suggestions for a 20g long Pearl Gourami tank

[sherrymitchell]

I use EcoComplete and Flourite, but the flourite is a pain to clean. That stuff is SO FILTHY! What other fish will you put in with the gouramis??? I have a lovely pair of blue spot gouramis in a 20 long, heavily planted tank, but would like to add some other fish. These two never did breed for me, so I'd like to do a community tank now.

[chris_todd]

Sherry, I was planning on having just the Pearl Gouramis, plus maybe some appropriate algae eating critters (currently leaning towards SAE).

[ddavila06]

Sherry, I was planning on having just the Pearl Gouramis, plus maybe some appropriate algae eating critters (currently leaning towards SAE).

i would do some plecos, bushy nose or clown plecos are nicer that the "common" pleco and will not grow to 2 feet in lenght. i have quite a few, they do not bother the plants and work pretty hard getting to the algea. ottos are really hardworking little guys too.

[kerokero]

Funny, sounds like you're doing a similar tank to mine, but with bigger fish! I'm also looking into doing a SE asia, but specifically working with the super low pH mini species. While not super knowledgable, my two cents goes along with Ghazanfar... see if someone on here is Sean/Aaron miricale mud and will be able to let you snag enough for the 20H (going by last month's presentation it won't be much, and then you can toss whatever inert substrate you want on top) and then you'll probably not have to worry about fertilizer for the next decade. Once it's set up, it's the simplest thing ever, it's just the actual making of it that seems hard (but is more just time consuming than anything).

I have half the crypt species he mentioned, and LOVE them! If Ghazanfar doesn't overload me with blackwater stuff like he's been threatening, they are definately going in my tank. I like the idea of the vertically oriented bunches of leaves if tufts of plants with the gouramis... like angel fish they seem built to slide in between these type plants, rather than bushy stem type ones.

Leaf litter goes into all my tanks, be it fish or frogs If you boil the oak leaves until they sink they will release most of there tannins. Doing this means that a) they will actually sink, b) won't discolor your water if you don't like the look of blackwater, and c) won't change your pH due to the release of the tannins. I keep mostly fish/frogs that like blackwater, so I used the blackwater concentrate from the boiled leaves to prep water from my tanks to the pH I want, and the boiled leaves become decor (and the shrimps love the extra grazing ground).

I haven't found a SE Asian algae eater for my tank that doesn't get too big (SAE) or need good water flow Shrimps would be eaten in my tank even, and definately snacks for the pearls (which at full size wouldn't suprise me to go after large RCS!). I was probably going to stick with ottos (which would fit in size wise) but the large bushy nose/bristlenose plecos would work well in your tank idea.

Love the tank you linked, exactly the type I was going for! I agree, definately overstocked... maybe a breeding pair of gourami instead of the group? And a nice schooling fish like some of the smaller (but not micro!) rasbora like the heteramorpha or maybe espei? Pearls are some of my favs! But they'd eat my Boraras...

[sherrymitchell]

Speaking of oak leaves. I'm wondering if they will lower the pH of the water measurably. I've got 7.8-8.0 here and would like to naturally lower the pH to see if I can get the pair of blue spot gouramis to breed. I was thinking of floating a mesh bag of oak leaves in the tank, or harvesting rain water.... I don't know. I want something easy.... Has anyone tried oak leaves to lower pH?

Our KH is 9 here in Western Fairfax County. I was thinking I'd shred the leaves, then put them in a mesh bag and float that in the tank.....

[kerokero]

Yes, I use oak leaf and wild almond leaf "tea" to lower the pH in most of my water. I'd probably recomend boiling the leaves until they sink, and use the tea concentrate produced to change your pH rather than just floating leaves in the tank. This gives you the ability to have more control over your pH change (faster and more dramatic if you want vs. the slow gradual release from the leaves). Depending on your leaves, it can take a while if you just let them float! The strength of your boiled "tea" depends on the specific leaves used (wild almond releases more than oak, and it can vary by oak) and the amount, so you'll have to play with it a bit, but I usually go with boiling one or two handfuls in the same pot I make spaghetti in. I've also heard of pine needles being used (was actually recomended to me with my waterdogs) but I don't have much personal experience since I've got plenty of oak, and very little pine available.

[sherrymitchell]

Corey, where do you get the almond leaf? I wonder if I could mix a big batch of it and keep it on hand for water changes in that one tank? I do a 50% w/c each week. Ideally, I'd like to see the pH go down near 7.0 for the gouramis to breed..... I wonder if the tea leaves continue to lower the pH throughout a week's time, or does it level off at some point?

Sorry to have hijacked this thread.

[ddavila06]

even though sean (i think) well, someone told me that african root wood and driftwood don't alter the ph, i swear since i added those my ph won't move from 6.4....want to experiment with it? i don't have anytihng that would lower it, in all case i have pogada rock to raise it since it was so low, but them i gave up...fish look happy and so do plants

[chris_todd]

Corey, where do you get the almond leaf? I wonder if I could mix a big batch of it and keep it on hand for water changes in that one tank? I do a 50% w/c each week. Ideally, I'd like to see the pH go down near 7.0 for the gouramis to breed..... I wonder if the tea leaves continue to lower the pH throughout a week's time, or does it level off at some point?

Sorry to have hijacked this thread.

I don't mind the hijack, since I find the topic interesting. I actually saw several bags of almond leaf at the catfish convention, and immediately thought of Ghazanfar's suggestion, and wondered if they'd lower the pH.

But you said your KH was 9... my college chemistry days were nearly half of my life ago, so I have lost enough brain cells that I can't do the math to figure out how much acid you'd need to add to lower your pH, but a KH of 9 sounds like a heck of a lot of buffering power...I would think a few tree leaves would be insufficient. But I'd love to see someone do the math and prove me wrong!

[sherrymitchell]

Chris, Yes it's nine. In other words, it took nine drops of the reactor drops to change the water in the test tube from blue to yellow. That's how my KH test kit works. That translates to 161 ppm KH/GH. The chart says that "suitable aquarium life" for this range includes: "most tropical fish including swordtails, guppies, mollies, goldfish". LOL, the guppies and goldfish breed like rabbits, so I guess my water is perfect for them. I'm also keeping dwarf puffers, neon orange cories, RDS, neon tetras and a convict in this water and they are doing terrific.

I think I'd have to have a KH of around 6 (100 ppm) to breed the gouramis. Perhaps the almond leaves would work, maybe not. I know Francine at CCA has used rain water in some of her tanks, so that's something I may experiment with at some point.....

Has anyone used the product PROPER PH 6.5 or 7.0 from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals???