Another new tank, thinking about future stocking!

[NewFishPerson]

Hello all,

Recently setup my first fish tank (a 90L scrapper that I resealed and brought back to life!) and accidentally purchased myself another one .

To recap from my other thread my water parameters are as follows:
Calcium (mg/l) 103
Calcium Carbonate (mg/l) 265
Degrees German (dH) 14.84
pH.8.1 in the tank, pH7.4 directly out of the tap

So, we're dealing with hard water and high pH! The new tank measures 100cm x 40 x 40 which equals 160L or 42 US Gallons. For lighting, the tank has dual t8 30w fixtures with reflectors and all of that good stuff. Filtration is provided by an Oase Filtosmart external filter with built in heater. The tank and filter are all relatively new, just 8 months old and in great condition.

So, on to what plants and fish are going to be appropriate for this tank. I'm going to stick with dechlorinated tap water and again pick fish that will play to the strengths of my water, so no DI water here! My 90L has Endler Guppy crossbreeds and a bonus Otocinculus so I'd like to try something different in this tank. Seriouslyfish is down for me at the moment so I'm having to use other sources for hardness and pH requirements so apologies in advance if I post a few up that are actually unsuitable. If you have any suggestions for fish that'd be a good fit for for this tank and water please do post them up, I'd be very grateful! I'm interested in the more peaceful fish either big or small.

So on to the fish I've looked at:
**Schooling fish**
Red Eye Tetra |
Pristella Tetra | (Supposedly these Tetras can do well in hard water?)
Congo Tetra |
Zebra Danio

**Interesting (to me!) fish**
Platy - (The only livebearer I'd want to keep in here)
Blind Cave Tetra - (Thought I hated these, but the more I read, the more I like!)
Spotted Blue-eye
Forktail Blue-eye
Neon Blue-eye
Lampeye Killifish - (Mixed information on these, good fit for hard water or bad?)
Threadfin Rainbowfish
Celebes Rainbowfish
Boesemani Rainbowfish - (Possibly too large for this tank)
Bumblebee Goby - (Suitable for freshwater or brackish only?)

**Catfish**
Sterba Cory - (Corydoras are a soft water fish, but I read they can do well in hardwater. I've seen that they have bred Sterba corys in harder waters than mine. Is this nonsense, or a viable option?)
Bristlenose Pleco - (Again a soft water fish that I've heard can do well.. yay/nay?)
Otocinculus

I'm trying to find suggestions for fish that will not just live in hard water, but will thrive in hard water. I'm not going to be breeding any of these, I just want an active tank that is both interesting and beautiful to look at! Ideally I'd like a combo of schooling fish, something a little more special (can also be a schooling fish) and a bottom dweller.

Plants I'm far less sure about. I know that Java Fern and Anubias work because I have those already. Recalling that I have 2x 30w t8 tubes on this tank, are there any other plant suggestions that you know of that are a good fit for a basic planted setup (no co2 etc.) with my lighting.

Please note this isn't a suggested stockist of fish, just early days of me researching what could do well in this setup!

Thank you.

 

[NewFishPerson]

Tank is filled and running now! No plants or decorations yet, just water, tetra safe start and a few drops of ammonia to start cycling it. Not going to be able to get fish in before my surgery next month so putting the ammonia in will not harm anything. Very impressed with it, the filter is very quiet, the tank came up to temperature in good time and the lights are nice and bright.

If any of the more experienced out there have opinions on the fish I've listed or have additional fish to suggest taking into account my tank dimensions and water parameters I'd really appreciate it! Also, to any members from the UK here, have you ever ordered fish online? If so who do you use and who should I avoid? I ask as a lot of the hard water fish are not available locally unless I'm after African Cichlids, so mail ordering them is going to be my only option.

Thanks.

 

[Essjay]

To go back to your first post, there is a problem with the profiles on Seriously Fish at the moment. But there is a way round it. Look up the profile of the fish you want (there will be no text in it) and copy the url. Then go to Wayback Machine https://archive.org/web/web.php and post the SF url in their search box. Pick a blue circle from the calendar and that should take you to a SF profile that has text in it.

 

[neoyyf]

My water parameters are almost exactly the same as yours.

Check this website on some fish you can stock.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwhardness.htm

Generally invertebrates do well in your water parameters also.

For plants i have great success with java moss, marimo moss balls, cryptocorne wendtii green and java fern.

Other plants i am trying are ludwigia repens, water lettuce, starweed, duckweed, brazillian micro sword, Salvinia and riccia. Some of these plants im trying were not healthy when received.

