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Acceptable for reproduction?

ApistoBeard

New Member
Messages
5
I've been doing a fair bit of research about breeding apistogramma and the only thing standing in my way at this point is my water source. The dkh from the tap is off the charts (estimated around 16), so in order to get my dkh down to an acceptable 4 I have to mix 75% distilled water to 25% tap (did a quick test with some di water from the local water shop). I have read that the minerals in tap water are essential to the reproduction process and with distilled water you don't get any of those. So my question is, will a 25% tap water to 75% ro/di ratio provide the essentials for success?


Just to provide a little background I'll share my plans/thoughts. Rain water makes me uncomfortable because I live in the suburbs of Chicago where pollution is what we do best. Using peat to soften the water seems inefficient because my partner and I are planning on setting up a 120-160 gallon breeding system. To my understanding frequent water changes are essential to raising healthy apistos so the amount of peat we'd be going through would be outrageous. At the current time buying a ro/di unit seems to be our best bet.

Thank you in advance for your input :)
 

regani

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
429
Location
Brisbane, Australia
That should work for a few of the apistos - which species are you planning on keeping?
For some of the black water species you may have to have even more distilled water in your mix for breeding success.
That the minerals in tap water are essential for breeding is not entirely correct, it really depends on the species of fish you are looking at. Some apisto species, for example, can be found in black water habitats with very low conductivity, meaning there are hardly any minerals in there at all. On the other hand, if you look at species from lake Tanganjika, they will need very hard, alkaline water (lots of minerals) to stay healthy and breed.
 

ApistoBeard

New Member
Messages
5
We plan on doing 2 different species, just not sure which yet. I've got a good book on South American dwarf cichlids that lists the locations each species is found including water type, conductivity, hardness, etc. I'm really just wondering how far I can go with the ro/di and still be able to breed anything. Is conductivity (tds?) what I need to be testing?
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
Water with low conductivity is soft (low Ca and Mg), but the reverse is NOT necessarily true. Soft water can have very high Na and Cl (especially if using a salt-based ion-exchange softener) and thus have high conductivity. Both hardness and conductivity can be important, in different ways. I think hardness is probably more important, and more of a barrier to breeding soft-water apistos.
 

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