30gal Stock for pH 8, Soft Water

[taylorodw]

Hello all,

Wondering how I should stock my tank. I like live plants, PFS for substrate. 30G tank, pH fluctuates from 7.7-8.1, and the water here is pretty soft.

I want hopefully 3 or more species in my tank.

I like schooling fish, and shoaling fish. However I wouldn't mind 1 species that is more solitary. I would like at least one species to be active in all levels of the tank, the others can stick to bottom mid or top as long as they don't overcrowd! EG no cory cats and kuhlie loaches both bothering each other on bottom.

I know that's a lot to ask, but I promise lots of pictures and video of the beautiful tank you will help me create

 

[BigJim]

The pH fluctuations worry me a bit. How fast does the pH swing?

30g is a fair amount of real estate. Here's my suggested stock list:

Top level: 4-6 Silver hatchetfish - Just make sure you have a well-fit top. They're jumpers.

Mid level: Small tetras - Neons, lampeyes, glowlights, etc. Lots of flash and color and you can put a pretty good-sized school in your tank.

Bottom level: Cories or khulis - I have a dozen pandas in a 20L (12"x30" footprint) and they love it. They love digging around in the sand and they rest in piles. The big group is far more fun to watch than a small school.

Optional: A betta - They make fantastic community fish. I have a male and three females in my 29g community tank. They'll chase the tetras a bit, but bettas are too slow to catch most fish. Just avoid long-finned fish with them, although I haven't had any problems with my bettas and male guppies.

 

[taylorodw]

Good question BigJim...

I tested dechlor'd water right out of the tap at 7.8 and after 4 hours it had moved to 8. I'll test once more tonight and once tomorrow. I don't expect it to swing too much though since my PWCs will be regular (weekly or twice weekly) and never more than 20%, barring an emergency like an ammonia spike.

Thank you for the valuable suggestions. By no means to disregard that, I am finding myself drawn to Tiger Barbs, since I can't really keep cichlids I hope the barb antics would be enough

So maybe some Tiger Barbs, some cory cats would be nice, I like that idea... Thinking about tetras now. I do love me some tetras. I like the look of red-eyes but their pH preferences aren't right for my tank.

 

[BigJim]

I'm not surprised that the pH changes a little in the first couple of hours out of the tap. As long as your tank pH stays relatively constant, you should be fine.

pH is really overrated as long as it stays pretty constant. Fish will adapt. I have rainbows (from alkaline waters) in with swordtails (acidic waters) and both have spawned. If you like the redeyes, go ahead and get some.

 

[taylorodw]

I know the pH changes for the first hours... that's why I tested again at 10:00 today, 24 hrs after adding the water. And now my pH is at 7.6???? Man I do so much research and then just stupid little things get me!!!!!!

 

[BigJim]

Fill a cup with water and leave it sit out overnight to degas. Test the pH of the water to find out what your pH truly is. Dissolved gas in the tap water can affect the pH.

 

[taylorodw]

Right, that's what I was trying, but why would the pH go up, and then down so far? Well it just goes to show I'd have to do small PWCs since it fluctuated so much, I guess.

Any chance that water with/without dechlor would have different pH? I am using Prime.

 

[BigJim]

I should have asked this earlier: What kit are you using to test the pH?

 

[taylorodw]

API Master FW. I test with the regular pH and right range pH kit cuz it's been falling sort of inbetween.

 

[BigJim]

The pH tests in that kit are rather difficult to read, especially in the range you're in. I don't think I'd worry much about the pH. Between the degassing and some small human errors in reading the tests, your pH probably isn't swinging as much as you might think. There's probably a little change during degassing and that's about it. If the fish seem ok, keep doing what you're doing.

 

[taylorodw]

Okay, I'll try not to beat myself over the head about it

So I think I firmed up what I want in my tank:

11 Tiger Barbs (6x green and 5x striped, or 7x green and 4x striped... any thoughts on visually appeal ratios? I know I want more green than striped)
8 Cory Cats (Was thinking peppered? Not sure which kind of cory I want)
11 Lemon Tetras

What do you think? Is this too much stock for a 30gal? What kind of Cory should I get? Would a weekly 20% PWC be enough? Any thoughts on lemon tetras and tiger barbs?

 

[ilostnemo]

30 fish in a thirty gallon... thats pushing it what type of filtration do you have?

 

[ilostnemo]

id take it down to 5 green tigers 3 striped 7 cory cats and 8 tetras. thats still 23 fish which is crowded in my opinion..

 

[taylorodw]

Oh, good question. I have two HOBs a tetra whisper 60 (rated for 60G) and an Aqueon Quietflow 10 (rated for 20G).

You're right that is a lot, I normally err on the side of caution so I thought I'd be bold

I am mostly worried about proper school sizes.

 

[ilostnemo]

well hmmm that might be good on filtration just check your levels frequently.,

and be bold and experiment

 

[taylorodw]

Also my tank will be pretty heavily planted, which should help keep nitrates down. I was a little concerned though, any other thoughts on if that's overstocked?

 

[taylorodw]

Hey sorry for the bump my edit button expired. Are Tiger Barbs too aggressive for the Cory cats?

Is my original stock list too high? Maybe I should stick with ilostnemo's.