Are these fish ok for my tank

[mcordelia]

No worries

 

[Fish4dawin]

No worries

How will @essjay do the water thing? DO I have to give him my postcode or something?

 

[Essjay]

It says that the supply zone is called Petts Wood, not that you live there. They aren't the same thing. I used the postcode of Barclays Bank in Chislehurst to check

So your hardness is 293 ppm which converts to 16.4 dH (the other unit used in fish keeping - some fish profiles use ppm, others use dH). This is hard water.

From the first post of the thread

6 black neons, 4 lemon tetras a ruby shark, 4 panda corys and 2 dwarf neon rainbows. Would this stocking of new fish be ok? 6 dwarf chain loaches 4 dwarf neon rainbows and 1 angelfish?

Given that the tank is an 82 cm/32 inch long 125 litre/33 gallon tank, it is too small for angelfish regardless of the hardness.
Your hardness is a bit too hard for the fish you have - black neons, lemon tetras, panda cories (all 18 to 215 ppm), ruby shark, aka rainbow shark (36 to 268 ppm) dwarf neon rainbows (90 to 268 ppm)
Dwarf chain loaches' range is also 18 to 215 ppm.

All data from here https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/

Almost all the fish you have are really soft water fish, I'm afraid. I would be inclined to stay with the fish you have for now and when they pass on, replace them with hard water fish.

 

[Fish4dawin]

It says that the supply zone is called Petts Wood, not that you live there. They aren't the same thing. I used the postcode of Barclays Bank in Chislehurst to check

So your hardness is 293 ppm which converts to 16.4 dH (the other unit used in fish keeping - some fish profiles use ppm, others use dH). This is hard water. Too hard for the majority of fish in the first post of the thread



Given that the tank is an 82 cm/32 inch long 125 litre/33 gallon tank, it is too small for angelfish regardless of the hardness.
Your hardness is a bit too hard for the fish you have - black neons, lemon tetras, panda cories (all 18 to 215 ppm), ruby shark, aka rainbow shark (36 to 268 ppm) dwarf neon rainbows (90 to 268 ppm)
Dwarf chain loaches' range is also 18 to 215 ppm.

All data from here https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/

Almost all the fish you have are really soft water fish, I'm afraid. I would be inclined to stay with the fish you have for now and when they pass on, replace them with hard water fish.

@essjay Can I not lower the water ppm using the reverse osmosis water as I'd like to be able to have soft water fish. Like try to lower it to 150 ppm

 

[Essjay]

Yes, using RO would lower the hardness, RO being pure water with nothing dissolved in it.
Half tap and half RO water would give you ~ 150 ppm. One third tap and two thirds RO would give you ~100ppm. But if you decided to do this you would have to use the same mix at every single water change - there would need to be some RO on hand at all times in case an emergency water change was ever needed.
The new water for a water change would need to be prepared before it was added to the tank. Theoretically you should only need to add enough dechlorinator for the amount of tap water in the mix as RO shouldn't have any chlorine/chloramine but as I don't use RO I'll leave that to members who do use it.
To introduce the mixed water I would do a couple of small water changes a few days apart using the mix you decide on so that you don't change the hardness too much in one go. Then you can go to weekly 50%+ water changes.

But I would still advise against an angelfish in this sized tank.



Re the dwarf chain loaches, again I have to say no since you already have panda cories. A general rule is that loaches and cories don't go well together; and having had dwarf chain loaches several years ago, I know the way they swim (''I want to go from A to B and any fish in the way will just get run over'') and I would not keep cories with them. Since you only have 4 cories, I'd get more of them instead.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Yes, using RO would lower the hardness, RO being pure water with nothing dissolved in it.
Half tap and half RO water would give you ~ 150 ppm. One third tap and two thirds RO would give you ~100ppm. But if you decided to do this you would have to use the same mix at every single water change - there would need to be some RO on hand at all times in case an emergency water change was ever needed.
The new water for a water change would need to be prepared before it was added to the tank. Theoretically you should only need to add enough dechlorinator for the amount of tap water in the mix as RO shouldn't have any chlorine/chloramine but as I don't use RO I'll leave that to members who do use it.
To introduce the mixed water I would do a couple of small water changes a few days apart using the mix you decide on so that you don't change the hardness too much in one go. Then you can go to weekly 50%+ water changes.

But I would still advise against an angelfish in this sized tank.



