Fauna for a black water tank

[LMuhlen]

I'm advancing on my next project, which is a black water tank. It will have soft water, some rounded stones, a bunch of wood pieces and lots of dry leaves. The idea is to keep the water warmer, I'll probably aim at 27 or 28ºC. I'm not sure if there will be any plants, maybe floaters, maybe something robust. Very slow moving water, ideally no identifiable current. A glass lid to keep the warmth. Dimensions are 80 x 30 x 35 (84 L).

I would like suggestions for the fauna. My original plan is to have only small fishes: ~15 green neons (Paracheirodon simulans), ~10 Tucan tetras (Tucanoichthys tucano) and ~6 Black morpho tetras (Poecilocharax weitzmani).

Which fishes could complement the fauna? The current plan has enough schoaling fishes, but I would like maybe some dwarf cichlids or some small corydora. Which corydora would be suitable for these water conditions, while also being small?

I thought about Checkerboard dwarf cichlids (Dicrossus filamentosus)...

 

[Conort2]

Which corydora would be suitable for these water conditions, while also being small?

Corydoras Nijsseni would be a good fit.

 

[megwattscreative]

This sounds excellent. Personally I would go for floating plants and lots of leaf litter, if you're looking for a biotope style setup. Serpa design has a few different blackwater setups that are all gorgeous, in my opinion. You could also do labyrinth fish with the low flow, and floating plants may help with breeding and bubble nests. I also love pygmy corydoras, but it might be too warm. honestly I just think they're really cute.

To be clear, I'm not basing this on fish I've kept, just on what I've seen. Hope that's semi helpful!

 

[MichaelJ]

I would like suggestions for the fauna. My original plan is to have only small fishes: ~15 green neons (Paracheirodon simulans), ~10 Tucan tetras (Tucanoichthys tucano) and ~6 Black morpho tetras (Poecilocharax weitzmani).

I thought about Checkerboard dwarf cichlids (Dicrossus filamentosus)...

I think the Morpho's and Checkerboards will blend in too much in a black water tank imo - depends on how "black" you go... Rams - if you can find a good stock - will look awesome and will love the warm soft acidic water... Also with the warm water I would go with Cardinals instead of Green Neons. 27-28 C is pretty toasty waters.

I second @megwattscreative opinion on floating plants and leaf litter (botanicals).

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Conort2]

I wouldn’t go with dwarf cichlids with the morpho tetras. Even though they’re characins they behave like dwarf cichlids. They’re an amazing species but they will feel intimidated by the cichlids in a tank that size and hide.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I wouldn’t go with dwarf cichlids with the morpho tetras.

Same for me, one of the other. Have a look at <"Joe's tank">.

. Also with the warm water I would go with Cardinals instead of Green Neons. 27-28 C is pretty toasty waters.

cheers Darrel

 

[Conort2]

Also with the warm water I would go with Cardinals instead of Green Neons. 27-28 C is pretty toasty waters.

I thought greens were found in even warmer water than cardinals? Or maybe I’m getting them mixed up?

 

[castle]

I thought greens were found in even warmer water than cardinals? Or maybe I’m getting them mixed up?

26-29c

So greens would be fine

 

[MichaelJ]

I thought greens were found in even warmer water than cardinals? Or maybe I’m getting them mixed up?

No, you're totally correct. While Cardinal (P. Alexrodi) and Green Neon (P. simulans) are found in the same warm biotopes, Greens appears to be more readily found in the extremes (33 C during daytime).

Fig. 4. Average daily minimum water temperatures for Paracheirodon...

Download scientific diagram | Average daily minimum water temperatures for Paracheirodon axelrodi and P. simulans habitats in the middle Rio Negro, Amazonas State, Brazil (MANOVA, Wilks : F(4, 232) = 3.0310, p = 0.018; vertical bars denote 0.95 confidence intervals). from publication: Water...

www.researchgate.net

I still think the Cardinals will stand out more - but both will be fine at 27-28C of course.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[LMuhlen]

I thought greens were found in even warmer water than cardinals? Or maybe I’m getting them mixed up?

Yes, that was my understanding as well, green neons liked warmer water than the other neons.

