40 Gallon Breeder

[Essjay]

My tap water has GH 100 ppm/5.6 dH and pH 7.5. I have red cherry shrimps, nerite snails, Malaysian trumpet snails and pest snails. They are all fine. The nerites' shells are beginning to look a bit the worse for wear, but I bought the zebra nerite and the red one with black markings in July 2011. Yes, they are that old, I keep a notebook of what I buy and when. The small black and yellow striped snail is a bit younger - I bought that in December 2013.

 

[FishyFiend19]

Do I need to use a pH stabilizer since soft water can change in pH more frequently?

 

[Essjay]

The only chemicals added to my tank are a dechlorinator (API Tap Water Conditioner) and a plant fertiliser (Seachem Flourish comprehensive supplement etc).
Many years ago I was lazy about water changes (25% every 3 to 4 weeks ) and I did have a pH crash. But I learned my lesson and now that I do weekly 50% water changes I have not had any problems. My KH is just 3 dH, which is why I had the pH crash but regular water changes keep KH topped up enough to prevent this.

 

[FishyFiend19]

So, I am restarting my stocking plan. Any reason I couldnt keep green kubotai rasbora?

 

[Byron]

So, I am restarting my stocking plan. Any reason I couldnt keep green kubotai rasbora?

The pH is a tad high, but it will be interesting to see what it does in the aquarium once the biological system kicks in. And this depends upon the buffering capacity of your water (GH and KH) which are probably sufficient to buffer the pH but that is just a guess. Data on this species here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/microdevario-kubotai/

While I'm here, I'll just comment on my experience with pH and buffering, responding to the question you raised in post #17. I agree with essjay's approach. I have zero KH in my tap water, and almost no GH (7 ppm, less than half of 1 dGH). I use no buffering of any sort; back in the 1990's I did use about three tablespoons of dolomite in a nylon bag in the canister filter of my 5-foot 115g tank, and it kept the pH around 6.5 but the tap water pH in those days was 5 or below. I was "advised" to buffer, so I did. The soft water fish I kept didn't seem to mind.

More recently I was using Equilibrium in two or three tanks to increase the calcium and magnesium for the plants. The GH went up to around 5 dGH and the pH was in the high 6's. For reasons I needn't get into, I discontinued this on the advice of a marine biologist, for the sake of my fish. For the past five or six years, I have not used any mineral/buffering. I have as I said zero GH/KH, and thee pH of the tap water is 7.0 as a result of the addition of soda ash by the water authority to raise the otherwise very acidic pH. This dissipates out fairly quickly. In tanks that have a normal pH of 5 the water change only raises the pH by two or three decimal points at most, and it returns to normal for the tank in several hours, certainly by next morning. I change at least 60%, often 70% of the tank volume once each week, without fail.

Each aquarium has its own unique biology; this applies to everyone's tanks. In my case, with 8 operating tanks, I have some that are below pH 5 (can't measure below 5 so no idea how low they might actually be), some are around 6, and one is slightly higher, mid 6's. I only keep soft water species, and most are wild caught. To my knowledge the GH/pH/KH issue has never caused any problems for the fish. I have spawning regularly though most of the eggs get eaten, but once in a while one will escape and hatch and a tiny fry will appear. Most live their normal documented lifespan, a sign that things are to their liking. Any issues with GH/pH will cause stress, significantly depending upon the specifics, and that always means a shorter than normal lifespan, so this is a pretty good barometer.

 

[FishyFiend19]

Is my pH too high for all of the following?

Kubotai rasbora
Sparkling gourami
CPD
Maculata Rasbora

 

[Byron]

Is my pH too high for all of the following?

Kubotai rasbora
Sparkling gourami
CPD
Maculata Rasbora

Except for the CPD, technically yes. But the GH is the more important parameter, though that is not to say the pH doesn't matter. If I were you, I would see if they are adding anything to the water, or if this is natural.

The water in the CPD (I take this to be Celestial Pearl Danio, species Danio margaritatus) habitat is slightly basic with a pH of 7.3 but is very soft. I don't see a problem here, but I would point out that this species is best kept on its own in a large group, say 20-30, in a standard 29g or a long 20g (base dimensions of both being 45cm by 30 cm (30 by 12 inches). In larger aquaria, other small peaceful and quiet species will work; active fish can impede the CPD's feeding.

In its habitat, the pygmy sparkling gourami (Trichopsis pumila) is frequently found in water having no hardness and a pH of 3-4.

The dwarf rasbora, Boraras maculatus, inhabits black water streams and rivers associated with ancient forest peat swamps. The water is stained brown due to the release of tannins and other chemicals released by decomposing organic matter and the substrate scattered with fallen leaves, twigs and branches. Such environments characteristically contain very soft (negligible hardness), acidic (pH as low as 4.0) water and are often dimly-lit due to the forest canopy above. [taken from Seriously Fish]

There is some adaptability in some species, but this is too often exaggerated. The smaller the fish, the higher the metabolic rate and this gets impacted by adverse water parameters (and most everything else). Fish must maintain the pH of their blood equal to that of the water in which they live. A species designed to function in a pH of 3 to 4 is going to find pH 8 or close to it quite a strain. Each degree in the pH scale which is logarithmic represents a 10-fold increase/decrease. So pH 5 is ten times less acidic that pH 4, while pH 6 is 100 times less acidic, and pH 7 is 1000 times less acidic.

 

[FishyFiend19]

Hmm.... So I wouldn't be able to keep about 15 kubotai and 15 cpd (or 20 each) together?

 

[Byron]

Hmm.... So I wouldn't be able to keep about 15 kubotai and 15 cpd (or 20 each) together?

From the standpoint of space and species temperament, this should be fine [my earlier post may have been misleading, I just edited it to be clearer]. I'd like to have more certainty about that pH.

 

[FishyFiend19]

I will definitely update about the pH once I actually start buying stuff in February, including my API test kit.

 

[FishyFiend19]

Would those 2 species be okay with cherry shrimp and corys?

 

[Byron]

Would those 2 species be okay with cherry shrimp and corys?

Cories should be fine. I know next to nothing about shrimp so will leave that to others. Fish including cories will eat shrimp as crustaceans are a natural food in most habitats, and cories do love shrimp-based sinking foods.

 

[FishyFiend19]

I see. I wonder if hasbrosus would be too small to eat cherry shrimp.

 

[Byron]

I see. I wonder if hasbrosus would be too small to eat cherry shrimp.

Others will I'm sure be able to tell us.

 

[Essjay]

In my main tank I currently have red cherry shrimps with Epse's raboras (Trigonostigma espei, a close relative of harlequin rasboras), daisy's rice fish (Oryzias woworae) and peacock gudgeons (Tateurndina occelicauda). I have no doubt that a lot of the baby shrimps are eaten, and I have witnessed rice fish taking half grown shrimps. But I also have a lot of wood and plants in the tank. I moved the shrimps in there 2 years ago after needing to close down the tank they were in, and I still have a large number of shrimps so a number of babies must be surviving to adulthood.

The main thing you need for shrimps is hiding places. Shrimps shed their skins, and until the new skin hardens they are vulnerable. And baby shrimps are so small they can be eaten whole. I find that plants provide hiding places for baby shrimps and cavities in the wood for the moulting adults. There are always a lot of adult shrimps among the leaves of the water sprite I have floating on the surface, for example.

You will also need to check the old water during a water change for shrimps before throwing it away. My record total in one water change is 32 shrimps, from tiny babies to adults. If I hadn't checked the bucket they would all have been poured down the drain.