Stocking A 215 Litre Aquarium

[Bluedave]

Think Eyrie covered it pretty well!

What is the hardness of your water – you didn’t say. I would agree with Eyrie that tank Bred angels will be fine at a pH of 7.5 and probably at an elevated hardness.

Again, as Eyrie said stability is more important than the readings themselves (unless you are keeping non-tank bred or species particularly susceptible to certain conditions).

I have used peat before -you can get aquarium safe stuff from your LFS (I used Sera). It only works with softer water (low KH) though and has less of an affect with harder water (same as the leaves) as the KH is yout pH “buffer” for want of a better phrase. You will need to keep refreshing the peat as well.

RO is expensive and again I’d only use it if you really, really, really want the perfect conditions for sensitive/hard to keep fish or you have bad/fluctuating tap water. It’s expensive and there is a lot of wasted water (they may have improved recently but mine is roughly 4 or 5:1 waste water to RO water). You will also need to remineralise it or cut it with tap water as RO completely strips the water of everything.

Your tank is on the limit for keeping Angels mate. I would suggest a minimum of 5 to spread agression (like most cichlids). I assume you mean Pterophyllum scalare as Altums are bigger and generally wild caught.

Your not gonna get more than 5-7 scalare in that tank and 7 is pushing it. I would go for 5 with a few smaller fish.

hope that helps

[Mattz fish]

Hi. Sorry. KH 7 (125.3ppm) and GH 12 (214.8ppm)Tap water has GH is 6 (107.4ppm) so I don’t know what’s happening will test again tomorrow to make sure it is not a mid reading or somthing. Is there supposed to be a large ” gap” between KH and GH? I think I’m starting to grasp the buffer concept does the KH keep the pH the same or roughly the same as “it” (KH). I hope that makes sense. I hear what you guys are saying now and am not going to try to change the water parameters.
I do mean Pterophyllum Scalare. If I were to keep angels would you suggest the same set up as you suggested at the start of this topic minus a few shoals of fish.
Do you know where to find information on t bar cichlids? I can’t find their profile on this site. Probably wouldn’t get them as I don’t know much about them but saw some at my local fish shop today.
Thanks heaps to all who have helped me so far
Matt

[Eyrie]

I think the gravel must be affecting the GH if the tank reading is 12 but the tap is only 6. Given that you want to keep softwater fish I’d replace the gravel.

KH is a measure of carbonate hardness and does not have the same value as pH. It does however help maintain a stable pH as discussed in The Science Bit of the article Jim linked to.

GH is general hardness and thus measures more than just carbonate hardness, so again the two values will be different.

[Plaamoo]

Looks like you’re getting on the right track Mattz. It’s far better to get fish that can thrive in your existing water. especially for a beginner. One thing I’d add as you mentioned new plants, quarantine! I sold a group of rainbows a few months ago and the buyer put them in a well established tank but added new plants. They were covered with ich and gone within a week. You can use your smaller tank for a q-tank.

[Bluedave]

same set up mate but loose a few shoals like you said. Just the fish you have now and the scalare will do it.

think the guys have covered everything else. The lower your KH the quicker you pH will change – read the science bit as Eyrie said, lol.

[Mattz fish]

QUOTE (plaamoo @ Jan 3 2012, 05:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks like you’re getting on the right track Mattz. It’s far better to get fish that can thrive in your existing water. especially for a beginner.

Would you then suggest I get an African cichlid tank, considering my water hardness and pH?

[Mattz fish]

QUOTE (ender2811 @ Dec 27 2011, 01:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Mattz.

Gravel is OK for the corys as long as it doesn’t have very sharp edges.
U can go for a top layer of sand over gravel if u like but unless its thick enough it will mix.

I am going to have to go for a top layer of sand as I have found many sharp strands of of plastic(?). The “gravel” seems to be made out of plastic rather than gravel. How thick would you suggest the layer of sand be in order for it to not mix?

[Mattz fish]

This tanks previous owner had a substrate of crushed coral. I got most if not all of it out but if any was left (I’m talking individual granules) will it alter my pH enough for me to worry about

[Eyrie]

QUOTE (Mattz fish @ Jan 3 2012, 09:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Would you then suggest I get an African cichlid tank, considering my water hardness and pH?

Depends on whether you want to keep them, although you’d need to be careful which species you keep in a 215L. I know little about fish from that area, so can’t help further.

QUOTE (Mattz fish @ Jan 4 2012, 02:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am going to have to go for a top layer of sand as I have found many sharp strands of of plastic(?). The “gravel” seems to be made out of plastic rather than gravel. How thick would you suggest the layer of sand be in order for it to not mix?

The sand grains will naturally sink to the bottom over time as these are smaller than the gravel pieces.

QUOTE (Mattz fish @ Jan 4 2012, 02:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This tanks previous owner had a substrate of crushed coral. I got most if not all of it out but if any was left (I’m talking individual granules) will it alter my pH enough for me to worry about

It’s unlikely to have much effect as you already have hard water.

[Mattz fish]

QUOTE (Eyrie @ Jan 5 2012, 08:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The sand grains will naturally sink to the bottom over time as these are smaller than the gravel pieces.

Are you saying that i should not attempt this because this gravel will slowly “float” to the top or get more sand than there is gravel e.g. 20kg of sand:10kg of gravel. Or should I just take out all of the gravel and start again with sand.
Thanks
Matt

[Eyrie]

I’d recommend removing all of the gravel if you want to go with sand, although the odd piece here and there won’t matter. Otherwise you’d start with two neat layers but in time they would become intermingled and the sand would slip between the gaps in the gravel. You’d then have the complication of sucking up sand each time you tried to gravel vac as well as needing to disturb the substrate to prevent anaerobic pockets forming.

Of course, a sand substrate needs disturbed regularly for the same reason but at least the crud lies on top and is easy to vac out.

[Mattz fish]

Ok will do that, it sounds like a waste of gravel but I agree with what you said about the mixing. Would these anaerobic pockets form around plants in the sand as the substrate might not get disturbed enough as I don’t want to uproot plants (or would plants not worry about the substrate disturbance?)?

[ender2811]

No need to disturb the substrate around the roots. The problem with anaerobic zones is that they are a breeding ground for a bad kind of bacteria which turn uneaten food into toxic compounds.
Plant roots come equipped with their own microflora so the bad kind can’t establish itself. Plus the root growth provides enough disturbance anyway.

Have you decided on the stocking list?

[Mattz fish]

QUOTE (ender2811 @ Jan 7 2012, 07:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have you decided on the stocking list?

I think I have. Based on Bluedaves suggestion the tank will consist of:
Bolivian Ram cichlids X2
Serpae tetra X6
Blackskirt tetra X6
Sterbas Corydoras X6
Bristlenose catfish X1

Sound good?

(I may change my mind on the tetra species and numbers but so far six Blackskirt and six Serpae )

[ender2811]

Sounds good.
U might want to try one big shoal of tetras instead of two smaller ones. You would get a much better display of their natural behavior. But either way is fine.

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