Gotta Love A Change In Plans... :/

[Shovelman]

Well i got my water tested today at my lfs since my api kit order was all screwed up, everything is good and cycled now, Ammonia 0, NO2 0, NO3 0 but one thing was not so great.....and that was my ph. Its on the higher side at around 8-8.2 and honestly its a tad too high for some of the fish i was planning on (African knife fish) Although will be good for my archers, even though they would still be good at a lower ph. ANYWAYS....any ideas for fish that will appreciate a ph in that range? Any sorts of peaceful cichlids? Would prefer if they wouldn't harm shrimp as im going to be getting some red clawed prawns, which are fairly large at 3" total length but can still get nipped by other fish.

So any ideas for a/some fish that will do fine or will like the higher ph and dissolved minerals?

Ps- yes it is tap water, no id prefer not to mess with it. Even with driftwood in the tank its not doing a whole lot to bring the ph down...will test tap water soon...
Thanks guys and gals!

 

[Shovelman]

Just stumbled upon an interesting cichlid species....Steatocranus casuarius looks pretty cool to me! Kinda like the oddballs of the cichlid world lol

http/www.gcca.net/west-african-cichlids/167-steatocranus-casuarius Sounds like they do well in my kind of water hahah

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Steatocranus spp. should be absolutely fine in water of that pH, I've had four for 18 months, of which two paired up and are currently raising their second brood of fry (~30). However, like Kribs, they do have a "Jykell and Hyde" character...

When not breeding, they are pretty well behaved cichlids, I quite confidently moved a 6cm adult female into my 48x12x15 grow-out tank yesterday. However, my Rio240 plans have been torn to shreds over the last 17 days, as the parents have been giving tankmates less and less room (tankmates thought they knew which area was a sanctuary, only for the parents to let these ~7mm fry wander right into their area [including 4 teenage Leopard Bushfish] and then the parents "punished" the tankmates). I hate to say I lost two fish (African Butterfly Fish and a Humphead Glassfish who was always fixed on the fry and ate at least one) before I realised just how psychotic the parents had become, while the four Bushfish are back in the 5x2x2 which I had planned to to drop to ~18C over the winter. The only fish still left in the Rio240 with the family are a ~18cm Synodontis decora (who has fiercely defended his home without knowingly harming any fry, heard his/her belching "squeaker" noise several times), the larger of my two Synodontis brichardi (~14cm) and my "pygmy" Steatocranus (possibly a "square head" or bleheri) who is proving to be a nightmare to rescue despite getting a lot of aggression from the parents.

I've no experience of mixing them with shrimp, but I was horrified when I saw "mum" attacking a Rabbit Snail's antennae not long after I bought her, at which point the snails had to move but they have always kept Pond Snail populations down to a low level in any tank they have been in (sometimes refusing Tetra Prima to pull a snail out of its shell and eat it there and then)! I'd love to get a group of Cameroon Fan Shrimp that reach ~15cm, but I'm struggling to find info about whether they would be safe.

Some other fish that do well in water like ours (kH11; gH14; pH 8-8.2) I have are...
Ilyodon xantusi
Synodontis decora
Synodontis brichardi
Synodontis nigriventris
Synodontis flavitaeniata
Megalechis thoracta

 

[soybean]

Well i got my water tested today at my lfs since my api kit order was all screwed up, everything is good and cycled now, Ammonia 0, NO2 0, NO3 0 but one thing was not so great.....

...and that thing is that if your nitrate reading really was 0, I find it highly unlikely you're done cycling.

 

[Shovelman]

Well i got my water tested today at my lfs since my api kit order was all screwed up, everything is good and cycled now, Ammonia 0, NO2 0, NO3 0 but one thing was not so great.....

...and that thing is that if your nitrate reading really was 0, I find it highly unlikely you're done cycling.

lol sorry about that i was really tired when i was typing (i guess i put the zero in because i was just about to fall asleep but wanted the post to sit over the night haha) this and forgot to write down that they said i did have some nitrates but not nearly as much as from last week when i checked it and the nitrates were high up there.

N0body Of The Goat: Thank you so much for taking the time to type all that info! I will take a look at the suggestions/ other species that do well in harder water. Sounds like the Steatocranus spp can get quite sassy if the male female pair form...I don't think i want to risk any harm though to the archers if they do form a pair and one of the archers decides to try and make a snack of some babies. I will keep them in consideration though

 

[CezzaXV]

Have you done any water changes since last week when you said your nitrates were higher? Got any live plants?

Nitrate doesn't drop on its own.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Are the Archerfish those lovely Myanmar ones, Toxotes blythii? There was a gorgeous group of four at Romsey World Of Water when I last went there in September, they looked like they would do well in a peaceful tank like Congo Tetras; Leopard Bushfish; African Butterfly Fish; Reedfish; African Brown Knifefish etc. While many of those fish are unlikely to ever spawn in our tap water, most if not all can cope with our alkaline water.

 

[Shovelman]

Are the Archerfish those lovely Myanmar ones, Toxotes blythii? There was a gorgeous group of four at Romsey World Of Water when I last went there in September, they looked like they would do well in a peaceful tank like Congo Tetras; Leopard Bushfish; African Butterfly Fish; Reedfish; African Brown Knifefish etc. While many of those fish are unlikely to ever spawn in our tap water, most if not all can cope with our alkaline water.

boy if only they were the Toxotes blythii! Amazing patterns they have but I'm still fortunate enough to be able and get the Toxotes microlepis species. And yeah my plan was to do an African oddball tank with the exception of the Toxotes microlepis being from south Asia. I love knife fish and being that the African knife fish is hardier and stays smaller, although maybe not as attractive as other knife species it was a definite want to have since i have a decently large tank!

 

[Shovelman]

And yes ive done at least a few 10-15 gallon water changes since then and have some of my old plants in the tank as well.