New addition -- CW006

[Gypsum]

Picked up three CW006 (the black and white one), or apparently narcisso corys, according to PlanetCatfish. Photo isn't great because they're spooky and run into the plants if I get too close to the tank. They will soon learn that I am the provider of blackworms.

Tempted to grab one or two more.... Mindful of my stocking, but they're so perky and bright compared to how they were in the shop tank. The LFS I use is very good, but a wee shop tank isn't a 240L planted tank, is it? I feel sorry for the ones I didn't buy.

 

[mcordelia]

Ooh!! Absolutely beautiful!! Can I ask you what kind of tetras those are? (The ones that look like black skirt or black phantom tetras)

Also, your tank looks gorgeous! Have you posted a full tank shot lately?

 

[Gypsum]

They're black phantom tetras (and one rummynose darting in front of the camera). Nothing super rare, but they did well for us through our newbie fishkeeping/dubiously cycled tank stage and caused no drama. Would recommend them to anyone with soft water.

Haven't posted any photos of that tank. I don't think the aquascaping is anything to get too excited about, as we've just added haphazard plants around slate things in a muddled way, and I've called a truce with the black algae. It can stay so long as it doesn't try too hard to kill my plants. The corys like digging around in it.

 

[mcordelia]

Ok thanks for the ID, I am thinking black phantom tetras as the first fish to go into the new fish tank, and the way their colors are showing for you solidifies my decision according to seriouslyfish they should also do well in my water which is ~12gh and high ph (though I am currently running a test if I can get the pH to come down with driftwood or not), but please advise if you disagree!!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Awesome Cory’s! Cute stripe.

Yes, Phantom Tetras are pretty cool.

 

[Gypsum]

I'd trust Seriouslyfish, which says they can cope with GH up to 12-ish. But not a high PH.

However, I did try to give them ammonia poisoning and they never looked ill nor sorry (or we figured out how to do a fish-in cycle, quickly). The only black phantom death I've had was a female, who crashed headlong into the filter outtake while being chased by a randy male. She had some kind of head injury and never recovered. They spawn occasionally, but the corys and raphaels get very buzzy and excitable when they're at it -- who doesn't love free caviar -- and there's no chance of any eggs surviving. If you want to breed them successfully, don't keep them with catfish.

 

[mcordelia]

Oh my! Planning on getting 10 of them so hopefully that'll help quell anything too crazy. Very cool that yours spawn, I'm also probably not intending on being in the business of breeding fish so fine by me lol.

Yeah I have to test my "driftwood barrel" one of these days to see if it has any effect on the pH, though what I understand is that hardness is more important than pH....? If I can't fudge on the pH a little in terms of compatibility I'll be stuck keeping africans and I really want a community tank....

 

[Gypsum]

If I lived in a hard water area, I would totally have African cichlids instead of assorted South American catfish and friends. They're really pretty.

To be honest, all this GH/PH/KH stuff sometimes does my head in. I've learned enough to keep my fish going, but not much more. I threw cuttlebone into all my tanks to slightly raise KH (and GH) because it was so low that we were having problems with PH crashes, despite diligent weekly water changes. Our GH was about 1-2, and now it stays around 4-5. PH seems to sit at 6.5/6 and doesn't bounce around anymore. Fish appear happy, which is the main thing. My partner has a PhD in chemistry, and after some research, he thought it was a good idea. I have a PhD in history, so this is very much not my field.

Suffice to say, I have no clue how high PH but low GH would affect fish.

 

[mcordelia]

Lol maybe your partner would have some thoughts? Yeah I am installing an under-sink filter for drinking water in the next couple of weeks, and since it also removes chlorine I'm interested in using that for the tank. It's got some kind of "sediment pre-filter" which may or may not affect the GH. I'm thinking of it brings down the hardness even a little bit then I should be good just adding a bunch of driftwood to the tanks....

 

[Gypsum]

Do you have one of those API GH/KH testing kits? I've found it far more useful than whatever Scottish Water tells me is coming out of Reservoir 4 in Milngavie, and once you start faffing around with it, you'll need to test it anyway.

GH comes from calcium and magnesium in the water (insofar as I understand it), so if your pre-filter can trap some of that, it might lower GH. I don't know how dissolved those minerals are in hard water areas -- not being in one, I've never really thought about it. OH might know.

 

[mcordelia]

I do! It arrived yesterday, and then sat out on our porch overnight in below freezing temperatures because I forgot that I was expecting a package.... Hopefully it's still good.

Tomorrow is a good day to set a goal of testing my water I'll post what I find out!

 

[Gypsum]

The narcisso corys seem to enjoying their new home. They've made friends with the CW045s and have been cruising around corying. It's not Peru, but it must seem like luxury compared to whatever containers they were transported in and the shop tanks.

 

[mcordelia]

Amazing!!!

 

[Gypsum]

Here's the tank in its entirety.

 

[mcordelia]

That is a beautiful tank! Looks so peaceful I bet it's amazing to watch when winding down for the day...

I did not get so far as testing any water today, but I did put sand into the 20gal! Plants shipped today and are arriving Wednesday!!! I will hopefully post pictures yet tonight, if I have a chance.