Fluval edge 46 litre stocking suggestions- temperate

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Darkest Minnow

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Hello,

I currently have two variatus platies and a hovering zebra loach in a temperate 46l edge. I was wondering what other fish you may suggest? I do plan to get more loaches to keep as a school. Water is soft, 1.82 Clarke score. The tank is stocked with with live plants and spiderwood.

Many thanks.
 
You will have problems stocking this tank with temperate fish.

The 46 litre Edge has the dimensions 43 cm (16.8 inches) long x 26 cm (10.25 inches) wide x 58 cm (22.9 inches) high. The footprint of this tank is the same as the 23 litre Edge; it's just twice as tall.

Variatus platies need a tank with a footprint of 60 x 30 cm (24 x 12 inches). The Edge is too small for them. And they need hard water, they will suffer in such soft water. 1.82 deg Clarke converts to 1.4 dH and 26 ppm. Platies need a hardness of over 14 dH/250 ppm.
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/xiphophorus-variatus/
The best thing for these platies is to return them to the shop before any long lasting harm is done to them.


I see from your other thread that the loach is Micronemacheilus cruciatus. Colin gave you a link to this fish, and in there you will see that it needs a tank at least 60 x 30 cm (24 x 12 inches). And a temperature of 22 to 27 deg C (72 - 81 deg F). They are not temperate fish.




To be honest, I would take all your fish back to the shop and get a heater. that would enable you to keep fish suited to this tank. With your hardness, a large shoal of one of the Boraras species would go very well. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/search/boraras
 
I agree completely with essjay. These fish are going to have very serious issues very quickly; the lack of a group for the loach is critical as it develops, and the tank is not sufficient space at all. Please return the fish.
 
I really didn’t want a heated tank, are there no options for temperate, Essjay? Many thanks for your advice.
 
The specialist shop I went to had these fish as temperate in 18’c unheated tanks.
 
The specialist shop I went to had these fish as temperate in 18’c unheated tanks.

Most fish stores will have an air temperature closer to 21C (70F) due to the fish tanks. An aquarium without any internal heating source will be the temperature of the surrounding air. A temp of 18C (64F) in the store seems unlikely, so the tank would have to be chilled by some form of chiller to maintain a lower temperature.

That aside, we turn to the species. Platy have a temperature range of 20-28C (68-82F). The loach, Micronemacheilus cruciatus has a range of 25-28C (77-82F). Two things need to be mentioned.

First, the temperature range given by reliable sources for a species means the species can manage within this range, and generally mid-range long-term. The upper and lower temperatures should be considered as tolerable for temporary or brief periods, but not permanent housing temperatures for the species.

Second, stores aim to sell fish quickly; they lose money the longer the fish are there. So the environment in which the fish finds itself is almost always anything but ideal or preferable. But the fish are temporary residents and most species can usually manage to get through this. Permanent home aquaria are a very different matter; here the fish is going to spend the rest of its life in this environment, up to death. The environment must provide what the fish needs, requires and expects if we want healthy fish. Anything less and one is in the wrong hobby.

Final note on the significance of temperature and why even one degree can have consequences for the fish. Fish are ectothermic, meaning that they have very little ability to physiologically maintain (or alter) a constant body temperature. The body temperature is usually the same as the water they live in, and temperature drives the metabolism and allows the proper functioning of the fish's physiology. Each species of freshwater fish evolved over thousands of years to function best in a very specific environment. In any one environment, the fish have become acclimatized through evolution to a relatively narrow temperature range. If the temperature moves outside this narrow range for a continuous period, or if it changes rapidly within the range, then it causes stress to the fish.

Temperature changes affect the fish's metabolic rate, disturbs the rate of respiration, imbalances the pH of the blood, and causes a breakdown in osmoregulation function. For fish these are serious and compromising effects, and at the very least the fish is weakened, causing yet more stress.
 
Many thanks, Byron. It feels somewhat sinister that a specialist shop is selling fish as one thing when they are another- I think the take home message is to trust nothing that is advertised in the shops relating to temperature or tank suitability and trust nothing that the shopkeepers say. I travelled quite a distance to avoid the generic pet shops in order to ensure I would be going to a seemingly reputable place to seek advice from so cold specialists.
 
Many thanks, Byron. It feels somewhat sinister that a specialist shop is selling fish as one thing when they are another- I think the take home message is to trust nothing that is advertised in the shops relating to temperature or tank suitability and trust nothing that the shopkeepers say. I travelled quite a distance to avoid the generic pet shops in order to ensure I would be going to a seemingly reputable place to seek advice from so cold specialists.

A lesson we all have learned. Unless you know the knowledge level of the person in the store for a fact, always confirm advice online before acquisition.
 
A lesson we all have learned. Unless you know the knowledge level of the person in the store for a fact, always confirm advice online before acquisition.
So what fish would you advise to stock with? Preferably temperate.

Many thanks
 
So what fish would you advise to stock with? Preferably temperate.

Many thanks

If you stay with temperate water species--and just so everyone knows we are talking the same thing, this means room temperature whatever it may be--this small a tank makes that difficult for me to answer. Any temperate water fish I can think of need much more swimming space.

But if you do add a heater, there are many options for soft water. We refer to them as nano fish. The dwarf rasboras in the genus Boraras are good examples; Ember Tetra; if you have sand substrate, one of the three dwarf cory catfish. Some pencilfish, thinking of Nannostomus eques that swims at an oblique angle and remains near if not at the surface so this adds interest in that level which is not always easy to do. All of these need a group of the species so theey won't all work together in this small a tank, but you could for example have groups of the pencilfish, cory, and Ember Tetra or dwarf rasbora. This would provide interest at all levels of the tank, as the cories are primarily suybstrate and the rasbora/tetra mentioned are mid-water. You would want the temperature around 75-76F (24-25C) for this grouping, no warmer due to the cories.

Floating plants are necessary for all of these or they will be stressed as none like open water or overhead lighting.
 
I really do appreciate your advice, that sounds like a lovely tank. I will consider a heater if there truly are no temperate species suitable.
 

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