[lornajoy38]

Hi Forum. I have just joined the forum to seek some advice on a new tank I acquired 3 weeks ago.

I have had a Juwel Rekord 60 (60litre/15gallon) freshwater tropical aquarium running for 10 years and this runs happily (give or take a few hitches) - it is currently stocked with 1 x golden barb, 1 x platy, 2 x black neon tetra and 2 x black widow tetra. It runs at approx. 6.4/6.8ph (no ammonia/nitrates) and runs at approx. 78(26) temperature.

3 weeks ago I obtained a "new to me" Juwel Rio 180 (180 litre/48gallon) fully stocked tank - The fish are
3 x bristlenose catfish,
1 x pleco (Common?),
3 x Angelfish (Zebra or Marble (?) 2 striped/1 white),
3 x neon tetra,
6 x black neon tetra,
5 x Columbia red fin tetra,
2 x rummynose tetra,
2 x bloodfin tetra,
1 x flying fox

The tank is currently running at 78(26) temperature and I have had the water tested at my LFS with no ammonia/nitrates and a PH of 8 - the tank came from 100 miles away with a completely different water source - I am currently doing weekly 10% water changes to bring the PH down as I would like to integrate the two tanks. The tank is unplanted and has rocks, bogwood, gravel and artificial plants. The filter is a Fluvel 206.

I have two questions:

1. At what PH will I be able to integrate the two tanks (into the larger tank) without stressing the fish from my 15gal tank
2. Is my 48gal tank overstocked/understocked? i.e. is there room in my 48gal for the fish from my 15gal tank?

Thanks for reading my post and I look forward any comments/advice you have to give.

Lorna

 

[LiamB]

Well as far as I can tell your tank is pretty much at capacity the general rule is one inch per gallon and with the 3 catfish and the pleco it would be hard to incorporate more fish safely. Also there are a few fish in both tanks that should be in groups of at least 6 (most tetras and the golden barb) if not kept in groups of six you may see them begin to nip at the other species which is problematic.


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[LiamB]

And as far as Ph I know 8 is far too high for the golden barb and black neon tetra they shouldn't have a Ph much higher than 7 and anything above 7 is pushing it.


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[lornajoy38]

And as far as Ph I know 8 is far too high for the golden barb and black neon tetra they shouldn't have a Ph much higher than 7 and anything above 7 is pushing it.


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Hi LiamB - thank you very much for your replies.

I hadn't intended on buying a fully stocked tank and to be honest the fish in it were not the ones I would choose but I am very happy to work with what I have.

I do intend to move on 2 or 3 of the algae eaters and I am considering reducing the number of different kinds of Tetra in the tank so that I can increase the shoal numbers. All of this I appreciate will take time as my PH in the 48gal tank is too high (the tank came from a totally different water source than where I live) so I know I will need to be patient and meticulous with my water changes and tank housekeeping.

Hopefully the process will be reasonably simple. :-?