pure r/o plus peat

[aspen]

it is my impression from the info on the water conditions in the amazon that apistos can be kept in a mix of pure r/o with peat added. is this true? does it depend on how pure the r/o is, or is very good r/o plus peat actually buffered by the peat at the level of about 5.0. this is my impression, but i would like some input from the more exp'ed breeders out there to confirm this for me.

i have never gone this low before, the least tapwater i've used is 25% and this has been suitable to breed any of the apisto species i've tried. i am going to start 2 pairs of a. elizabethae breeding and i am planning on going much lower in hardness than i ever have before to be more assured that if i don't have success, it won't be because of their water parms. my intention is to go down to 10% tapwater and do plain r/o water changes till they go. obviously i will be making this change to 10% tap over the next week, in combination with feeding them hikari frozen tubifex and live bbs. so far they have been fed only dry food and have been kept in 100% tapwater. i'm hoping that 'a change will do them good'.

rick

 

[Discus Man]

Are you planning a 100% WC? Or 10% wc with pure r/o and take the tank down gradually, that wasn't clear from your post.

 

[aspen]

i have now drained and fully cleaned the 10 gal tank, added back 1 gal of their original water and the fish and pots etc, then slowly syphoned in 4 gals of r/o. over the next couple of days i will fill back with r/o to make it 90/10 r/o/tap. question is, do i add a little tap or use straight r/o for subsequent w/c's?

aged tap is gh 8, kh 4, ph 7.8.

rick

 

[Discus Man]

Hey Rick, I am sure you know I don't have that species, I'm waiting on your pair! LOL
However, when getting my pH nice and low for my alenquers I added pure R/O on the next few water changes. The hardness drops gradually as the % of solids (ppm) is diluted so each water change removes less and less.
Then I add the 10% tap/ 90% R/O on a WC after about three weeks as the slight increase in hardness seems to trigger a spawn. Now this is at pH of 6.4 and GH/ KH of near 2. Alenquers don't need total blackwater conditions either.

Either way, if your pH is at or near to 5.2 then you'll be set.
I don't know if just peat will be enough. Many people use phosphoric acid as it lowers the pH and feeds a good growth of algae on your oak leaves for fry to use for foraging.

HTH, if not wait for one of our resident experts...

 

[aspen]

>>'Hey Rick, I am sure you know I don't have that species, I'm waiting on your pair!'

let's hope that you don't wait long. both pairs have paired, and i pulled the lemon tetras out i got with them as tankmates and will do my best. both pairs seem to be very healthy fish.

the exact morph isn't pictured in romers btw. it is very similar to the pic on the bottom of page 387, males and females have coloured in with blue spangles on their cheeks like a bitaenata, but with a red patch on their sides behind their ventrals. i think they will look really nice when they grow out some. who knows what they will end up like. they are from the czech republic as you know.

rick

 

[farm41]

Rick,

When lowering hardness, I go with straight RO water changes, seems the fish enjoy it.