Stocking help

[RobbiHask]

Oh, ok. Thats a good thing you don't have the tetra yet. Did we identify what type of cory you have? If we did, I must have missed it...

2 Peppered and 2 Albino

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Yes, never use a chemical, "pH buffer". (I'm pretty sure that API makes some)

 

[PheonixKingZ]

2 Peppered and 2 Albino

I don't know if this has already been pointed out, but Cory's prefer to be in groups of their own kind. So if you do get a bigger tank, make sure to get the same kind.

 

[RobbiHask]

Driftwood is a good and healthy addition for any tank and your corys will certainly appreciate it. I'm afraid its not going to touch your hardness or pH though. Your high KH will act as a buffer and whatever you add to the tank it will always bounce back to its original value. By all means add wood, but don't try to use any chemicals to adjust the pH. This would create a yoyo effect and probably result in dead fish.

yeah, I'm definitely not going to try and touch the PH, just trying to find a decent list of hard water fish now!

 

[Essjay]

There are a lot of hard water fish, but most of them need tanks bigger than the one you have, I'm afraid.

The best place for research is Seriously Fish https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/

It doesn't work searching for something like 'hard water fish' but if you find a list somewhere else, check their profiles on SF to see if they suit your water - and your tank.

 

[RobbiHask]

There are a lot of hard water fish, but most of them need tanks bigger than the one you have, I'm afraid.

The best place for research is Seriously Fish https://www.seriouslyfish.com/knowledge-base/

It doesn't work searching for something like 'hard water fish' but if you find a list somewhere else, check their profiles on SF to see if they suit your water - and your tank.

Thanks for the link, having hard water has definitely made it more difficult to find ideas for stocking but I think I'll go with Endlers, would you have any recommendations for the amount that would suit my tank? If these boxes of glass weren't so expensive I'd buy a much bigger tank right away haha

 

[Byron]

The cories have been in the tank for almost 6 months now and I haven't seen any issues, they've grown well and seem to be doing fine,

the corys came from a local LFS with the same water hardness that I use and as I've had them for about half a year I think they're doing OK in my tank,

This is a common misconception in this hobby, and a brief explanation may help. @essjay mentioned that freshwater fish species have evolved to function in very specific water and their physiology which involves all the internal processes that keep them alive will only function well within those water parameters. There are no external signs, until the fish just dies, and as @seangee mentioned, with a shorter than normal lifespan. Upon necropsy (the "autoposy" performed on an animal) the usual cause of death is calcium blockage of the kidneys. This is because the water that continually enters the fish via osmosis through every cell is passed through the kidneys which remove the various salts in the water (termed osmoregulation). In water that is soft, there are very few if indeed any, but in harder water the salts of calcium in particular are considerable. Calcium builds up and blocks the kidneys, and the fish dies with no external symptoms.

Frequently the fish will die from some other problem before it reaches this stage. The osmoregulatory function of the kidneys causes additional strain on the fish's physiology, weakening it more and more, and this causes stress. Unrelated disease and other problems are more likely to gain hold in weakened fish.

The water in the local fish store is really not all that important here, because the fish are only living in it for (hopefully) a short period of time. Problems associated with inappropriate water parameters are not usually rapid, though in extreme situations they can be. Once the fish is in your home aquarium, though, it is there for the rest of its life so any "problems" it encounters will be permanent, and the fish slowly weakens until it simply cannot continue to function and it dies. If something else doesn't get it first, as I said above.

Nathan Hill's observation cited in blue in my signature block is pertinent here. Hope this helps to explain the issue better.

 

[RobbiHask]

This is a common misconception in this hobby, and a brief explanation may help. @essjay mentioned that freshwater fish species have evolved to function in very specific water and their physiology which involves all the internal processes that keep them alive will only function well within those water parameters. There are no external signs, until the fish just dies, and as @seangee mentioned, with a shorter than normal lifespan. Upon necropsy (the "autoposy" performed on an animal) the usual cause of death is calcium blockage of the kidneys. This is because the water that continually enters the fish via osmosis through every cell is passed through the kidneys which remove the various salts in the water (termed osmoregulation). In water that is soft, there are very few if indeed any, but in harder water the salts of calcium in particular are considerable. Calcium builds up and blocks the kidneys, and the fish dies with no external symptoms.

Frequently the fish will die from some other problem before it reaches this stage. The osmoregulatory function of the kidneys causes additional strain on the fish's physiology, weakening it more and more, and this causes stress. Unrelated disease and other problems are more likely to gain hold in weakened fish.

The water in the local fish store is really not all that important here, because the fish are only living in it for (hopefully) a short period of time. Problems associated with inappropriate water parameters are not usually rapid, though in extreme situations they can be. Once the fish is in your home aquarium, though, it is there for the rest of its life so any "problems" it encounters will be permanent, and the fish slowly weakens until it simply cannot continue to function and it dies. If something else doesn't get it first, as I said above.

Nathan Hill's observation cited in blue in my signature block is pertinent here. Hope this helps to explain the issue better.

Sorry, I think there was somewhat of a mis-understanding caused by my really poor wording there.

I understand that we can't nescessarily see external factors and since I started the hobby with next to no knowledge and lost 2 platys I'm CONSTANTLY worrying that things are wrong in the tank, I've spent so much on test kits and spent hours googling things to learn more and try and stop any mistakes from happening, this thread today has just shown me I was perhaps searching the wrong things.

What I meant by my previous comment was that they've been with me for about 6 months now so any damage caused by the hardness would be irreversible and wouldn't be fair for me to change them from my water suddenly to the LFS. Should they survive that change, if anybody else bought them after that they would have to deal with the consequences of my lack of knowledge.

Thank you for the detailed response though, as I said before it'll all useful for making me a better fish keeper, I'm glad of how far I've come but there's obviously a lot more I still need to read up on.

 

[seangee]

What I meant by my previous comment was that they've been with me for about 6 months now so any damage caused by the hardness would be irreversible and wouldn't be fair for me to change them from my water suddenly to the LFS.

I'm not sure if the damage is irreversable. I have no evidence to support this but some of my older fish are still survivors from when they were in hard water. If its a cumulative build up of calcium and other minerals these may well be flushed out of the kidneys over time. Possibly like a smoker who gives up or a heart attack patient who changes their diet.

That said there is no point in returning them to the store. if the water in your area is hard they will only end up in someone else's hard water