Peaceful mid to upper tank dwellers

[jamieren]

Hi guys, I've got a 50 gal. tank 42x18x16"H containing a dozen neon and glow tetras, 3 mollies and a Betta. I'm looking for some other fish to round it out. I figure I can safely add about 16 "fish inches" to the tank. So far I'm considering black and cardinal tetras (though with 2 varieties already they could get redundant), lambchop rasboras, fire rasboras (apparently skittish and fussy with water quality though?) and I like the look of scissortail rasboras but I understand they get to be 6" in length and can be fin nippers. Do you have any suggestions for colorful or otherwise entertaining species to seek out?

 

[Colin_T]

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

 

[Essjay]

Fish should be kept in water with similar hardness to the water in which they originate. We always like to know the hardness of a member's tap water before suggesting fish so that we suggest fish which suit the water.

At the moment you have soft water fish (tetras and betta) and hard water fish (mollies). Depending on how hard your water is one or other group will not be happy.

 

[utahfish]

As others have said livebearers and tetras require different water. Tetras do best with lower than 6DGH mollies 10DGH or higher.
Having said that if you have soft water 6DGH or lower suitable for soft water species dwarf pencil fish inhabit top to mid live with neons in the wild and are around same size. They are a shoaling fish so belong on groups of 6 or more. Or hatchet fish which are exclusivley top and also belong in groups of 6 or more.

 

[Byron]

I concur on the water parameters data.

While waiting for that though...you should re-home the Betta (assuming this is a male); this is an upper level fish, and while you may think all is well so far, it is not likely to remain so for long, and particularly if new fish invade the Betta's territory which is the upper third of the tank.

 

[cupofjoel]

I agree with my fellow members above. Tetras are known to be fin nippers. Rasboras are fairly hardy fish so not sure what you mean by fussy. A good rule of thumb isn't the inch per gallon rule, but will the fish be happy and healthy: do they have compatible tank mates, do they have enough room to swim, does the tank mimic their natural habitat, etc. I've seen a huge tank 700 gallons to be exact with fish that are way too big and not enough space to swim. The person was obviously using the inch per gallon rule, but didn't consider the size of fish and their need to swim. I don't care how much bio media you have, how big your sump is, you can easily stress out your fish in other ways.

After being a member here for awhile I have realized that less is more. Imagine being cramped in your apartment with other adults, even having the best food and all the windows open and air purifiers going on...the space is still too small and it'll stress everyone out.

 

[jamieren]

I'm impressed with the replies to say the least, and certainly have a long way to go before I can consider myself a 'fish geek'. I'll have to look into the water parameters, had no idea about that. My local pet store owner / employees tell me very little because I believe a) they don't know and b) focus on selling product. Up to this point I thought the only thing to consider was compatibility.

 

[jamieren]

Ok, remember you guys asked for this

I believe what we're looking for is on page 3. The rep told me our water fluctuates between 7 and 8 for ph. If possible, and to save yourselves a conversation you've probably had dozens of times is there somewhere I can look to read up on these parameters and make sense of them?

I've seen water test kits available with the small glass vials. I assume if one is to do this right they are also a necessity? It seems to me this entire hobby is backwards. Clueless people (myself included) walk into a pet store and talk to (usually) an equally clueless sales person. We walk out, enjoy the fish for a few months and wonder why they die. Is there a crash course on this somewhere?

 

[Essjay]

Looking at your water table, the figure you need is Hardness, total (as caCO3) 151. This will be in ppm, which converts to 8.4 dH. These are the two units used in fish keeping; some fish profiles use one, some use the other.


Other points of note are :
they appear to use chloramine rather than chlorine to disinfect the water
your nitrate is very low, which is good
your kH (alkalinity) is 184 ppm (or 10.3 dH)
pH is 7.3.



Your water is right at the top end of what we would consider soft, verging towards 'middling'. It would be fine for most species of soft water fish, you just need to avoid those species which must have very soft water. But it is too soft for livebearers. Mollies need water over 250 ppm, I'm afraid.