London water - stocking advice (pic attached for help)

[raphlovesfish]

Hi All,

This forum is invaluable for people like me who always had the desire to set a happy and healthy environment for fish to thrive in but never had the push to do it.

Well, I have taken the plunge and decided to purchase my first tank as a beginner (I am 33 yrs old so not too late I guess). The tank is the Aqua Nano 40 - 55 Litre (14.7 Gallon) glass tank. Comes with its three compartment filter, heater and light. Granted it is not the most expensive piece of kit but I am hoping it will be a good learner kit for future larger tanks.

The tank has been set up and running for six days. It has sand substrate with the soil underneath for natural plant growth, real plants, the green ball and driftwood. I live in London so the water parameters pre-cycle are:

-GH: 220
-PH: 7.6-7.8
-Nitrate: 0
-Nitrite: 0
-Nitrogen: 0

I had a bacterial bloom for three days but the water is now pristine. As a side note, when i purchased the bogwood with leaves housed in LFS tank, a Shrimp took a ride on it without anyone noticing. Now he is running/swimming about happily. I have added the image of the tank below.

I am about to start my fish-in cycling based on the tutorials online/this forum but I need help in choosing the right schedule of adding fish based on water parameters. I was thinking based on research:

2x Zebra Danios/Rasboras - first week
6x Ember/Black Phantom Tetra - after all 'N' levels have zerod
1x Male Ghourami (not sure which one) - following week
1x bottom dweller maybe Julii Cory? (not sure which one) - to go in last
Maybe a couple of extra shrimp?

I want to avoid overstocking of course.

Dependent on water parameter changes, I will do 25-30% water changes as suggested. I will add the 'dechlorinator' at each change and when fish has been added.

Ideally i would like top (shool), middle and bottom swimmers to create an equilibrium of happiness. Any suggestions would be really appreciated. Also, do i need CO2 for the plants? Thanks in advance

 

[Essjay]

I'm afraid your tank is too small, and your water too hard for a lot of fish on your wish list.
For information, the Aqua Nano 40 is a 40 cm (15.7 inch) cube

(I am afraid I've had to go through Wayback Machine for the following links as Seriously Fish is having problems with their fish profiles at the moment)
Zebra danios are shoaling fish - which means that they need to be in a group of at least 6 with more being better - and a tank at least 90 cm long. They are very fast swimming fish and need a longer tank than you have. Zebra danio
Rasboras, assuming you mean harlequin rasboras, are again shoaling fish. Your hardness is right at the top end of their preferred range and they do need a tank slightly bigger than a 40 cm cube. Harlequin rasbora
Size wise, ember tetras are a good fit but they are soft water fish which would not do well in your water. Ember tetra
Black phantoms need an 80 cm long tank, and again, your hardness is outside their range Black phantom tetras
All corydoras are shoaling fish; you'd need at least 6. And a 40 x 40 cm footprint is not enough for the larger cory species. It is only suitable for the dwarf species of cory - and they need to be in a group of at least 10. The most commonly available dwarf cory is the pygmy cory. I know the profile on Seriously Fish says it is OK in water up to 15 dH (268.5) but I would rather see this fish kept in softer water Pygmy cory


So now that I have demolished your wish list - sorry! - what fish would be suitable.

Endlers livebearers but males only as they breed like rabbits and would soon over populate your tank if you had both sexes.
Celestial pearl danios Also known as galaxy rasboras, an older name that some shops still use.
Maybe emerald rasboras though they really need a largr tank - and not with celestial pearl danios as there is a risk of interbreeding.
Maybe also some of the fish known as blue eyes, eg Pseudomugil signifer, although again they really do prefer a bigger tank




If you were to get some floating plants, the fish would prefer it, and it would mean that you would be able to get away without cycling the tank provided you added fish slowly, and provided the plants were all growing well.

 

[raphlovesfish]

@essjay thank you for your reply and links provided. Very useful.

You have indeed shattered my wishlist but that is the reason i am here for.

Is there a way of lowering the PH to allow for some on the wish list?

My LFS also has GH 210 and PH 7.8 and it seems the fish I suggested are doing well.

 

[Essjay]

It's not the pH that is important, it is the hardness. The only way to lower that is by diluting your tap water with reverse osmosis (RO) water. This is water that has had all the minerals removed so, for example, if you were to mix your tap water with RO 50:50, you would halve the hardness.

