Stocking ideas, 125l Juwel Lido.

[Essjay]

I'm sure Laetacaras need a longer tank?

 

[Stanster59]

Only links I could find was in the thinkfish website, I've no idea how reputable the data is.

 

[Avel1896]

So should be ok with a group of sterbai (5/6) and I'm now thinking an acara may be ok , acara red breasted or flag.

No. Acaras are SL 15-20 cm and need tank 150 cm long.
Except for Laetacara araguaiae and in your tank you can house only one cichlid species
Sterbai is too large to me (6-7 cm)

 

[Byron]

I went back in this thread for the GH, and all I found was "medium hard," which really should be pinned down to a number (municipal water site? Fish store test?) because you are going to have to think nano fish and these can have specific needs. The smaller the fish the more it is impacted by almost everything, including water parameters. Cories for example would be the "dwarf" species like C. pygmaeus or C. habrosus, in a group of 15 or so, but if "moderately hard" turns out to be really hard, this is not going to work.

 

[Avel1896]

I'd like to add : the smaller the tank, the more rigorous maintenance has to be.

 

[Stanster59]

pH 7-8, , KH 8, GH 13.

 

[Stanster59]

Your water hardness
302 mg/l CaCO₃
21.13 English degrees or degrees clark
30.18 French degrees
16.90 German degrees
3.02 mmol/l
16.90 Grains per US gallon
21.13 Grains per British Gallon
This means your water is classified as hard

 

[Essjay]

Only links I could find was in the xxxxx website, I've no idea how reputable the data is.

The fish profiles on there are very out of date. I remember reading them when we first got broadband and they haven't changed since then. Seriously Fish is much more up to date, though they don't give tank sizes for Laetacaras (red breast or dwarf flag)


Fish keeping uses two hardness units, dH (which is German degrees) and ppm (which is mg/l CaCO3)
Your hardness is 16.9 dH and 302 ppm. This is hard water.
The figures you gave in post #36 give the GH as 13 - is this what your tester gives? I would go by the water company's level as they use much more expensive equipment to test it so it's more likely to be correct.

 

[Stanster59]

Yes that's what the api test kit gave.
I'll redo the test later but it's always wavered between 12 and 13 when I have done it.
Both the fish stores I use locally have never raised any flags whenever I asked about suitability of tap water and certain fish I've bought. One of these is a maidenhead aquatics store.
The one at the garden centre even keeps all it stock on local water.

 

[Essjay]

Many people who works in fish shops don't understand about hardness so they are unlikely to say anything.

Hardness is a long term issue. The fish in the shop tanks will only be there a short time (if they don't sell, the shop is out of pocket). Soft water fish won't come to harm during the short period they are in the shop.
It's when soft water fish are kept in hard water long term that problems arise. Because their bodies have evolved to hang on to the few minerals in soft water, they carry on doing that in hard water resulting in calcium deposits in their kidneys. Wild caught fish need water similar to the water they came from. Commercially bred fish are more likely to be able to cope with a wider range of hardness, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to rewrite DNA which has evolved over many thousands of years.

Why not do a bit of research into hard water fish and see if there are any you like. There are more hard water fish than just livebearers - rainbowfish are hard water fish, for example, and though many species grow too big for your tank, there are smaller species which would be suitable.

 

[Avel1896]

pH 7-8, , KH 8, GH 13.

What do you mean pH 7-8 ??
Be that as it may, these parameters anre't suitable for fishes you expect at all

 

[Stanster59]

What do you mean pH 7-8 ??
Be that as it may, these parameters anre't suitable for fishes you expect at all

Exactly what it says, somewhere between 7-8, without a pH meter the test kits can be open to interpretation.

 

[Avel1896]

Exactly what it says, somewhere between 7-8, without a pH meter the test kits can be open to interpretation.

What kind of strip gives these result ?

 

[Stanster59]

What kind of strip gives these result ?

It's a liquid test kit that gives you a colour, so it's subjective as to which colour you think is the pH.

 

[Avel1896]

Liquid test, really ?? Bad brand ! You really shoul buy JBL drop tests. They are so good.