Thorned Rose Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 I just cleared out my tank of guppies and suddenly my options have opened up! I've looked into a number of different fish but I'm really struggling to find something suitable. I currently have a pair of silver Sailfin Mollies and a pair of GBAs. I ideally want a pair of larger fish 10-15cm kinda size and a group of small (pref tightly) schooling fish. I have a 240L (120cm l x 50cm h x 40cm w). Lighting is four twin/dual 21" power compacts (I think either 55 or 65W daylight) but I only usually have half of them on as all four of them on burns the duckweed that covers the water surface. The tank currently has two air powered sponge filters but I'm going to put the HOB trickle filter back on. It's a, shall we say, unexpected natural planted lol. The tank was orignally meant as a bare bottom temporary tank but it's taken off so well I've kept it as is. The java moss has essentially become the substrate and along with the duckweed has made for excellent nutrient uptake. I've needed to do only very occasional water changes (like once a month!). I'm now starting to slowly add some black sand and I'll be adding more variety of plants (I want to get rid of most of the duckweed so I can up the lighting again). My biggest problem in choosing fish is that my pH is usually ~7.6. It has spiked in the past to 8.2 (I think out of the tap it's about 8 but I need to retest) but has stabilised since I've added more wood. I tried to test the GH and KH today but I'd be pretty sure my test bottles are borked and need to be replaced. KH test *seemed* to work and came out to 40ppm. I do think the water here is decently hard (not super hard but medium - medium-high) as we get some water scaling. Ammonia and nitrite are of course 0 and nitrate is <5 (my test doesn't show lower than that but the colour was barely there) Fish that I have considered thus far have been Boesemani rainbows but discarded that after reading you need at least 6. Kribensis, but as they are bottom dwellers, I would prefer something more free swimming. Orange Chromide but I don't feel good about putting them in anything other than brackish. Discus but I don't know how well they would do with my parameters. Glowlight tetras because they seem to be the only small fish I've found thus far that would remotely tolerate my tank's water. Fish that are decently hardy are also a good idea as sometimes I might miss the odd water change lol That said, Sailfin Mollies are sensitive to ammonia and mine have always been happy, healthy and breeding. The only one I've lost was from an ammonia spike after a damn guppy died that I didn't see for a few days. If you have read this far, thanks for reading my novel lol! I really appreciate any help and suggestions!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverdollarboy2 Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 A pair of keyhole cichlids and a school or lemon tetras or gold barbs I have all three and they are very forgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted July 1, 2014 Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Ive put up a few fish for sale that would suit your tank well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorned Rose Posted July 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2014 Forgot to say that the temp is currently set to 25C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorned Rose Posted July 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 Thanks Silverdollarboy2 -I'd not heard of Keyholes before - they look perfect for what I'm after. The tetras and barbs have definitely given me some food for thought too. Really tossing up between glowlight tetras, lemon tetras and cherry barbs or maybe some combination. I wouldn't mind some blue colouration somewhere (*maybe neon tetras but I'm not sure how I feel about putting them in pH 7.6) so if anyone has any more suggestions for something with a bit of blue (or all blue lol), it's much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silverdollarboy2 Posted July 3, 2014 Report Share Posted July 3, 2014 Your welcome. Here is a pic of my pair of keyhole cichlids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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