Tank mates for my Columbian tetras

[Spalders]

I have 12 of the little red finned hooligans and I was considering adding a similar amount of Serpae tetra as they are colourful and of similar temperament. However, after reading a few comments I'm now wondering if a school of Serpae would be a good idea???

So I'm asking for your ideas as you may come up with something I haven't considered.
I'm after something colourful and not too large (around 3-4") and will get along with my Columbians. They do bicker amongst themselves first thing in the morning but they seem to leave the clowns and Apisto's alone.

Any suggestions?

300L tank so plenty of space.

Thanks.

 

[AilyNC]

I have 12 of the little red finned hooligans and I was considering adding a similar amount of Serpae tetra as they are colourful and of similar temperament. However, after reading a few comments I'm now wondering if a school of Serpae would be a good idea???

So I'm asking for your ideas as you may come up with something I haven't considered.
I'm after something colourful and not too large (around 3-4") and will get along with my Columbians. They do bicker amongst themselves first thing in the morning but they seem to leave the clowns and Apisto's alone.

Any suggestions?

300L tank so plenty of space.

Thanks.

What's your water hardness?

 

[Spalders]

What's your water hardness?

	395 mg/l (or parts per million)	:Calcium Carbonate
	158 mg/l (or parts per million)	:Calcium
	27.492 °C	egrees Clark
	39.5 °F	egrees French
	22.436 °dH	egrees German
	3.95 mmol/l	:Millimoles

I always keep that handy lol

 

[mbsqw1d]

I had them in with zebra danios with no issues, the danios spent most of their time around the top level.. theyre not 3-4" though..

 

[mbsqw1d]

	395 mg/l (or parts per million)	:Calcium Carbonate
	158 mg/l (or parts per million)	:Calcium
	27.492 °C	egrees Clark
	39.5 °F	egrees French
	22.436 °dH	egrees German
	3.95 mmol/l	:Millimoles

I always keep that handy lol

Oof thats quite hard! Too hard for Colombians really

 

[Spalders]

I had them in with zebra danios with no issues, the danios spent most of their time around the top level.. theyre not 3-4" though..

They don't have to be that size, just nothing much larger than that

 

[AilyNC]

	395 mg/l (or parts per million)	:Calcium Carbonate
	158 mg/l (or parts per million)	:Calcium
	27.492 °C	egrees Clark
	39.5 °F	egrees French
	22.436 °dH	egrees German
	3.95 mmol/l	:Millimoles

I always keep that handy lol

So at 22.4 dh (german) that's 401ppm which is pretty hard. I was searching hardwater fish lots but looking for very chilled out fish. Would look at Barbs, Danios & Rainbowfish.

 

[Spalders]

Oof thats quite hard! Too hard for Colombians really

That's what I thought but the store I bought them from has very hard water and said they'd be fine as tank reared.
They seem happy enough, but then again so does the Mrs so that's not saying much.....

 

[mbsqw1d]

So at 22.4 dh (german) that's 401ppm which is pretty hard. I was searching hardwater fish lots but looking for very chilled out fish. Would look at Barbs, Danios & Rainbowfish.

Yeh can you take them back and get rainbow fish?

 

[Wills]

Wow that is properly hard!! Hardness really effects fish long term - I understand what the store says but a few generations bred in captivity won’t undo centuries of evolution. Same goes for the apistos and clown plecs really... hard water will really reduce their life span.

Your water is really well suited for African cichlids, synodontis catfish or rainbow fish.

I do feel conflicted in saying to return the fish to the store as it is likely everyone visiting that store will have similar water to you. So is it better that they stay with a committed aquarist like yourself or go back to a store only to end up in the same water but in a less well educated owner? Would you be open to softening your water in some way? I feel that RO would be the only way to do it properly because you are starting so high though?

Wills

 

[Spalders]

Yeh can you take them back and get rainbow fish?

Can't see why not. I do like Rainbows

 

[Spalders]

Wow that is properly hard!! Hardness really effects fish long term - I understand what the store says but a few generations bred in captivity won’t undo centuries of evolution. Same goes for the apistos and clown plecs really... hard water will really reduce their life span.

Your water is really well suited for African cichlids, synodontis catfish or rainbow fish.

I do feel conflicted in saying to return the fish to the store as it is likely everyone visiting that store will have similar water to you. So is it better that they stay with a committed aquarist like yourself or go back to a store only to end up in the same water but in a less well educated owner? Would you be open to softening your water in some way? I feel that RO would be the only way to do it properly because you are starting so high though?

Wills

As long as it keeps the fish happy I'd be happy to try anything.

 

[mbsqw1d]

And you're open to a much wider range of fish if you do soften the water.
I agree with Wills actually about returning the fish. It is what it is now and its doubtful their next owner would be as conscientious as yourself and give them their best opportunity, even if that is in hard water.

 

[Wills]

As long as it keeps the fish happy I'd be happy to try anything.

So RO would mean either getting water from your LFS in big water butts or getting your own unit and having a place to pre-filter the water for your water changes. Either way is quite expensive for a 300 liter tank though so have a look into it. RO is reverse osmosis and it strips out everything from your water so once you have pure RO water you need to re-mineralise it to the desired levels for the fish you keep. You can even mix RO with your tap water but with your water being so hard I'm not sure what percentages you need to look at. I have to admit I've never done this before but it is worth looking into as it will make your fish keeping life much easier as the fish will be much healthier and you will likely see better colours from them.

 

[seangee]

You can even mix RO with your tap water but with your water being so hard I'm not sure what percentages you need to look at.

a 50/50 mix of RO/tap water gives a dGH of 11.2 which is a pretty good middle of the road hardness and will give far greater options for stocking.