Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => General Fishkeeping advice => Topic started by: Sanjo on February 26, 2015, 10:33:46 AM
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I am currently still "feeding" my tank with 1ppm ammonia while I decided what to do about getting more fish.
I think I've gone off the idea of Endlers, a shame as they are ideal for hard water, but I don't want to revisit the distress of recent weeks.
Checking the site's community creator it says I could eventually have 12-13 Ember Tetras.
I see they don't care for hard or alkaline water.
Do any of you keep Embers in harder water.
Is it just a question of they won't be the best colour?
Can they adapt to harder water?
Would it be cruel and distress them to put them in my water. PH usually 7.2-7.6, KH around 10, GH 21+
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According to Seriously Fish, ember tetras need 5.0 - 7.0 and GH 18 - 179ppm.
179ppm = 10 German deg so I'm afraid your GH of 21+ is too high for them.
With water that hard, I am struggling to think of fish that would work in a small tank. The obvious hard water fish, Rift Lake cichlids, unfortunately need big tanks.
There are a couple of livebearers that would work but they are not common.
Heterandria formosa - very small fish, pH up to 8, hardness up to 20 german deg.
Neohetrandria elegans - also very small, pH up to 8, GH up to 25.
You might be able to find a shop that would order some in. And if you had mixed sexes, you might be able to sell the fry on with them being so rare.
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Thanks Sue.
I had forgotten the Formosa which I had investigated early on.
Had a quick look on the net but they appear to be very rare and males only in particular appear rarely.
Ah well, it's either back to the Endlers, assuming any survived in MA and they have any left next month, or stick with my planted tank which is actually quite attractive !!
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A shrimp tank would also be an idea, provided you keep to the common red cherry shrimp or relatives (he more unusual types almost always need soft water and are ridiculously expensive). Shrimps are more entertaining than many fish, especially if they are on their own or with very small fish so that they feel relaxed and can exhibit natural behaviour.
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I am quite keen on the idea of shrimp actually.
We camp a fair bit in the spring and summer though so would be away maybe for a week at a time.
I know fish can fend for themselves for a few days but could shrimp or would I have to get a neighbour to come in and feed them.
I suppose one good thing about them is that if any of them died the others would keep the tank clean by eating them up?
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Shrimp are pretty robust, mine only get fish food the same as everybody else. They are good scavengers and will eat most things. They can be pretty small when you get them but apparently young shrimp adapt better to new conditions than older ones, or so they say. It's never a good idea to stock a tank with shrimps or fish shortly before you go away, always sensible to stock up when you know you will be around for a few weeks to keep an eye on things
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I was going to put them in between trips, which used to be every 3 weeks to a month so I would be able to see them settled for at least a couple of weeks before we went again
I'm not rushing to do it anyway Richard as I know it's better for them to have a mature tank and this ones only been on the go since beginning of January