returning to the hobby, off to a bad start already

[Autumnsky]

Stable over trying to adjust any day! Even experienced hobbyists don't recommend doing it.

I would get a nice piece of DW. Check out Spiderwood too while you are looking.

 

[Eggheadfish]

Agreed...stable is better than "ideal"
My tap water is at 8...I keep all kinds of fish and haven't had issues except for trying to breed some pickier species.
Just make sure for any new fish you acclimate properly. The more I read and talked to experienced aquarists and breeders, the more I'm concerning myself with TDS as opposed to ph levels.

 

[sducky]

So, I went over to the Petco closest to my house and bought a couple of cories. I figured their tap water comes from the exact same place as mine, so it's likely to have the same water chemistry. And the guy who works in their aquatics department seems to care about his job - is always cleaning the tanks when I'm there. I tested the water in the bag with the fish: 8.2! So after all my worrying about not being able to get mine below 7.8, Petco's is actually higher. Now I'm curious to test the water from the snooty LFS that didn't want to sell me fish last week because they said my pH was too high.

Has anyone else ever tested the water that came with their new fish? It occurs to me that many of the LFSs around here will only refund your money on dead fish if you bring a water sample. I assume that means they won't give you a refund if your water doesn't meet ideal parameters. But now I'm kind of wondering if maybe they don't have ideal parameters either, and they just say that so they won't be responsible for dead fish.

 

[ktomminello]

Box stores usually have some of the worst parameters out there... It's pretty sad. The thing with fish, that I've noticed- most fish don't need "ideal" parameters for ph and gh, so long as it's consistent. There are a few picky species out there but people are quick to label them difficult in online communities so they are pretty easy to weed out.

Good luck and welcome back

 

[Eggheadfish]

Sducky, I'm sure it's just another way for them to protect themselves from having to refund money. In some cases, they may be under the assumption that a newer fishkeepers did not cycle the tank and the fish may have died from ammonia poisoning, but they don't bother to explain cycling when people come in to buy fish...
My local "big box" have harder water than I do as well. They don't make you bring a water sample but they make you bring back dead fish.
Anyway let's see some pictures of the cories!

 

[sducky]

Quick update - 20G tank is doing really well now. But I had an eye-opening experience a couple of weeks ago buying stock for both that tank and the little nano. I was in an LFS where I had shopped before, and where I'd previously had good experiences. There was a different guy working there this time, and he sold me some cherry shrimp. In the same tank as the shrimp, they had some clown killies and scarlet badis. I didn't know much about either fish, but I specifically asked about their food and water parameters. The guy told me they fill all their tanks with tap water and don't adjust the pH (7.8), and that the killies and badis had been eating regular flake and frozen food with no problems. It was kind of an impulse purchase, but based on the guy's advice I figured they'd be ok in my tanks, which use the same tap water, as the place is only a few miles from my house.

So I got the fish and shrimp home, floated the bag for half an hour, mixed in some of my own water for about 15 minutes, and scooped the shrimp into one tank, the fish into the other. 4 of the 6 shrimp died within a day, and one of the killies died a few days later. The badis refused to eat, and after some research I discovered that most of them will only take live food.

So I went back to the LFS to figure out what happened. The guy who sold them to me wasn't there, but when I told the story to the guys who were working there, they gave each other a knowing look. "Was it an older, heavy-set guy?" one of them said, "Oh, that guy is the owner. He doesn't know ANYTHING. NEVER listen to him."

Turns out, that one particular tank was an aquascaping project one of the guys had started. It was filled with RO water, not tap. It was being pumped full of CO2. It was being maintained at a pH of 6.6. And the whole tank was being fed live worms, not flakes. Every single thing the owner had told me turned out to be untrue, and I ended up killing a fish and some shrimp as a result. (Hopefully the remaining killie and badis will be ok now - we'll see.)

Moral of the story - even at a good LFS, you can't count on everyone working there to be equally knowledgeable. And from now on, I'll test the water in the bag before I add the fish to my tank. You just can't trust what the store tells you about their water parameters.

 

[Laeris]

I test the bag water when I get critters to see how long to acclimate. Small differences, they get half an hour acclimation, large differences get longer. I have done a three hour drip with the temp acclimation at the end. Also check your gH and kH for shrimp, they need 7-10 gH. Tossing a handful of crushed oyster shell will address both kH and gH.