Stocking question ph 7.8

[Rachelhelen]

Hi there I'm not new to fish keeping but not had terrific success due to bad advice from my local store. I'm starting a new 60l aquarium (keeping my struggling endlers separate, they're really unsuitable to my pH). I like the small fish, I don't have success with live plants and I don't mind having just one kind of fish in there. I'd like to put some of my shrimp in there if possible with the new fish. What would you advise? I'd love a kind of tetra but not sure if they'd like fake plants? Any advice welcome.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If your pH is acidic (below 7.0) you can add some limestone, shells or crushed coral to the tank or filter and it will increase the pH. Add a few small bits and monitor the pH over a week. If it goes up to 7.4 or above then that should be adequate for the Endlers.

If the general hardness (GH) of your water is below 200ppm then you can add a Rift Lake water conditioner (available from pet shops) at half strength and it will increase the pH and GH.

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Shrimp are usually fine with most small peaceful fish, however the shrimp might eat baby fish and the fish might eat baby shrimp. Endlers are pretty nice tho and don't normally bother shrimp if they are well fed.

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If you want to grow plants in an aquarium you need light. Depending on how big the tank is (length x width x height) will determine how much light you need. Some plants do well in low light but most like lots of light.

Depending on how much light you have and how long it is on for, will determine if you need a different light unit or just a longer photo period. Try having the light on for 12 hours a day and see if you get green algae on the glass. If you do then there is good light and you should be able to grow plants.

Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. rubra, narrow Vallis, common Amazon Sword plant, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).

Water sprite is a floating plant but can also be planted in the substrate where it grows into a lovely light green shrub. The other plants listed should be planted in the gravel.

 

[Byron]

Welcome to TFF.

Agree mostly with the post above, but I would suggest that before you start fussing with adjusting water parameters by any method you find out the GH (general or total hardness) of your source water, and the pH. The web site of your municipal water authority may have this posted, or they should be able to tell you. If you test the pH, remember you need to out-gas the CO2 from tap water to obtain a more reliable result (not applicable to tank water).

While it is certainly possible to adjust water parameters, remember this will be necessary for every water change, and that can get involved depending upon the initial source water and the fish. It is always much easier on you and the fish to select fish suited to your parameters. There are many small fish suited to softer water, much more than harder water species.

 

[toolman68]

As already stated by other posts, I would test the water and then add crushed coral which is an excellent long term fix. My well water is high in kh and low in gh so I add seachem equillibrium occasionally as well since I'm a plant fanatic. After the hardness and ph stabilize we can help you further with plants if you would like.

What kind of endlers do you have, I keep n-class (unhybridized) black bar endlers?

 

[Byron]

As already stated by other posts, I would test the water and then add crushed coral which is an excellent long term fix. My well water is high in kh and low in gh so I add seachem equillibrium occasionally as well since I'm a plant fanatic. After the hardness and ph stabilize we can help you further with plants if you would like.

This is not the way to go when it comes to fish needing minerals (harder water). Seachem will tell you the same. As for crushed coral, this doesn't work either. The pH will go up, quite a bit, but the GH can remain the same. You need to address the GH of the source water first.