But this is not something to be undertaken lightly. It means that every water change would have to be done with tap and RO water mixed in exactly the same ratio. You could never use your tap water to do an emergency water change so it would mean having a supply of RO water constantly in reserve.
RO water costs, though admittedly with your tank you wouldn't need much. Some fish shops sell it, or you can buy equipment to make your own. But the process of making RO water makes a lot of waste water and it could prove expensive if you are on a water meter.

It is much easier for a newcomer to the hobby to choose fish that like your tap water rather than alter the tap water to suit your fish. There is a lot to learn without having to worry about getting the water right.

 

[NewFishPerson]

I looked into this before I settled with hard water fish. To lower the hardness and pH you need to either purchase RO/DI water from the fish shop or purchase a complete RO system. Once you have the RO water you then mix it with your own tap water so as to give you the desired water parameters. I was put off doing so because lugging water back would have been a pain and RO systems are very wasteful (they have to discharge a large amount of waste water compared to the clean water you get out)

 

[raphlovesfish]

Thank you both. I must say the water hardness has caught me out. Shame as I would have bought a bigger tank (80-100l) to accommodate for the desired fish I wanted.

Luckily Pearl Danios was on my list initially so I will go with them.

How many could the tank accommodate?

Can I also get my accidental shrimp a couple of mates?

 

[Essjay]

You could have a nice big shoal of them - and with these small fish they need more than half a dozen.

If the shrimp survives in your water, yes get more of the same kind. But wait a while as they are more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite than fish are, so you need to make sure there are none in the tank before getting more shrimps.

 

[raphlovesfish]

Thanks.

Just a final thought - I have just read this article after your feedback on hard water fish http://wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwhardness.htm

What do you think of a couple of dwarf cichlids?

 

[fish boi]

Thank you both. I must say the water hardness has caught me out. Shame as I would have bought a bigger tank (80-100l) to accommodate for the desired fish I wanted.

Luckily Pearl Danios was on my list initially so I will go with them.

How many could the tank accommodate?

Can I also get my accidental shrimp a couple of mates?

not sure how many would be good in your tank but at least 6 as they are schooling fish.

and for shrimp i guess you could get a couple more if you want. what type are they?

 

[fish boi]

Thanks.

Just a final thought - I have just read this article after your feedback on hard water fish http://wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/fwhardness.htm

What do you think of a couple of dwarf cichlids?

dwarf cichlids are too big and would eat any other fish smaller than them.
check with someone else here to as i don't know much other than what my friend has said

 

[raphlovesfish]

It's a single cherry shrimp. I don't know how the person who was fishing the bogwood out from the LFS missed him. He is not exactly a neutral colour, He must have been hiding in one of the holes in the bogwood. Hey, I am not complaining. He seems very happy playing around the green ball in the tank.

 

[Essjay]

Luckily Pearl Danios was on my list initially so I will go with them.

Just a thought - you did mean celestial pearl danios, Celestichthys margaritatus, not pearl danios, Brachydanio albolineata? Pearl danios need a long tank like zebra danios.

Dwarf cichlid is usually used for small cichlids from south America, and they need soft or very soft water. There are cichlids that need hard water - those from central America and the Rift Lakes in Africa - but the reason that I didn't mention them is because they need big tanks. If you decide to get a big tank at some time in the future they would be good choices, as would fish like rainbowfish. Not all at the same time!

Your main problem with choosing fish is that as the tank is a cube it doesn't have much swimming length for its volume. You need small fish that are not very active and that does restrict your options I'm afraid.


Cherry shrimps are fine in hard water and pH up to 8.

 

[raphlovesfish]

Yes I did mean celestial aka galaxy. Well tomorrow I am off to my LFS and will be looking for galaxy danios or Poecilia wingei. I will start with six and see how I go. If they don't have either in stock I will look at swordtails. I want to keep this tank for at least 8 months to get used to maintaining a healthy tank before upgrading.

 

[aussieant32]

I would be adding some shells and a small group of Tanganyikan shell dwellers

 

[raphlovesfish]

Thanks @aussieant32 ... can they tolerate high GH and PH of 7.6-7.8??

They could serve as my bottom dwellers if the answer is yes. I have seen them in my LFS