Tetras In London!

[Joanna69]

Okay, London seems to have the most unfishfriendly water I've come across as its hard and my PH is up to 8. I'm setting up my new 63 litre tank and its on its fishless cycle. Its a small tank and I think a couple shoals of small tetras would look beautiful and would be interesting. Can they stand my water? I like the look of Glowlights or Purple Emperor tetras. I know not all tetras will cope, but I'm thinking the 'local' fish will be acclimatised to the water quality here. I wanted to cories also but have been warned off them due to the water here.

Any advice. Any fellow Londoners out there who can put my mind at rest about the water and local fish coping with it.

Cheers

Jo

 

[nmonks]

X-ray (a.k.a signal) tetras, Pristella maxillaris, are one species I know to be hard water tolerant. In the wild, they even occur in slightly brackish water. They are completely indifferent to water chemistry, and anything that is adequate for tropical fish generally will be fine for them.

The red-eye tetra, Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae, is another hardy species though not quite to the same degree as the x-ray tetra.

Another good choice is the blind cave tetra, a species particularly adapted to hard water since it lives in streams running through limestone caves. It isn't your standard issue tetra, but in the right tank makes an fascinating subject.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[The-Lion]

I'm in north London my ph is roughly about 7.2 & I keep rummy nose, x-ray, glow light & neon tetras without any problems. I did loose a couple of x-rays & rummy nose at first when in my small tank but none since I moved them into my Rio 180, where as the glow lights & neon’s absolutely love the small tank. In my experience rummy nose & the x-rays are far more active than the others mentioned above so prefer more swimming space. so you may want to take that into consideration when choosing for a small tank.
hope this helps

 

[millym]

hi there
were in chiswick & we have had rummy nose tetras and cardinals for over 3 years with no problems...our pH is regularly 7.9+ ,and despite reading these fishies do best in soft water we've never had any problems. but we did get them from lfs in west london so they obviously were either born or acclimatised to these conditions already.
we also have a pair of peppered corys who are our oldest fish at nearly 4 years in the same nasty london water & they have always been happy & healthy & have also survived a few tank traumas over the years too.
i would try & stick to buying fish from lfs in you area that has similar pH water & you should be ok. ( i wouldnt buy from somewhere else in the country & get them shipped as the water pH does vary quite alot according to county/water supplier) we're with thames water.
hope this helps

 

[millym]

oh i forgot we did used to have red eye tetras too..did really well for about 3 yrs then we sadly lost them one by one to no apparent cause ( just seemed to die suddenly with no obvious symptoms etc..........

 

[Irf]

Now this is an interesting topic!

We've got 5 neon tetras and 6 cardinals. The tank is just a few months old, but quite heavily planted. The pH is naturally 8 from the tap. Lately I have been trying to explore ways of reducing it because we have lost three tetras in two weeks. I don't know what they died of - no obvious external signs. However the water is also very hard (I live in Merton Park), and I have read that tetras can suffer kidney failure when the water is very hard.

I have been exploring whether we can get softer watr from somewhere for the aquarium in case this is the reason. So I'd also be interested in the opinions and experiences of others.

Irf.

 

[nmonks]

Generally, in hard water, the problem isn't so much tetras not being able to survive, but not being able to breed. Provided you have a "hardy" species, there shouldn't be any real problem keeping them in tap water, even in London.

There are other factors, like neon tetra disease and the poor quality of a lot of commercial stock, that are probably more of an issue.

That said, there definitely are species that will do better in hard water than others. If you want to optimise your chances right at the beginning, choosing those species isn't a bad idea.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Talz]

I have the totall opisite problame (mind you not to the same degree), my tap water is very acidic. Now im lucky in the way that alot of the fish I like and keep enjoy acid water but it always makes me leary when dealing with fish such as african cichlids, livebearers, and rainbowfish (though rainbows can handle some preety harsh water I find). It is also importent (as some have already said) to remember that the lfs near you most likely have the same water stats and the fish in there have likely gotten used to the water. What I would do in your case is when you go in to buy your fish inspect every tank thoroughly. If tank #1 is filled with plenty of weak and dead fish everywere they probably havent aclimated to the water very well and I seriously doubt they will do any better once in your also very hard Alkaline tank. If tank #2 has a few dead and dieing fish but plenty of healthy active fish there id still stay away from them as a rule but if you feel you REALLY want them and have done plenty of reasurch on the species in question then aslong as you arnt bringing any diseases into your tank then you might aswell give it a go, but expect losses. If tank #3 is filled with tons of active and healthy fish and you have done your reasurch on the species then go for it because they have most likely adapted very well to the water! Also it is a good idea to ask how long the fish have been in the shop and how many losses they have suffered, if they wont tell you dont buy!

As far as acidifying your water goes I hear bogwood and peat do well but I havent ever needed to use those myself

Happy fish keeping!

 

[Spader]

why not buy bottled water and use that?

 

[Neo8223]

I live in west london, as far as i can tell the water is pretty hard with loads of limescale. The house that i moved to has a water softner inbuilt and my neons seemed to be happy and lasted a very long time. If you live by uxbridge, i'd be happy to give you some bottles of tap water (if you want to go to the lengths) The water also has the added bonus of being de-chlorinated too i believe PM me if you want some i dont know about the pH though but i can find that out easilly.

 

[4ftguppy]

Talk to your local fish shop. I know some shops now use remineralised RO but certainly not all. Quite a lot just use London tapwater. If the fish kept in it have been thriving in that shop for some time - chances are they will be fine in your tank. As was stated above, I think water parameters are far more critical with regard breeding.