Hard, Akaline, High ph water....Stocking?

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

Originally Posted by thekoimaiden

You don't have room for schooling fish and endlers in a 10 gallon tank. There are some that will work, but you'd need a larger tank.

It's not a good idea to base your fishkeeping methods on what you see in the pet store. The fish are there temporarily (or at least the store hopes), so they can subject them to more stress than they should have in a home aquarium. Just because the pet store sells them doesn't mean they will live long-term in your tap water.

i didnt mean together!

true...any tetras?

[thekoimaiden]

If your water isn't like liquid rock then some of the hardier tetra like Von Rio tetra (Hyphessobrycon flammeus), X-ray tetra (Pristella maxillaris), and Bloodfin tetra (Aphyocharax anisitsi) can adapt, but they might not be as colorful. They aren't tetra, but there are some shoaling rasbora that like hard water. My favorite is the Asian rummynose barb (Sawbwa resplendens). Beautiful little guy!

[Tikibirds]

I'm no expert but wouldn't something like Mopani wood lower the PH? The only tank I had issues with snails staying in their shells and eroding was the tank with the mopani. Finally I added shells and coral and it about a 7.2 or so the test strip says. Kinda hard to read but i have never seen a liquid PH test kit

The only type of filter that is a PITA with sand is the tetra whisper. If any gets into the impeller or whatever its called, it wont move. You need to rinse out the bottom part with the propellar thing to dislodge the sand. Then it will spin again.

[ChoclateBetta]

Yeah and peat moss things in the Filter increases your options but endlers will work great remeber they love unicellar algae and the driftwood will work but endlers are a great idea try and get different strains.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

hmm

well now i am considering the endlers or rummynose, although i will be honest, i am leaning toward the rummynose. How many could i comfortably house?

just trying to weigh both my options :)

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

i also just looked into cherry barbs and the rummynose barbs, and i REALLY LIKE both!

[thekoimaiden]

Cherry barbs are really nice (I'd like them in a tank one day). The Asian Rummynose unfortunately needs a larger tank than a 10 gal. Despite their small size, the males are rather feisty, and they are active fish. Although you could keep the endlers in the 10 and upgrade to a 29 gal for the Asian rummynose.

Peat Moss and driftwood will only lower pH if the KH (buffering capacity of the water) is already low. Nothing actually lowers hardness aside from diluting with pure water (like distilled water or reverse osmosis water). Driftwood will lower it just a hair, but you really need a large piece to see a significant change.

http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/f...quarium-73276/ Before you go around messing with water chemistry, you might want to read this article. It's written by a friend of mine with many many years of experience.

[ChoclateBetta]

I am still for endlers they have great personalities and interesting color.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

thanks everybody! i really dont want to alter my water's chemistry.

I like the cherry barbs. Do they grow too large? If not, i will order some endler's.

also, i couldnt get pool filter sand for honeycomb's 10 gallon(i was going to switch the gravel) so any petsmart/petco sand you reccomend that wont alter my parameters? Thanks

[ChoclateBetta]

http://www.petco.com/product/115883/...rium-Sand.aspx I am pretty sure this is what I have.