Questions for a new tank

[Jely]

Hi, I am starting a 50 gal. tank. My neighbors moved and decided not to bring it with. It is cycled. We have extremely hard water, GH 180 and KH 120. PH 7.5. I have added a piece of driftwood, some lava rock, and some live plants. We had an algae bloom right after moving the tank and purchased red cherry shrimp and 2 zebra snails. They are amazing. Then we purchased some bloodfin tetras that decimated our rcs... I was told they would be fine together. I have a few questions and no longer trust my lfs's advice. Our goal is a planted community fish tank with tetras and maybe guppies. ADF's? A mild Beta? (I currently have both in a 5 gal. They get along very well with each other.) I can't densely plant yet due to budget constraints but am hoping to add slowly. I have had tanks in the past but nothing of this size and because I have sensitive kids I would like to keep my fish deaths to a minimum (and I hate seeing anything suffer.) So...
My DH has access to reverse osmosis water at his work. We are considering adding some in our water changes to help bring the hardness down. If we were to add it, it would only be in small amounts. Maybe a gallon or two a week. Does anyone have experience on how this would affect the water chemistry? The current fish in the tank? Is it worth the effort at this small of an amount? I was informed on this last visit to the lfs that plants don't survive well in hard water. True?
We also want to purchase neons; however, I have read they do not survive in hard water. I questioned the lfs on my last trip and was told that their neons are bred for hard water. Is this for real or would I be sentencing them to death?
I think the bloodfin tetras destroyed all the rcs. They are more aggressive than I thought they would be and unfortunately it's not as densely planted as I would like. If there are any survivors in the morn I'll bring them back to the lfs... if I can find them. How would ghost shrimp fare in a tank like this? I would really like to have some algae eaters, any other suggestions for a peaceful community tank?
After seeing how aggressive the bloodfins are with both the rcs and each other (nipping), would guppies be a good addition to this tank or not? Will the bloodfins be a little less aggressive with more schools of any type in the tank?
Can I consider adding 2-3 ADFs to the tank once it is more densely planted? How about a non-aggressive beta male or female? Obviously I would keep a close eye on it and remove if necessary.
Thanks for any advice,
Mom and the kids

 

[Jely]

Oops, also wanted to ask what other fish I might consider adding.

 

[frank98284]

Guppies should be ok I also might consider mollies your hard water is a concern I believe they make a product to help with that also maybe a catfish would be good I have a raphael catfish and my son loves him they are nocturnal but when he comes out its always a big event In our house. What filter do you have also lighting and substrate and what water conditioner are you using?

Frank

 

[Jely]

I am glad to hear guppies should be good. They and neons were our first pick of fish, lfs just didn't have any when we went to buy. Literally a guy bought all 50 neons when we while we were waiting. As for the setup we have an Aqueon Quietflow 55/75 filter. I'm not sure what type of light (looks flouresent) set on a 11 hour timer. I had it turned off for a while because of the algae bloom but its been back up for a few days. Substrate of 2/3 rock and 1/3 sand (seperated). I tentatively plan to redo the substrate at some point, probably will wait for a big move... we rent for now. I wonder if I'm missing something on the water conditioner? What would I add to soften water? What I have added is API stress coat and leaf zone. Also Jungle Start Zyme.

 

[Tracy Bird]

Your water sounds similar to mine, you must be on a well?

Not sure where you are located, but here's my advice - if there are aquarium clubs in your area join them (I hope you can find one or two).

They are an outstanding source of plants, fish, hardware and knowledge base. In my clubs there are people who will give you hardy, easy to grow plants like Java Fern, Java Moss, Water Sprite, Anubias, Crypts or sell them for a very minimal price. but regardless of that - clubs are FUN!

I personally would not try to alter the water conditions and I'm not certain a gallon or two a week would really even make a difference. Stability is pretty important and when we tinker with things it can create other issues.

It sounds like you enjoyed the RCS, so taking back the Bloodfins is an option. How many Bloodfins are you keeping? They need to be kept in groups of 6 minimum or more, so they might be better community pals if you have more than 6. I'm not a shrimp person, so I don't know if they could ever exist with RCS regardless of the numbers...

As opposed to Neons - look for and consider Green Tetras. They are similar to Neons but show Green and Blues!. In my experience they are much hardier than Neons, cost the same and they stay together in tight groups - so a shoal of 7-8 is awesome.

I would lower your light cycle for sure, if I understand your post the light is on for 11 hours each day. Not sure what kind of light it is and it sounds like you are just getting into plants so you shouldn't need the lights on for 11 hours. I have my lights on a timer and I run them for 3 1/2 hours in the morning and then the tanks take a Siesta until the evening and come on for another 3 1/2 hours. But I keep low light plants, no real fertz or C02.

You will get it all worked, just keep reading!!!

 

[Fishperson]

Well, my bloodfin tetras aren't aggressive at all, so maybe it is just with shrimp? Although, I do know, that when they aren't fed enough they get aggressive.

The RO water woulnd't be worth it for a 50 gallon tank, you'll be doing 10-20 gallon water changes and a few gallons of RO water would have so little effect with so little benefits anyway that it would just be a PITA.

I generally never listen to pet stores, unless you know they are good. You can find that out by asking them questions you know the answer to.

Guppies would probably be fine. Neons are hit or miss, some are hardy, some are not, due to inbreeding. But their's no problem trying. Chances are you will give those fish a better opportunity to live then they would in the pet store or in some ignorant person's 1 gallon bowl. I would also recommend other tetras, like black skirt, orange von rio flame, sliver tip, black neon, and some others.

For algae eaters, DON'T BUY SIAMESE ALGAE EATERS! (SAE) My friend had them and they grew really big, really fast, and attacked his fish. I highly recommend Otocinclus catfish.

I don't know about ADFs, but I heard they need a specific aquarium height or they won't be able to reach the surface. I don't think a betta would be a good idea, because if the bloodfins will go after shrimp the betta's fins will be just too tempting.

Hope this helps!

Welcome to AA!