started stocking my 90g...lots of Q's

[mark razmandi]

finally cycled my 90g and put fish in today. i have 8 great danios and a 5.5in raphael cat and a 5in clown loach...i was reading up on the clowns and i read that they SHOULD be kept in groups....what do yall think about this? i dont want to stress out my clown loach because he wasnt cheap and he is fairly large.

tomorrow i plan on buying a fire eel around 9 in or so and i plan on adding a breeding pair of firemouths and some severums and geos and some other similar south american/central cichlids.

ANY SUGGESTIONS about my loach and my stocking plans??

I WOULD APPRECIATE all opinions on everything and feel free to criticize

water parameters-

PH 8.0
HARD
5 ppm nitrate
0 nitrite
0 ammonia

THANKS

[TaTeR ToT]

if you want geos, your gunna have to bring that ph down to ~7 or ideally ~6.5.
they will not do well in such a high ph.
the stocking sounds great, just dont get anything more aggro than firemouths, becuase the geos might get beat on.

clown loaches do best in schools of atleast 3 ideally 5 or more.
although, i had my old clown loach tigger for 5 years, and he was alone the whole time.
he did very very well. got about 6", and i gave him to fishlady.
he was very active and always out foraging and playing.
even though he was by himself he didnt care.
although not all loaches are this way.
he was a special case.
also, i got him whe he was less than 1"tl

and so he never new others of his kind.
which theroretically may have helped.

[mark razmandi]

then scratch the geos...my water has these parameters straight out the tap without the nitrate so i wanna build my tank around that....i also am gonna get your pleco lol...should i purchase a couple smaller ones like 2 in or so to keep him company? id hate for the smaller ones to get eaten by a cichlid or the raphael or picked on by the firemouths but i cant drop the cash for 2 more large ones either....

[TaTeR ToT]

small ones will be fine.
when tigger was 1.5" he lived with a 6" male electric blue jack dempsey.
they are very tuff fish, and very few other fish will predate on them.
they have switch blade type mechanisms on their eyes.

[mark razmandi]

great to hear....what about this i read about low lightning for the clowns...i have pretty bright lightning....will this be a large source of stress?

[TaTeR ToT]

no, i had 4x 96 watt power compacts on my 75g, and never had a problem.
as long as they have a nice dark cave to call their own, they will be fine.

[billansor]

I read the posts from beginning to end... and while I understand that your water comes from the tap at high PH... there are some things that you can do to lower the Ph... but that would take some time to and extra costs...

The fish you were talking about having in there are for the most part lower ph values ... Consider the differences of Ph

High Ph (alkalinity) is usually a result of carbonates (oversimplification) Think Limestone, shale, minerals out of the wells... and yes it is very oversimplified...

But

Low Ph (acid) is usually a result of decaying type water such as the amazon with all of its leaves, and roots in the river... (again.. oversimplification)

Sooooooooooo The idea of taking fish and putting them into a wrong Ph Setting is harmfull to their well being... Can it be done??? yes... but not ideally...

Now consider doing a african tank..... A tang tank with non mouthbreeders.. such as calvus, varibchromis moori, brichardi's and others.. You can have various types of catfish and the other odd fish or so.

My two bits....

Bill

[mark razmandi]

my water is very stable however. These fish shouldnt have any problem with a higher ph as long as its stable and doesnt fluctuate

[TaTeR ToT]

my water is very stable however. These fish shouldnt have any problem with a higher ph as long as its stable and doesnt fluctuate

very true, although, if you get wc geos or sa cichlids, you will have to use ro water for them and slowly raise the ph over several weeks.
however, if you get tank riased individuals, just slowly drip acclimate them over a period of an hour or so. they should do fine if this is done.
however, if you wish to breed these fish, then you will need a much lower ph.
even for the firemouths.

but yes, a stable ph is the main goal.

[mark razmandi]

im not too concerned about breeding them...i already have a breeding pair of firemouths in my 20 gallon thats gonna go in my 90 ....my concern is just the health of my fish and their longevity....my ph is a steady 8.0 and my water is very very hard....should i really try to lower it?