Few questions before purchasing --- stocking a 240 l

[har-2109]

Hi, I have a 240L tank that I am setting up as a community tank. I currently have a 60L tank with 2 peppered cats, 3 Platies and about 20 babies. It was just to add a bit of interest to the room, with some low maintenence fish, but now I want to take it a bit more seriously.

Firstly my tap water (after leaving in a bucket for 3 days) is:

pH - 8.2/8.3
kH - either 9 or 10 (i slipped a bit with the testing)
gH - 19

From what I can understand this is just on the limit of what is acceptable for a community tank. So should I be looking at mixing a percentage with RO water/adding peat to filter?? (I will be adding a bit of CO2 for plants.) I only plan to keep the fish alive and healthy, im not trying to breed them.

The fish I plan to keep eventually are:

- Current peppered corys + a few more
- Red Tail Black Shark (add last to minnimise aggression?)
- Common Plec (Im prepared to upgrade to a bigger tank when he grows)
- Yellow Rainbowfish (Small shoal)
- Upside Down Cat (Small shoal?)
- M+F Siamese fighter
- Gold Pencil Fish (10?)
- Neons (15-20?)
- Mixed Shrimp

Would the last three get eaten by the bigger fish, i am unsure on getting these, but would like to.

Can you advise me with compatability of conditions and quantities best for the fish.

Thanks, i appreciate any help you can offer.
Alex

 

[jsoong]

Hi & Welcome to AA.

First of all, no need to doctor your water. It is not that bad. The fish can adapt just fine. <Unless you are breeding some sensitive species, you don't need "perfect" ph. Stable pH is much more important.> Doctoring the water risks introducing pH instability, no need to chance that if you don't have to.

M&F siamese fighter don't go together. They will fight to the death .... If you want to breed them, you can only have them together just for the mating & separate them immediately afterward. Males also may have problem in a community. Some do fine, others will fight & harass your other fish.

I would not get a common pleco .... even if you have a pond for it when it grows. It simply out grow a tank too fast. A dwarf variety is much better choice.

I don't have enough experience to advice on an ideal community, so others will have to chime in. however, I have reservations with adding the shark to this mix.

 

[har-2109]

Cheers for the advice, might not bother with the fighters then.

Does anyone know if tiger barbs will be a sensible addition?

And also is it any harder to keep a gold nugget plec than a common?? As I am slightly put off by price and availability.

 

[tyspot1000]

I would leave tiger barbs out of the mix. They are aggressive fin nippers known to nip (sometimes kill from stress) tankmates and even sometimes their own school-mate.

The golden nugget should be no less harder to keep than a common, just make sure hes doing good and has a good diet.

 

[har-2109]

Thanks for your help