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tommyh2601
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Hello ::wave::

I’ve been looking to get into having fish as a pet for a while and I’m interested in creating a well balanced aquarium.

So far I am looking at an 80LTR tank kit to get me started. The species I’m looking at are Tetras, Corys, Zebra Danios and Rasbora. I’m looking to have live plants such as Java ferns and Java moss, Pearl weed and Dwarf Hairgrass.

Does anyone have any recommendations, suggestions or observations to help me out??
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Martinspuddle
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Greetings :] & welcome to AF-UK

Have you looked at our guides, link here: Aquarium Cycling

@Stephen guide for getting started here: Setting up your new aquarium

Pearl weed does need good lighting and is very nutrient hungry. Can be a pain to grow or grow like a unwanted weed. :]
WARNING - DO NOT BREED, FEED OR PET THE PUDDLE! :dodgy2:
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plankton
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Welcome to the forum. :)
Do you know how hard your tapwater is? That will be the main guide to the fish that you'll be able to keep more easily. You should be able to find out from the water supplier's website by popping your postcode in. ;)
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Stephen
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Hello and welcome to the forum. :)
plankton wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:58 am Do you know how hard your tapwater is? That will be the main guide to the fish that you'll be able to keep more easily. You should be able to find out from the water supplier's website by popping your postcode in. ;)
I agree.
Your water hardness whether soft, hard or somewhere in between will determine which fish you can safely keep.

Why hard water fish species NEED hard water (and visa versa for soft water fish species)

All the best
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 12 x Cory sterbai 51 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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tommyh2601
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My water is very hard (276ppm).
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Stephen
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tommyh2601 wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:59 am My water is very hard (276ppm).
276ppm = 15.4dGH (degrees German hardness)
tommyh2601 wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 22:48 pm I’ve been looking to get into having fish as a pet for a while and I’m interested in creating a well balanced aquarium.

So far I am looking at an 80LTR tank kit to get me started. The species I’m looking at are Tetras, Corys, Zebra Danios and Rasbora. I’m looking to have live plants such as Java ferns and Java moss, Pearl weed and Dwarf Hairgrass.

Does anyone have any recommendations, suggestions or observations to help me out??
The water will be too hard for many soft water species such as tetra, corydoras etc.. but the members will give you some good suggestions.

All the best
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 12 x Cory sterbai 51 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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plankton
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Yes, at that hardness, the only tetras I would risk in an 80l tank would be x-ray (pristella) tetras.
Most livebearers will be fine at that, look at the "different" ones like limia and goodied as they don't breed as much as the more common ones. ;) Don't get swordtails or mollies as they will get too big for the tank.
American/Florida flagfish would be ok, but they do tend to wreck plants as they're basically vegetarian.
Cherry barbs would be ok, most rasbora do better at lower hardness, but you may get away with harlequins, depending on what water they've been raised in.
Rainbow fish, well the smaller ones, would be worth looking at - gertrudae and furcatus are small and pretty and come from hardwater areas.
For the bottom, dwarf anchor catfish would be ok, they like to be in a group and their behaviour is interesting, even if their colours are a bit dull, or you could go for neocaradina shrimp (like cherry red) who are even more interesting and colourful. All the fish would need to be small though so the shrimp wouldn't get eaten. ;)
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