[geraldk]

Hello!
I thought I had my tank setup nicely for fish finally. Here's my params:

Tank: 60 liters / 16 gallon
Set up for 2 months with plants and a few cherry shrimp culls
CO2 injected (via DIY)
ADA Amazonia 2 substrate with wood and lava rocks
filled with RO water remineralised with Seachem Equilibrium
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 8ppm
TDS: 150
6 dGH
1-2 dKH
pH: 5.6-5.8

When I went to my LFS to get some corydoras, they pretty much refused to sell any to me because my pH was too low. Their dechlorinated tap water is pH 6.8 with a KH of around 2-3. I was told to raise the pH in the tank with KH additives and come back when it was pH 6.5.
Asking around in forums and doing research, the pH argument seems iffy to me as my tank's pH has been stable in the 2 months, so the aquasoil seems to be doing it's job in buffering. I do want to eventually throw in Indian almond leaves so expect the pH to potentially drop even further.

My main question is if I do get the fish, how would I safely acclimate/transition them from a KH buffered neutral-ish pH tap water source to my peat buffered low-pH environment?

I also want to take the LFS's advice seriously. Normally LFSes give bad advice to sell you things. This one was waving me off a sale out of concern for their livestock's well being.

 

[Scully]

I'm no expert but if you're injecting CO2 you could try degassing it and testing again. If you're getting a full 1 ph drop then it'l be around the same ph as them. Otherwise as far as I'm aware, drip acclimating over the course of an hour or more will be fine. It's actually the whole point of drip acclimating, to slowly change the water parameters to match your tank.

Also from what I've seen, Kh/Gh effect livestock more than ph. So the bigger the difference in hardness, the longer you should acclimate, ph is of less concern. Otherwise while using a buffering substrate it would be a huge problem everytime you do a water change. Since most people use RODI(ph 7) when using a buffering substrate that will keep it around a ph of 6 or less.

Did you explain how your tank was setup to them? IE buffering substrate, driftwood(can lower ph), co2, remin RO water. If you can't change their mind on it, I'd find a new LFS. I'm pretty sure most of those "buffers" tend to wreak havoc on planted tanks and will mess with your substrate.

 

[somewhatshocked]

If you love your LFS, then consider telling them your pH is now within the range they desire. They don't fully know their stuff or they'd be talking about hardness and osmotic pressure being more important than pH, which you should effectively ignore in this case. You can easily adapt most Cory species to your parameters by dripping them in over the course of an hour or so. Just quadruple the volume of water they're in over that time period and they'll adjust well. Especially when you're probably not far off from the parameters they're already in.

If you don't love them? Ditch them and tell them and find another shop.

That said - the real concern is whether you have enough open space at the substrate level for Corydoras to play and hang out. Having carpeting-type plants can sometimes make things tough with them. I've had even tiny Corydoras habrosus uproot plants like that. Have found they do a lot better in tanks with plants that rise higher above the substrate.

What type of Cory are you interested in? Could you share more photos of the tank?

 

[geraldk]

Did you explain how your tank was setup to them? IE buffering substrate, driftwood(can lower ph), co2, remin RO water. If you can't change their mind on it, I'd find a new LFS. I'm pretty sure most of those "buffers" tend to wreak havoc on planted tanks and will mess with your substrate.

Yup, I listed all of those. I've been having much better experiences with Aquasoil-buffered acidic planted tanks than KH buffered ones so I really really don't want to add crap if I can help it.

If you love your LFS, then consider telling them your pH is now within the range they desire. They don't fully know their stuff or they'd be talking about hardness and osmotic pressure being more important than pH, which you should effectively ignore in this case. You can easily adapt most Cory species to your parameters by dripping them in over the course of an hour or so. Just quadruple the volume of water they're in over that time period and they'll adjust well. Especially when you're probably not far off from the parameters they're already in.

If you don't love them? Ditch them and tell them and find another shop.

That said - the real concern is whether you have enough open space at the substrate level for Corydoras to play and hang out. Having carpeting-type plants can sometimes make things tough with them. I've had even tiny Corydoras habrosus uproot plants like that. Have found they do a lot better in tanks with plants that rise higher above the substrate.

What type of Cory are you interested in? Could you share more photos of the tank?

Haha, well, they're the farthest store from me (about an hour drive) so I don't mind dropping them. Two of the nearer big stores gave me sketchy advice and had unhealthy looking bettas and plants so figured it was worth the drive to get healthy fish and wide variety. Can try hunting around the smaller shops that are closer.
I'll attach some more photos

I have the 60p in a peninsula layout with a lot of stems (Rotala Blood Red, Ludwigia Super Red, and Limnophila Hippuridoides). I have a "beach" in the front of the tank and a thin strip of exposed aquasoil running along both sides. One side has stacked lava rocks and the other has a piece of driftwood, they hold a raised bed of aquasoil that the red stems grow from. I documented my setup in more detail here. The only carpeting plant is a few bits of staurogyne, the Monte Carlo I have in there is all epiphyte and weeping. Most of the Staurogyne has been established for 1.5 months so their roots should be pretty deep. If it isn't enough substrate space for the corys, I can narrow the bed so there's more room on the sides. I was thinking of 5-6 pygmy or panda corydoras. The other future inhabitant will be a giant betta.

 

[somewhatshocked]

I was thinking of 5-6 pygmy or panda corydoras. The other future inhabitant will be a giant betta.

Corydoras habrosus would probably work in your tank because they're so small. Probably the most goofy personality of any Cory I've kept. Definitely consider them.

But so would Corydoras pygmaeus, as they tend to inhabit the middle of the water column instead of remaining on the substrate. They spend most of their time exploring and swimming around all over the place.