Can I keep all of these fish in my new 250L tank

[FishFriend0]

6 rosy barbs
5 platys + the one I have now
6 swordtails
8 harlequin rasboras
7 corydoras
I have kept platys and a few white clouds in a smaller tank before but now have only 1 platy left and was hoping to move it to this tank! I have a fluval 407 filter with the tank that i am currently cycling. I understand if this is too many fish and the only ones i definitely want to get are the platys so that my current one has a few buddies. I am going to move my current one into the new tank a week before I add any other this so that they can adjust.
Thanks to anybody who replies!

 

[GaryE]

Rosy barbs get larger than you may expect, and they could push around the harlequins, who stay small.

It wouldn't be overcrowded, but I would add slowly and build up the number of species.

 

[FishFriend0]

Do you think I could keep 6 dwarf neon rainbowfish? I think it would be cool to have at least one species of shoaling fish. If not i will just get a smaller centerpiece fish. Thanks for replying!

 

[Essjay]

One thing you need to think about is the hardness of your water. Your list contains soft water fish (rasboras, corydoras), hard water fish (swordtails, platies) and the barbs which have a wide range from soft to hard. Your hardness should be listed somewhere on your water company's website. You need a number and the unit of measurement rather than vague words. You need the unit as there are several and UK water companies often use units not used in fish keeping so we have to convert it. if you can't find the page with hardness on, tell us the name of the company and we'll see if we can find it.

Once we know the hardness we'll be able to advise better

 

[FishFriend0]

My water is 280 mg/l (I'm pretty sure that's how you express it).

 

[Essjay]

I assume that's mg/l calcium carbonate rather than mg/l calcium as 280 in that unit would be liquid rock. That's hard water, which converts to 15.6 dH for those who prefer that unit. I'm afraid it's too hard for cories and harlequins, though it's fine for the other fish in the list. It's right at the top end of the hardness (GH) range for dwarf rainbow fish; however these fish often have health issues these days so personally I would avoid them pretty as they are.

This is one of the best sites around for fish research. The profiles give data including hardness and temperature ranges, minimum tank size etc. GH can be in either ppm (which is the same as mg/l) or dH which is why it's worth knowing your hardness in both units.

Knowledge Base — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[FishFriend0]

Won't the cories and harlequins already be living in the same kind of water if I buy them locally? Thank for the link!

 

[Seisage]

Fish are adaptable creatures, but there’s only so far you can push evolution. Surviving is not thriving, and fish that are evolved to live in soft water likely will not thrive long-term in hard water.

 

[FishFriend0]

Aah okay, do you know of any other bottom dwelling, sand sifting fish that could live in my water parameters?

 

[emeraldking]

Aah okay, do you know of any other bottom dwelling, sand sifting fish that could live in my water parameters?

Welcome to TFF to start with...
Well, cories and ancistrus species will do fine as bottom dwellers with your hardness. They have quite a tolerance when it comes to water hardness.

 

[FishFriend0]

Okay,thank you very much, this has helped alot!

 

[Naughts]

Aah okay, do you know of any other bottom dwelling, sand sifting fish that could live in my water parameters?

Maybe

Synodontis petricola (Dwarf Lake Synodontis, False Cuckoo Synodontis) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

?
Do your own research though.
It's easy to believe the thing you want to hear. Fish health should be prioritized.

 

[FishFriend0]

Is there any way you can change your water parameters with aquarium products?

 

[Essjay]

Yes, but it ties you in to doing that at every single water change forever, and making sure there's always enough in stock in case of an emergency water change.

Soft water can be made harder by adding hardness salts to the new water before it goes in the tank, which means using buckets to refill and adding the salts to each bucketful at the correct dose. I don't mean ordinary salt but a mixture of minerals which occur in nature in hard water.

Hard water can be made softer by mixing the hard water with pure water such as reverse osmosis water (RO) which has had just about everything dissolved in it removed. Or use all RO and add a few of those hardness salts to get soft water. The new water needs to be prepared before it goes in the tank. RO water can be bought from some fish shops and there are places around the UK which sell RO for other purposes - our window cleaner uses it. or equipment can be bought to make your own, but this works out expensive if you are on a meter as it wastes a lot of tap water.



These do make fish keeping more costly and time consuming, and it means having RO water and/or hardness minerals on hand at all times. It is much easier and cheaper to keep fish which need the same hardness as your tap water.

 

[FishFriend0]

Doesn’t that mean that everybody who buy the corys from my local pet shop and others using my water company will all be making their fish suffer because I doubt that they all make reverse osmosis water?