Stocking question for 29 gallons

[Rocky998]

My test strip read ph 8. Kh 180, gh 30.

The hardness is REALLY high for these fish. Maybe try looking at hardwater options

 

[CapnSmee]

The hardness is REALLY high for these fish. Maybe try looking at hardwater options

Maybe I could buy water instead.

 

[CapnSmee]

Or I see peat moss can be added to the filter. Anyone have experience with that?

 

[Rocky998]

Or I see peat moss can be added to the filter. Anyone have experience with that?

Peat moss only lowers PH and KH as far as I know, not the GH...

And as far as buying water, you can definitely do that but it gets to be really expensive

 

[CapnSmee]

Peat moss only lowers PH and KH as far as I know, not the GH...

And as far as buying water, you can definitely do that but it gets to be really expensive

I priced it out. I can't say I want to pay for it, but I already have the fish so I don't really see any way around it.

 

[Essjay]

My test strip read ph 8. Kh 180, gh 30

What is the unit for KH and GH? If GH is in ppm, that's soft water. It converts to 1.7 dH. Even KH is not that high as 180 ppm converts to 10 dH.

There are around half a dozen different units of measurement for GH which is why it's important to give the unit as well as the number

 

[CapnSmee]

What is the unit for KH and GH? If GH is in ppm, that's soft water. It converts to 1.7 dH. Even KH is not that high as 180 ppm converts to 10 dH.

There are around half a dozen different units of measurement for GH which is why it's important to give the unit as well as the numbe

Thank you. I learned something new today. They are ppm. So, then the water isn't too hard for them?

 

[Essjay]

No, it's fine for them. 1.7 dH or 30 ppm is very soft rather than just soft

 

[CapnSmee]

All in a day it went from really hard to very soft. Funny how the correct measurement units change everything.

 

[Colin_T]

Maybe I wrote my post wrong. I already have fish in the tank. Its 2 months old. My test strip read ph 8. Kh 180, gh 30. I could take a sample to the store next time I head into town for something more accurate?
Waiting 2 weeks for specific fish in my area is, unfortunately, not an option. Twice now I have made the trip the day after shipments are made and they're already out of stock.
Right now I was hoping it'd be fine to add more otos, because I'm down to one.
But I am very appreciative of your response. It was very informative.

You don't need to take a sample to the shop for testing, their results will be similar or the same as yours.

Can you ask the shop to hold some fish for you?
When I was working in the pet industry, we had a customer order book and customers could place an order for whatever fish they wanted (eg: 6 Otocinclus) and we would get the fish in. Then if the fish were good, we called the customer and let them come and get the fish. If a customer couldn't get to the shop for a week or two, they would let us know and we put a hold sticker on the tank so nobody else took the fish.

 

[CapnSmee]

You don't need to take a sample to the shop for testing, their results will be similar or the same as yours.

Can you ask the shop to hold some fish for you?
When I was working in the pet industry, we had a customer order book and customers could place an order for whatever fish they wanted (eg: 6 Otocinclus) and we would get the fish in. Then if the fish were good, we called the customer and let them come and get the fish. If a customer couldn't get to the shop for a week or two, they would let us know and we put a hold sticker on the tank so nobody else took the fish.

Both said they are unable to hold. I could try another town maybe. The neatest city with fish has one petco and one petsmart. But either way, doesn't hurt to ask somewhere else.

 

[Colin_T]

The shop won't hold fish for a customer, wow, what a bad shop.
If we didn't have a customer order book or hold fish for customers, we would have missed out on heaps of sales. That's just crazy and bad business.

 

[CapnSmee]

They wouldn't even hold any for picking up the same day. They claimed to have a few of eat i was looking for, but couldn't hold. I rounded up my sprouts and headed out, just to see they had one left. I don't know if it's all the petsmarts and petcos or just the atmosphere of that particular city.

 

[Sgooosh]

You don't need to take a sample to the shop for testing, their results will be similar or the same as yours.

Can you ask the shop to hold some fish for you?
When I was working in the pet industry, we had a customer order book and customers could place an order for whatever fish they wanted (eg: 6 Otocinclus) and we would get the fish in. Then if the fish were good, we called the customer and let them come and get the fish. If a customer couldn't get to the shop for a week or two, they would let us know and we put a hold sticker on the tank so nobody else took the fish.

ohh that's why there's so many NFS stickers on the tanks

 

[Colin_T]

NFS (not for sale) stickers or signs on tanks can be from sick fish or fish being held for someone. We normally put NFS on tanks with sick fish, and hold stickers if we were holding certain fish. Different shops might do different things.