Only two plants did not make it, elodea densa (it prefers lower temps) and dracena (not an aquatic plant).

 

[NewFishPerson]

To go back to your first post, there is a problem with the profiles on Seriously Fish at the moment. But there is a way round it. Look up the profile of the fish you want (there will be no text in it) and copy the url. Then go to Wayback Machine https://archive.org/web/web.php and post the SF url in their search box. Pick a blue circle from the calendar and that should take you to a SF profile that has text in it.

Very handy tip, thank you!

My water parameters are almost exactly the same as yours.

Check this website on some fish you can stock.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwhardness.htm

Generally invertebrates do well in your water parameters also.

For plants i have great success with java moss, marimo moss balls, cryptocorne wendtii green and java fern.

Other plants i am trying are ludwigia repens, water lettuce, starweed, duckweed, brazillian micro sword, Salvinia and riccia. Some of these plants im trying were not healthy when received.

Only two plants did not make it, elodea densa (it prefers lower temps) and dracena (not an aquatic plant).

Thanks, I think you kindly linked to the site in my other thread and I have been using it as a starting point for some of the fish I've listed! I'm having no luck with elodea densa either, so it's good to hear I'm not the only one. Will remove it from my 90L tank as all it seems to be doing is polluting the water with tiny particles.

From the limited research I have been doing the fish I'm less certain about on my list are as follows:

Spotted Blue-eye - Seriously fish has this to say: Tappin (2010) gives the following ranges of parameters based on those taken from various localities: temperature 12 – 34 °C, pH 3.68-9.4, conductivity 12 – 646 µS/cm, hardness 0-320 ppm, alkalinity 2-180 ppm.
Temperature: 21 – 28 °C
pH: 4.5 – 7.5
Hardness:90 – 215 ppm
So in the wild they can be found in harder waters, however the water parameters suggest the opposite for the aquarium ornamental strain. Does that mean if I was to buy them they could adapt to harder water or is it a no go?

Boesemani Rainbowfish - great fit for my water parameters, just not sure if my tank is going to be big enough at 100cm x 40 x 40

Sterba Cory - Seriously fish says this for water parameters:
Temperature: 75 to 82°C (24 to 28°C)
pH: 6.0 to 7.6
Hardness: 1 to 15°H
I've read though that people have had good success with these in harder higher pH waters. One post I read someone was spawning these in harder more alkaline waters than myself. It's a fish I'd love to keep, but I'd only keep them if they'd do well in my water.

Red Eye, Pristella and Congo Tetra - From a hardness point of view, all three are a good fit, just the pH is off on a couple. I've heard that pH isn't a concern as long as it's stable - how true is that?

The other fish on my original list I'm either researched enough about that I'm sure will do fine, or have been completely ruled out as unsuitable. Dropped Bumblebee Goby from my interest list as it has specialist feeding requirements and needs brackish water to do its best. Lampeye Kilifish was also dropped because the species that does well in hard water isn't the one I can easily get hold of.

 

[neoyyf]

Also, to any members from the UK here, have you ever ordered fish online? If so who do you use and who should I avoid?

Whilst i have not bought fish online, i have bought plenty of snails and plants from Ebay. However, I will soon buy neocaridina shrimp online, once i can decide what colour to buy. Whether you buy live animals or plants, both usually have a live arrival policy. If it arrives dead, you send a photo to the seller and the seller refunds you the cost excluding postage, or resends if you pay postage costs.

Nowadays fish can be sent in breathing/breather bags, these special bags allow oxygen to go in and carbon dioxide to come out through the bag through osmosis. The fish is therfore packed without an air space in the bag and this means the fish does not get jolted around when transported, it is very clever. Though i have not tried it, i have seen a video on youtube of someone placing a goldfish in one for a week so it seems to work and i would try to find a seller using these breathing bags.

One very important point, when you receive fish in this special bag, do not place the bag straight in the tank to bring up the temperature because you will starve the fish from oxygen (the gas exchanges cant happen uner water). You must open the bag and place the water and contents into a container and then float the container, or what i prefer to do is drip acclimate using an air line from the tank into the container, over an hour is best. Then float the container to acclimatise temperature, then dispose of the water and plop the fish in the tank.

 

[neoyyf]

Forgot to add that if you want to buy online you might have to do it soon because the weather is getting colder.

 

[hobby5]

The bumblebee goby is suitable for fresh water. But they are not very well suited for a community tank as they feed very slowly and picky. With other fish present you might not be able to get enough food to them.