Stocking 200 Litre

[Eridinus]

What do you guys think of (for a planted):

8 x Cardinal Tetra
7 x Silver Hatchetfish
6 x Emperor Tetra
5 x Pentazona/Odessa Barb
6 x Adolfo Cory
6 x Bronze Cory
1 x Siamese Algae Eater (True one, not false or flying fox etc.)
Ramshorn Snails
Cherry Shrimp

 

[Colin_T]

what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
what is the pH and GH of the water?

 

[Eridinus]

what are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
what is the pH and GH of the water?

Tank isn't set up yet - just wanted some opinions on the stocking.

Dimensions:
Height 101cm
Width 41cm
Height 50cm

 

[Essjay]

I assume that should be length 101 cm

We can't comment on the stocking until we know how hard your tap water is. You should be able to find that information on your water supplier's website. They may also give the pH in the water quality report (hardness is likely to be in a different section of the website)

 

[Byron]

Agree, we need to know the GH and pH of the source water.

While waiting, there are a couple of issues to mention. First is the Siamese Algae Eater, Crossocheilus langei. This fish attains 6 inches and being shoaling needs a group, and that means a 4-foot (120 cm) length tank at minimum.

The Odessa Barb, Pethia padamya, is peaceful but it is quite an active swimmer, so this will cause issues for more sedate fish like cardinal tetras and especially hatchetfish. Swimming activity is also a feature of the Emperor Tetra so I would look for another fish here too.

You might want to increase the hatchetfish numbers, though I would want to know which "silver" species this actually is, as there are four or more commonly referred to as "silver" in three different genera and they have varying sizes and activity levels.

 

[Eridinus]

Sorry for lack of replies - with regards to hardness - our water is quite hard here (292 CaCO3 mg/l), but my 2 current aquariums set up have a hardness of about 8-12 degrees on API test strips.

I use Indian almond leaves and have a water softener pouch from API that I have ready to use if it becomes a problem. I also use a small amount of aquarium salt to further soften the water.

With pH, they both sit at about 7.

I have decided that instead of Odessa barbs, I will instead consider Pentazona barbs.

Thoughts?

 

[Byron]

I also use a small amount of aquarium salt to further soften the water.

Aquarium salt (sodium chloride, sea salt) will not soften water, nor do anything else for that matter. But this common salt will harm all freshwater fish over time, so discontinue using it. Salt is useful as a treatment for certain issues, depending upon the fish, but has no benefit long-term and as I say is very harmful to freshwater fish.

I use Indian almond leaves and have a water softener pouch from API that I have ready to use if it becomes a problem.

Indian almond leaves will have little if any effect softening water when the GH is high. The GH and KH (Alkaliinity) of your source water will not be likely to lower unless you dilute the water with "pure" water. Pure water is distilled water, reverse osmosis water, or sometimes rainwater. This is a complicated business, but I wanted to mention that the high GH is going to resist softening agents.

The API softener I am not aware of, so I cannot comment on its effectiveness. I would question if it actually lowers the GH/KH though, as there are hundreds of aquarists with hard water that would welcome such a tool and I've not heard of this previously that I can recall.

The pH is related to the GH and KH, but not an indicator of those values. It is the GH that is most important to fish, be they hard water species needing this mineral in the water, or soft water species requiring softer water to whatever degrtee depending upon the numbers and the species.

The Pentazona Barb, Desmopuntius pentazona, is a less active barb but one requiring fairly soft and acidic water. More info here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/desmopuntius-pentazona/

 

[Essjay]

our water is quite hard here (292 CaCO3 mg/l), but my 2 current aquariums set up have a hardness of about 8-12 degrees on API test strips.

According to the instructions on API's website, the strip testers only measure hardness up to 180 ppm (10 dH). The strips can only show a maximum of 180 ppm no matter how hard the water actually is.

and have a water softener pouch from API that I have ready to use if it becomes a problem

The water softener pillow "contains resins to remove calcium, magnesium and soluble heavy metal ions, including copper and iron."
The safety data sheet says it contains, amongst other things, sulfonic acid, sodium salt. This would imply that it contains an ion exchange resin which swaps calcium and magnesium (the hardness minerals) for sodium. The fact that it can be recharged in salt solution also makes me think it is a sodium based ion exchange resin.
This type of water softener should not be used for fish tanks - despite this one being market for just that.