Tank Mate Reccomendations

[mattindevon]

Your fish choices are always restricted. Hard water has fewer choices, but there are still lots of nice fish that live in hard water.

Just had a quick flick through a book and it's as I thought, with livebearers and rainbows being the most obvious picks for hard water. Perhaps some sailfin mollies or some brightly coloured swordtails would fit the bill?

[CoopTroop91]

Hi All and thank you for your responses.

Would the dwarf gourami still be a good choice for hard water?

And how many would be suitable in a 125L aquarium?

I read something about 1 inch of fish per gallon of water but dont know how true of a rule that is.

[Jon_D]

@CoopTroop91 You emntioned......"a soil bottom and sand ontop ". I tried that when I first started with my tank. Its a good idea but be aware that the soil will soon leach through the sand and you will need to filter it out as it permeates the tank water. Afetr 12 months I amstill cleaning my filters of the soil every week during water changes. To lessen the problem, I have covered the sand with very small pebbles; the bonus of this is that the Corydoras love it as it traps fallen food and also doesn't hurt their barbles.

[Stephen]

@CoopTroop91 You emntioned......"a soil bottom and sand ontop ". I tried that when I first started with my tank. Its a good idea but be aware that the soil will soon leach through the sand and you will need to filter it out as it permeates the tank water. Afetr 12 months I amstill cleaning my filters of the soil every week during water changes. To lessen the problem, I have covered the sand with very small pebbles; the bonus of this is that the Corydoras love it as it traps fallen food and also doesn't hurt their barbles.

Sorry Jon.
I use Tropica plant substrate about 1 cm thick, this is then topped with at least 2 cm of sand.
I have approx 2cm of sand at the front of the aquarium and approx 5cm of sand at the rear.
The plant substrate does not leach in to the aquarium unless you pull the plants up and it just lifts a little of the substrate.

If the aquarium is set up correctly with decent plant substrate and decent grained sand then it should not be a problem.

All the best

[jammedfool]

Interested in the subject of Tropica plant substrate...
(aplogies for hi-jacking, it will be quick)
I'm just about to set up our new tank in this way, but with fine quartz on top (not quite sand sized particles)... will this be ok?

[KevB]

Look up Celebes rainbow fish. They aren't like the Australian / New Guinea types but do like hard water and would be a suitable size in a group for a 240L. Some branches of MA stock them.

[plankton]

If you're going with the 125l then the options would be limited to smaller fish.
Mollies have the potential to get to between 5" and 8", so really need a 4' tank - the 240 would be better, but with a 240 you could also have Rift Lake cichlids of almost any species as well as the rainbows.
The multis (shell-dwellers) are quite small and prefer sand (apparently).
With a 125 you'd be looking at platies as the livebearer, swordtails would also be too big (unless it is a 3' tank). I don't think they'd mix with shellies though.

[mattindevon]

I read something about 1 inch of fish per gallon of water but dont know how true of a rule that is.

The primary consideration is water surface area, due to the relationship between this and oxygen levels in the water. So generally speaking you want length and width over depth. The more water the better as far as most fish are concerned but as I say, in terms of absolute stocking limits you need to consider surface area. There is at least one online stocking level calculator whose name escapes me but the rule of thumb is 1" of tropical fish per 10" of water surface area.