information i went off before buying them. the temperate of my tank is 25 which is fine for hillstream loaches some sources say. i am currently keeping them in 25c/77f so i’m not sure what to think.

If they have bright colours (like they should), swimming around normally and eating normally then no problem keeping them in this temperature.
Information about this is "hidden" in the video

bowsersram · Jun 11, 2020

Salty&Onion said:
If they have bright colours (like they should), swimming around normally and eating normally then no problem keeping them in this temperature.
Information about this is "hidden" in the video

They have displayed normal behaviour for hillstream loches ever since i got them

they have very bold colours and are always scavaging for food on the gravel and glass and are constantly moving about. Thanks for the help

Salty&Onion · Jun 11, 2020

bowsersram said:
They have displayed normal behaviour for hillstream loches ever since i got them they have very bold colours and are always scavaging for food on the gravel and glass and are constantly moving about. Thanks for the help

Then you can keep them in this water temperature. You're good to go and do not worry about them

Retired Viking · Jun 11, 2020

Hello and welcome to the forum. Reference your neon tetras they do well in 72-78 degree water, I also have hard water but not as hard as yours. I use RO water to help soften my water for my tetra tank. Neon tetras come from South American jungle streams with very soft water. They prefer shade and bright lights can stress them. Floating plants can help and having plenty of hiding spots and leafy plants well help. They are not as hardy as other fish and may not do well in a newly set up tank. An established tank of at least 6 months is best. I lost several neon and ember tetras when my tetra tank was new .

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