Same for me, one of the other. Have a look at <"Joe's tank">.

Nice journal, I hadn't read it. His tank is much larger than mine and has much denser planting than I'm planning. He didn't seem to comment on the morphos interacting with other fishes negatively, other than having the fry eaten.

Still, I will try and hold myself from adding dwarf cichlids, then.

All this planning may be deterred by the availability of the fishes... Apparently, even the green neons that I thought were a given are gone from the market for a few months now. I have only seen the morphos occasionally as well.

I visited a LFS yesterday with a very knowledgeable owner, deeply involved in the ornamental fish distribution and sourcing markets, and he recommended a few different corys. I'm not that good with fish names and most of them eluded me, but one of the options would be panda corys. I liked that idea, they are also easy to find in LFSs.

 

[Conort2]

but one of the options would be panda corys

They like cooler water so wouldn’t be a good fit. I’d give those a miss.

Ideally you’d want one of the rio negro species like nijseni, tukano, adolfoi, duplicareus etc. I recon something like sterbai or gossei would also be ok with the warmer temperatures.

 

[castle]

Aeneus, concolor- 25-27
Blochi, brevirostris, Melanistius 26-28

 

[LMuhlen]

They like cooler water so wouldn’t be a good fit. I’d give those a miss.

Ideally you’d want one of the rio negro species like nijseni, tukano, adolfoi, duplicareus etc. I recon something like sterbai or gossei would also be ok with the warmer temperatures.

Hmmm the source I first looked at mentioned they also coming from Rio Negro, but now that I searched some more, that info may be wrong... I'll look into the others you suggested, thanks.

 

[ScareCrow]

Corydoras habrosus would tick the small Corydoras box. You'd need "throw in a few old cans, and place about two inches of fish to every gallon" to truly replicate their habitat.

 

[LMuhlen]

I looked into the suggested corys and there are some good choices there. I looked into a list of Rio Negro fishes organized by size and the nijsseni seems to be the smallest one indeed. Habrosus sound like a great option as well.

Most of the species mentioned are maybe unusual in the local market, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for what pops up when the tank is ready.

I once went swimming in the Rio Negro, a long time ago, and I remember it being so warm that it was uncomfortable. And I'm not exactly a fan of cold water. I think it was almost 40ºC... But at the same time, maybe 1,5m below the surface, the water changed completely and it was almost cold. It was interesting to have my upper body feeling very hot while my feet were cold.

 

[hypnogogia]

But at the same time, maybe 1,5m below the surface, the water changed completely and it was almost cold. It was interesting to have my upper body feeling very hot while my feet were cold.

Also says something about how calm and slow moving the water is that the layers don’t mix.

 

[LMuhlen]

After another trip to the LFS, I argued about the information widely available online that panda cories enjoy some defrost water, causing the temperature to drop and all that. He counter-argued that the region where they were collected originally for the local market didn't have defrost water, and that today they are bred in farms in the northeast of the country, where it is very hot, semi-arid climate...

In any case, as luck may have it, despite being a relatively rare fish around here, this LFS had a 10 nijsseni cories order for this week, so if I don't lose them to someone else, I'll buy them and leave them in quarantine until the tank is fish-ready. He said he never saw habrosus in supplier lists, so that would be a little harder to find, anyways.

He didn't like the idea of morphos... He thinks that adult morphos will eat the small tucans and green neons. He also said that they usually arrive very fragile and often refuse food and die. So, it's something to think about. Maybe try my luck with smaller ones and keep my eyes open as they grow. I can always move them to my other tank if they start chasing the others.

BTW, the tank is running and is now 1 day old. It is my first experience with dark water and botanicals, so lots to adjust during cycling.

 

[Bradders]

Are you talking about the Morpho Tetra?

 

[LMuhlen]

Yes, morpho tetra.

 

[Conort2]

He didn't like the idea of morphos... He thinks that adult morphos will eat the small tucans and green neons.

I don’t think they’re anywhere near large enough for that. Is he confusing them with crenichus spilurus? The only thing remotely similar to them which gets much larger and can eat small fish.

Adult dominant male morphos can’t be much bigger than a green neon.