Has my API GH test kit gone wonky - no change from orange to green?

[brommer]

This is a 20g, but is it a standard ("high") 20g which is 24 inches (60 cm) in length, or a "long" 20g which would be 30 inches (75 cm) length? This makes quite a difference when it comes to fish species and numbers.

@Byron: 24"

 

[Byron]

@Byron: 24"

OK, as you/we go forward with ideas for fish we will keep this in mind. And while I'm here, I concur with seangee about the frequent nature of sedate fish. There is a lot to consider when it comes to a community aquarium, as all these things do affect fish.

 

[brommer]

Alright.

So as mentioned, i'd like some sort of cleaning crew at the bottom of the tank along with something in the mid & top sections. I would like to get them as small as possible, so there's growing space.

It is a community tank (soft water), so is there any space for "individuals" (maybe apart from the already mentioned honey & pearl gouramis; not a big fan of those as then can grow a lot bigger apparently )?

 

[Byron]

It is a community tank (soft water), so is there any space for "individuals" (maybe apart from the already mentioned honey & pearl gouramis; not a big fan of those as then can grow a lot bigger apparently )?

I would agree that a Pearl Gourami is too large for a basic 20g, and it really is so beautiful in a small group that it would be a shame to isolate one. The honey Gourami though is OK in a 20g, a pair (male and female) or a trio (1 male, 2 female).

i'd like some sort of cleaning crew at the bottom of the tank

Snails are your best bet, or perhaps shrimp, for "cleaning" as there are really no fish that do this. Substrate level fish like corydoras, loaches, catfish require suitable sinking food. While some may pick up a flake or two, many will not.

 

[brommer]

The honey Gourami though is OK in a 20g, a pair (male and female) or a trio (1 male, 2 female).

Well i guess i could get a pair (male & female; of maybe just a lone male?) of younger/smaller honey gouramis. They're peaceful too right, so maybe put them in the tank with some tetras then ? Tetras are available for quite a large range of GH. I like the neons but they seem to need a GH of 100-200ppm whereas my tank is ~54ppm. So i take it another type would probably be better? Any suggestions?

Snails are your best bet, or perhaps shrimp, for "cleaning" as there are really no fish that do this. Substrate level fish like corydoras, loaches, catfish require suitable sinking food.

But which substrate level fish would you suggest , if any (mind you i hadn't even considered shrimp; i need to do some research there re: type and number) ? I'm happy to provide other food if required...... And again overpopulation is something i'd like to avoid.

 

[seangee]

Any tetras will be fine in your water. I keep Cardinals and glowlights in 0GH. I happen to prefer cardinals to neons although I can't explain why. In a 20g you really want to avoid any nippy species, especially if you are planning gourami

 

[Byron]

But which substrate level fish would you suggest , if any (mind you i hadn't even considered shrimp; i need to do some research there re: type and number) ? I'm happy to provide other food if required...... And again overpopulation is something i'd like to avoid.

You are highly unlikley to ever see overpopulation of fish with egg layers. Livebearers (guppies, Endlers, mollies, swordtails, platy) all give birth to live young and some will get eaten but not the majority and these can quickly overpopulate an aquarium. These also need harder water so not suitable anyway, but the point is you don't need to worry about egg layers, as most of the eggs if not all of them will rapidly get eaten by any fish that finds them. I have the occasional fry appear but I have heavily-planted tanks and if an egg falls where it is not seen it can hatch.

In this small a tank your only options for substrate-level fish are catfish. Corydoras (but I think you said you didn't like these?), a single common Whiptail.

 

[Byron]

Tetras are available for quite a large range of GH. I like the neons but they seem to need a GH of 100-200ppm whereas my tank is ~54ppm. So i take it another type would probably be better? Any suggestions?

Hobbyists are always asking for numbers, bee it minimum numbers in a given tank, or parameters. With the latter, the main aspect is the geeneral hardness of the water as we can apply terms like very soft, soft, moderately soft/hard, fairly hard, very hard. These are obviously subjective terms and within each there is a variety of fish that may have somewhat different ranges, but still fall within the general term. For example, all tetras are soft water fish; some prefer very soft water, others soft, and others can manage with moderately soft/hard. Once you get this concept in your mind, it makes all this much simpler.

Neon tetras are very soft water fish, naturally. Generations of tank breeding is said to make them more accepting of harder water. Without getting into how far that actually goes, it is still true that in very soft water they will thrive. I know of no major fish watercourses in South America that are habitats for our aquarium fish that have anything but very soft water. That is all that really matters. My GH is zero in my source water, and I do not do anything to increase it. I have had fish (all soft water species obviously) in such water for 30 years.

 

[brommer]

Thx Byron & seangee.

That has narrowed things down a fair bit! So some Neon Tetras & pair of honey Gouramis and either a single Whiptail (and no i do not have any issues with catfish; however i just read these can get relatively big, maybe not such a logical option ....) or some shrimp (i really like the idea of a proper cleanup crew).

For the latter, the red cherry ones look interesting (sorry thinking colourful because of the kids). I might have to look for a different store though as my local one does not have any.

 

[brommer]

Quick update: tank is cycled and i have some red cherry shrimp (5) & pepper cories (3) in there. The shrimp are bright red now (unlike when i got them) and the cories are very active. So i'm pretty happy about it all. Now i'm looking for a final species to add.

I know honey gourami was mentioned, and at the time, that seemed the way to go. However since then i've been doing my research and i'm not interested in putting up with any bubble nests and associated behaviour etc. when it comes to 1 male & 1 female. So i'm wondering would 1 male be OK. I'm going to get them as small as I can find them from a tank with others!

Tetras were mentioned too. I now agree Cardinal ones are nicer than the neons. Only concern i have here is that my soft tank water has stabilised at a pH of 7.2. These tetras don't seem a big fan of that and prefer something to the acidic side.

In my search for another good looking peaceful fish i started looking at Guppies. Especially the fancy tuxedo ones i quite like. However these seem to need harder water....... would that be worth all the trouble? Also, I found that Endler Guppies can take softer water apparently, but nice looking ones are hard to find ( i don't like the ones that look like they've acquired some graffiti).

Any other suggestions that would fit in my tank?

 

[seangee]

pH is not an issue here. Tetras et al need soft water. People usually say soft and acidic because in nature the 2 usually go together. If you choose to keep soft water fish you don't need to do amything to your water.

 

[brommer]

@seangee: good to hear. Having said that, if I wanted those guppies as mentioned, I would have to up the GH (shrimp & catfish can take this bump, to get it above 100 ppm, apparently easily)

 

[Byron]

@seangee: good to hear. Having said that, if I wanted those guppies as mentioned, I would have to up the GH (shrimp & catfish can take this bump, to get it above 100 ppm, apparently easily)

This is not as easy as it sounds. Increasing the GH (and the pH will go up as well,along with the KH) is fine if you change over to fish requiring harder water. [And by the way, the GH needs to be higher than 100 ppm, somewhere above 180 ppm (= 10 dGH) is necessary for livebearers, but that will make life harder for the soft water species.] But then you also have to prepare the water outside the tank for every water change. Water added to the tank during the weekly partial water change must be basically the same in GH, KH and pH and temperature, so that means holding it in some sort of container until it is ready. Years ago i went throough this, and it was an incredible amount of work.

Assuming you stay with what you have, forget all livebearers, none of them will be healthy in soft water. And the pH is almost certain to lower below 7 here, after a few weeks as the organics accumulate naturally.

You need more cories; no fewer than five ever. Another two or even three more would be OK. Six total. Then a group of smaller tetras (cardinals are fine), say 9-10 of them. And another shoaling tetra?

 

[brommer]

I'm listening Byron, and I've decided it's probably best to stick with my tank water as it is.

I also agree on the cory bit. It was my intention, to get 5 initially, but i thought, lets see how these guys go for week. So yes I'll get 2 more. I'll also go with the Cardinal tetras as my final species !

Just to pick you brain here. What's your opinion on just the one male honey gourami (i have to admit i'm not seriously considering it anymore, but would appreciate your thoughts on this)?

 

[Byron]

I also agree on the cory bit. It was my intention, to get 5 initially, but i thought, lets see how these guys go for week. So yes I'll get 2 more.

Just so you know on this aspect, with shoaling fish it is always better to acquire the entire intended group together. They will settle into the tank much easier and faster than they will individually or in smaller groups like two or three. In other words, five cories will settle faster with less prolonged stress and thus be less likely to develop problems than will two or three at a time. Another aspect of this that is not really relevant with cories but can be with some other fish is hierarchy; some species develop an hierarchy within tyhe group, and adding all of them at the same time makes this less likely of issues. Sometimes adding more of a species can be a real problem, with aggressive or mildly aggressive species; not applicable with cories, but would be say with loaches, or some tetras, or many of the barbs and danios.

I'll also go with the Cardinal tetras as my final species !
Just to pick you brain here. What's your opinion on just the one male honey gourami (i have to admit i'm not seriously considering it anymore, but would appreciate your thoughts on this)?

Something I missed mentioning previously is that cories are lower level fish, and cardinals tend to be lower half of the water column. Which leaves the upper half empty of fish. Gourami are upper level fish, so Honey Gourami would fill this void. One or three are best. Or instead of the gourami, there are other fish; hatchetfish, here one of the smaller-sized species in the genus Carnegiella, like the Marble, in a group of 8-9 would work. Or there is the Rocket or Diptail Pencilfish, Nannostomus eques, that remains near the surface and swims at an oblique angle.