The Tropical Tank

[Wulfslæd]

My water has a pH of 8.2. Most fish seem to like it under 7.5 or so. I've read that it's easier to find fish to suit your water than to maintain your water to suit the fish. I have a few zebra danios in the tank now and they seem to be doing ok. Can anyone suggest some species that do well in water with this pH? Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are all at normal levels.

[dcurzon]

seems to me that as long as you can keep the ph stable, thats more important than having it exactly right for the fish. They prefer it to be stable rather than up n down like a yoyo.

mines at 8.2, and my fish seem to do ok in it (see list in my sig)
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Tank 1: 48x24x24 - 400 liters
1x Plec - "Barry" @ 14"
6x Convicts - 1 pink(fem), 4 marbled(1fem 3male) & 1 black(fem) + babies
1x Oscar - "Trevor" @ 4"

Tank 2: 24x12x12
"Snappy" the Rainbow Crab

[grumpysteve]

same here, my pH is around 8-8.2. most fish can adjust to different water conditions as long as its not a sudden shock. a lot of cichlids prefer harder/more alkaline water though i think. just don't get anything too fragile, and ask your lfs what their water is like.

water hardness is a bigger factor than the pH value, if it isnt too hard you can lower the pH (the hardness acts as a buffer, the only way to soften hard water is to remove the minerals that make it hard via peat filtration or diluting it with RO water)
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hot like coffee on a day when its proper cold, show me the rainbow, you can keep the pot of gold

[p1nny]

8.2 is perfect for malawi... how big is the tank?
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450L Malawi tank

[Wulfslæd]

It's a 29 gallon tank from Walmart. 30x18x12. I don't really have an lfs, only a big chain pet store (Pet Zoo). They sell fish, but the people there don't know anything. When I asked for a water hardness test kit they took me to the test kit I already have. I said "This doesn't test water hardness." She said "Yes, this is the best one we have." I just said "Thank you." and left. It's frustrating.

[Wulfslæd]

A quick web search tells me my tank is too small for chichlids.

[grumpysteve]

i know what you mean. my lfs is a chain store. i have to drive more than an hour to get to a decent shop (which i do, because i don't trust the chain store). i'd suggest researching anything you want or need on a few different sites (theres a lot of contradictory info out there, so its best to cross reference everything). then see if the local shop can stock/supply it. be very wary of buying fish from them though, they could be mislabeled, ill or you could be given false info about the fish

malawi sounds like a good idea though, i want a malawi tank!
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hot like coffee on a day when its proper cold, show me the rainbow, you can keep the pot of gold

[Wulfslæd]

I found a hardness test at the home improvement store by the water filters. The water comes out of my tap at about 250 ppm total hardness, which according to what I've been reading explains the high pH.

Next time I go into Anchorage I'll see if I can find a good lfs.

[cichlidwill]

Can you find someone who breeds fish in your area, either by asking on here or looking on ebay at fish sellers. A good breader will be ale to give you most of the info you will need and advise you on suitablity to ur water conditions.

Have a few malawis, ur tank will be big enough for a few, it will need overstocking slightly but make sure you dont go too over the top and keep an eye on the water conditions.
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STILL waiting to move the big tank

[yhbae]

Is your tank footprint 30x18 or 30x12? That makes quite a bit of difference.

Assuming it is 30x12, I don't think you can hold any mbuna species.

If you like this kind of thing, you can do a shellies tank from Lake Tang, or one of the smaller Julidochromis species - perhaps Jultidochromis Transcriptus.

[Wulfslæd]

My tank footprint is 30x12. I've already decided my tank is too small for Malawi. I'd like to have some, but I also want my fish to be happy, not cramped in a minimum sized tank.

I'm still thinking about what to do. I could buy distilled water and mix with my tap water to soften it up some, but I think I'd need to mix it nearly 50/50 to get it where I could keep the pH down for most fish. I think it's just much easier, and cheaper, to work with my natural water chemistry than trying to mess with it. I don't want to end up constantly messing with the pH.

It's been said that pH is not so important, so long as it remains constant, but I haven't had much luck keeping fish going for extended periods. A few months ago I had 3 neon tetras, 3 guppies, 5 zebra danios, and 2 small plecos. Now, I'm down to just 3 zebra danios, and the 2 plecos. My record of keeping new ones from the fish store going is even worse; I think it's because of the difference in pH between their tanks and mine. But it could also just be because it's a chain pet store; I don't know.

I may be a bit crazy, but I also wonder what it's like for the fish being in water so far outside their preferred pH. I imagine myself swimming around in water much more alkaline that I like. Wouldn't it burn my skin? Do the fish feel like that? I don't know.

I don't want to try getting fish mail order in Alaska right now (too cold, minus 13F this morning). I'm going to drive into Anchorage this weekend (after I get paid) and check out a place. It's 40+ miles, but as long as I keep the inside of the car toasty I shouldn't have any problems transporting fish. I'll take your recommendations with me when I go. I'm also going to take a water sample from my tank.

[cichlidwill]

See this article on altering pH
[/url]http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/wchem.htm[url][/url]
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STILL waiting to move the big tank

[cichlidwill]

Thats not right, i'll try again
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STILL waiting to move the big tank

[cichlidwill]

Sod it, have a look on this site in the article library/water chemistry/pH and how to change it.
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STILL waiting to move the big tank

[markee]

cichlidwill wrote: