I started a thread in the Cold Water section and I think it's now morphed over into Tropical so have decided to post on here too.
I have two tanks to start from scratch - first is 47.7L and the second is 45L.
Would love to have some beautiful fish and need all the help I can get.
Our water is as follows:
PH - 7.2
GH - 286ppm (16 dH)
KH - 136ppm (7.6 dH)

I know the tanks are small so every bit of help and advice is really appreciated. Am a bit overwhelmed by all the choices available !!!!

Thank you

Hi

Looking at that you have hard, alkaline water so can only stock with creatures that like those conditions. Because the pH of tap water is sometimes altered by our water suppliers to improve the taste, it's a good idea to run a cup full of water and leave it to stand for 24 hours before testing pH. Any adjusters used by the supplier will dissipate in that time and so you'll see what the tue pH is.

The tanks are very small, so you will be quite limited in what you can keep I'm afraid. Because fish need a certain amount of actual swimming space and in some cases enough space for territories to avoid fighting and so on, it would help us to make suggestions if you could also post the internal physical dimensions of the tanks: length, width and height.

Before you get any livestock though, you will need to cycle the tank. That will take a few weeks so there's plenty of time to think about what to stock while that's happening.

I see you mentioned that's after 24 hours in the other thread. If so, yes Noods is right you have alkaline and moderately hard water

Water Hardness (GH) : Terms and Conversion

mg/l CaC03 / oDegrees of Hardness / Described as:

0 - 50 / 0 - 3 / soft
50 - 100 / 3 - 6 / fairly soft
100 – 200 / 6 - 12 / slightly hard
200 - 300 / 12 - 18 / moderately hard
300 - 540 / 18 - 30 / hard
540 plus / 30 plus / very hard

Given the tanks are small, unless you are prepared to use RO (not something I would recommend to a newer fish keeper really) then there are only two species that spring to mind. Endler or possibly Dwarf Topminnow. Both suit your water but they are prolific live bairers which is the catch Whilst their small size suits smaller set ups, you could become over run with lot's of youngsters. A shrimp only species tank would be doable.

Most of the much smaller fish available in the trade (under 3cm) need much softer, acidic water including celestials and a pair of goby, or just one male Betta who 'would' have been possible contenders.

Care sheet for Dwarf Topminnow as an example
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile. ... ia&species=formosa&id=122

Example of stocking for these in the 47 litre would be:

47 - 10% = 42.30
42.30/4.5 = 9.4
9.4 x 2.5 = 23.5 cm of adult stock

23.5 x 3cm = 7 fish.

Personally, I would be tempted to keep these small tanks as QT/emergency tanks only and invest in something bigger to permit more stocking with some of the slightly larger fish. 80 to 120 litres will widen up choices considerably for you. See if anyone else comes back though first