Re the dwarf chain loaches, again I have to say no since you already have panda cories. A general rule is that loaches and cories don't go well together; and having had dwarf chain loaches several years ago, I know the way they swim (''I want to go from A to B and any fish in the way will just get run over'') and I would not keep cories with them. Since you only have 4 cories, I'd get more of them instead.

Ok, thank you very much @essjay, can I move the panda corys to my other tank and get dwarf chain loaches once the panda corys have been moved and I have reduced the ppm?

Btw @essjay you are almost at 10k messages!!!!!

 

[Essjay]

Btw @essjay you are almost at 10k messages!!!!!

I have been a member for 14 years

 

[Fish4dawin]

I have been a member for 14 years

What about the message I said above?

 

[Essjay]

You should be OK with dwarf chain loaches if the cories are moved to another tank. I had only 4 but that's just because of how much they cost - I couldn't convince my husband to spend any more on "just fish". At a shop not too far from me they are currently selling at £10 each.

 

[Fish4dawin]

You should be OK with dwarf chain loaches if the cories are moved to another tank. I had only 4 but that's just because of how much they cost - I couldn't convince my husband to spend any more on "just fish". At a shop not too far from me they are currently selling at £10 each.

Ok cool thank you. There's a place in Sidcup, (Bromley) called Abacus Aquatics. They sell them for £9-£10 and 4 for £32. How many would you recommend? What size tank did you keep them in?

 

[Essjay]

They were in a Rio 125 like yours. Ideally they should be in a group of at least 5 or 6.

 

[Fish4dawin]

They were in a Rio 125 like yours. Ideally they should be in a group of at least 5 or 6.

Yes I was planning on getting 5 but I'm going to try to convince her for 6 or 7. Even though they cost a lot of money I'm probs gonna pay for a lot of the money anyways.

 

[Fish4dawin]

Will you guys help me decide fish for my tank when I get my water down to 150 ppm or do you guys have any siggestions for a 33 gallon?

Also how do I rank up from a new member to a fish fanatic? Is that in regards to your reaction score?

 

[mcordelia]

definitely will help, look into how much RO water costs near you and if that is a sustainable approach for you - I think you need to figure out the cost per year for buying enough RO water to do your weekly water changes with (and then add 20% for emergency water changes to that amount). That will give you the information to decide if that is something you will be able to maintain over time, or if it is better for you to stick with the fish you have and then transition over to hard water fish with time.

My personal situation is that I have "moderately hard" water, and though I'll be using a filter to remove chlorine and other junk from the water (our tap water here isn't great), I'm trying to plan my tank around inhabitants that can tolerate the water I have, because my schedule and wallet don't allow for messing with RO. There's a lot of factors that go into that choice, so it's best to look into all the implications before rushing into it I have been rather pleasantly surprised with how many fish I will be able to keep, for me, a big one was tetras since I thought they were all soft water fish, but it turns out the ones that come from areas closer to the coasts or where there is a lot of variation due to rainfall amounts can tolerate relatively hard water.

and regarding how to get a different title, I think it just comes down to how much (or little) of a life you have haha I joke, but the title changes based on how many postings you make. I've been super cooped up due to covid 19, so I've somehow managed to rank up in three months, even though I am not that experienced of a fishkeeper....

 

[Fish4dawin]

definitely will help, look into how much RO water costs near you and if that is a sustainable approach for you - I think you need to figure out the cost per year for buying enough RO water to do your weekly water changes with (and then add 20% for emergency water changes to that amount). That will give you the information to decide if that is something you will be able to maintain over time, or if it is better for you to stick with the fish you have and then transition over to hard water fish with time.

My personal situation is that I have "moderately hard" water, and though I'll be using a filter to remove chlorine and other junk from the water (our tap water here isn't great), I'm trying to plan my tank around inhabitants that can tolerate the water I have, because my schedule and wallet don't allow for messing with RO. There's a lot of factors that go into that choice, so it's best to look into all the implications before rushing into it I have been rather pleasantly surprised with how many fish I will be able to keep, for me, a big one was tetras since I thought they were all soft water fish, but it turns out the ones that come from areas closer to the coasts or where there is a lot of variation due to rainfall amounts can tolerate relatively hard water.

and regarding how to get a different title, I think it just comes down to how much (or little) of a life you have haha I joke, but the title changes based on how many postings you make. I've been super cooped up due to covid 19, so I've somehow managed to rank up in three months, even though I am not that experienced of a fishkeeper....

OK thank you lol.

What other fish have you managed to keep in hard water?