Brimstonepdx

So earlier this week I went to buy some Rainbows to have a "day time" fish and some color in my tank. But the ones they had where under 2" and I feared that may be an issue with my Knife since bows grow so slow. Then I saw a tank of gourami that where just over 2". I remembered seeing them listed under community fish (which in my mind = peaceful), so after explaining my situation to the LFS girl she suggested I get males instead of pairs. I got 5 males thinking they where a schooling fish... I get them home and do some reading and realize my oops.

4 days later half my mystery snails are dead the other half have all their eye stalks picked off and my Knife wont come out at all. So I think I am going to try and sell these guys off on Craigslist this weekend.

Does anyone have a better suggestion for a Peaceful Community Fish that will tolerate 8.0 pH and average temps 78-80F? And not eat my snails...

Shawnie

oh my!! that LFS let you buy 5 males for your tank? even after explaining to them? shame on them!

rainbows are usually fast and where the GN cant see very well, they could work...ive never had them before so other members who have, might be better help...but I have had a GN and he cant usually catch fast fish and tetras might work as well....have you ever thought of using a piece of nice driftwood to lower your ph a bit? ..good luck with them!

ifixoldhouses

Craigs list will delete your post if you try and sell fish alone, make it read 5 gallon aquarium with fish or somthing, before it will stick.

Shawnie

you can charge a reasonable re-homing fee just make sure you ask the right questions to know they are going to the right home

Brimstonepdx

Thank you Shawnie, I did mention rehome and willing to trade in my ad so hopefully that will work. As far as driftwood I have 2 very large pieces in the tank and so far it hasn't lowered it at all. According to one guy at the LFS my area has very hard city water.

Hopefully someone will respond to the ad. The LFS only has a 24 hour return policy and its been well past that. I have 4 clusters of snail eggs that I hope I can save I have a feeling these guys will have them for lunch the second they hatch.


Edit: I took my ad down off craigslist and have decided to email the person from the LFS who sells on aquabid to see if they would be willing to make a trade due to faulty advise. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Shawnie

I hope things do work out for you! driftwood will only work if it has tannis in it...thats the tan colored wood that actually looks tea colored when put in the water....its the tannis that lowers the ph not so much the wood...good luck and your welcome!

Brimstonepdx

Well that wont work then since I boiled per advise from the LFS to kill the tannis. /facepalm I think I have one more piece in my supply bucket that I have yet to boil ill soak it real well and toss that in.

Shawnie

boiling wont remove all the tannis....it still will leach into the tank.....is it a tan/brown colored piece of driftwood? you still need to boil to clean....and tannis works slowly lowering the ph which is what you want....drastic ph drops will harm the fish...how longs the driftwood been in the tank?

Brimstonepdx

Its been in there for a month and a halfish.

MizRamzi

1st, I have a piece of DW that's been leaching for over 4/5 months now. I use a hepa filter in my mag 350 canister filter to remove it. I have 3 extra that I change 3 times a week. It's sort of a pain but until it stops leaching it's all I can do.

What kind of Knife fish do you have?

Shawnie

again, is it the kind of driftwood that has tannis in it? is your water tea color? if there is no tannis, it will not lower the ph..there is driftwood without tannis so it might not be the right kind

Brimstonepdx

lol sorry, its the Malaysian driftwood (the tag may have said bogwood i dont remember) the guy at the pet store said it had tannis on it, the first 3 weeks in my tank the water was very amber now its pretty clear.