Setting up my tank for Apistos

[cakey87]

Hi everyone, I told you I would be back!
I got my new test kits today and have tested my water and want to know what I need to alter to keep some Apistos, and am also wondering what Apisto's would be suitable for my water conditions.
Here's my readings:
pH 7.4
KH 89.5ppm/5 german degrees
GH 286.4ppm/16 german degrees
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 7.5 ppm
Ammonia 0

I originally had community fish in the tank and the lfs told me to put these conditioning salts in. However, I think that's why my pH is on the alkaline side so I am not sure whether I should clean out my tank and put fresh water in without the salts, just adding the Tri Start (which says it removes Chlorine and Chloramine and is a conditioner as well).
If I clean out just the water, will it need to cycle again?
What Apistos would be best for me? I only want a pair, my tank is a 90L tank with a biological filter. It's planted and has some driftwood in there.
Thanks in advance!

 

[fishgeek]

are the readings from your tank ? or your tap

in water that you have stasrting with borreli or cacatoides would be ok

if your tap water is softer and more acidic then you will have many more options, either of these two are quite hardy and nice starting fish


as far as your filter changing the water will not mean it has to cycle again
do larger more frequent water changes without the salts and your hardness should drop some depending on how much salt your were using

andrew

 

[Apistt_ed]

I agree with Andrew. With your water parameters as so, you will have to do some water changes and not add any more salt as that will raise the conductivity. If you just merely add the tristart, then you'd be more than fine with A. cacatuoides, A. borellii, or even A. trifasciata. These three species are quite hardy and could even be successfully spawned if your gh/kh is lowered. Other than that, It looks quite promising that you'll do fine! Best wishes and luck!


john

 

[cakey87]

Oh fantastic!
It's my tank water, I am going to test my tap water tomorrow and see what that comes up with.
Before even reading your answers I went to the fish shop and was talking to them about the Apistos, he ordered me the Cockatoo Apistos- so I am very happy that I've picked the right one!
He's ordered in two imported wild caught pairs for me, orange and reds. Which is prettier?
TIA!

 

[Mike Wise]

he ordered me the Cockatoo Apistos- so I am very happy that I've picked the right one!
He's ordered in two imported wild caught pairs for me, orange and reds. Which is prettier?

Both are pretty fish. It depends on which you prefer. Look on the web for photos of A. cacatuoides Double Red (2x Red), & A. cacatuoides Orange-flash. BTW both are domestic strains of A. cacatuoides. They do not occur in the wild.

 

[cakey87]

Just another thing lfs's have lied to me about!
Oh well, I had a look at the pics and I like the double red the best. Am trying to get hold of the hatchery in my state at the moment, might ask them what they have too.

Anyway, I've tested my tap water and here's the parameters:
pH 7, neutral
KH 3
GH 6
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0

So should I still stick to cacatuoides or do I have more options now?
Also, should I get a stabilising product, like seachem stability (think that's what it's called) to stop any fluctuations when I get my water right?:biggrin:

 

[fishgeek]

lower levels of gh and kh so more options

my personel take on buying products is that merchandising is just that
a lot of these products are not needed or can be sourced as a non aquarium advertised product for much less the cost

i have much higher alkalinity(kH) and use peat in r/o-d/i filtered water to reduce the pH , this or some left over that the r/o does not remove keep my water very stable

i will leave this particular nuance to someone more local or with similar water to you

it reads like nice water to have though and i would think with out too much work you will be able to choose many different apisto's

have a look at the main site's list and gallery

andrew

 

[cakey87]

I put some new black gravel in and heaps more plants and my tank looks much better. Though the gravel seems to have raised the pH a bit, even though I washed and washed and washed it. I added about a 3rd rain water to bring it down a touch though. I think I might use something to bring that down a bit more, but I'll wait for it to settle and test again tomorrow before I make any decisions.

 

[fishgeek]

hvae a look at the search function and read up on peat and peat moss as options for softening and acidifying your water

 

[cakey87]

Here's a pic of my tank, it's a little cloudy but getting better:
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4133/p30903141zp.jpg
and this is what it looked like before it's make over:
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6193/flashon17al.jpg

Do you think my Cacatuoides will be happy in there?
I am open to any tips about planting it, moving things around etc. I am only a newbie to Cichlids!

Last night I added the pH down powder that came with my test kit, and brought the pH back to a 6.8. Tested this morning though and it's back up to 7.4 and maintaining a 7.4.
Do I need worry about lowering it? I am afraid if I buy some peat for the filter that it won't stay down and may alter the hardness of my water, which is already pretty good.
I will go off and do some hardness tests and see if that's gone up, I expect they probably won't have, I think that it's just the pH that's a bit wrong.

 

[fishgeek]

becareful with those pH down products a large majority contain phosphate buffers that encourage algal growth

I will go off and do some hardness tests and see if that's gone up, I expect they probably won't have, I think that it's just the pH that's a bit wrong.

you are likely to find that hardness and pH are very much linked and both are likely to alter together
tha cac's or borreli are both fine in a pH of 7 and i wouldn't beoverly concerned at this point

have you read about treating water with peat?
try with some cheap garden shop peat(read the searched articles) and treat small amounts of water outside of your tank
if you like waht you see and understand what is happening you can then have a water butt/large rubbish bin with water and peat for changing into your tank at water changes

this would only be neccesary if you decided to have more acid loving dwarf's

andrew

 

[cakey87]

ok my dad picked me up some bullseye 6.6 and I've added that to my tank, before putting in any fish. My current readings
pH 6.6
KH 4
GH 7
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0
Ammonia 0

is those kh and gh levels okay, as long as they stay like that?

 

[cakey87]

Gosh so much has happened!
The parameters (pH, KH and GH) kept shooting up with that evil gravel, I tried peat moss but it made no difference so we cleaned the tank out again and put my old gravel back in. We added 1/3 rain water so it was nice and soft for my new fish and finally it has stabilised!
I have a pH of 7, a kh of 2 and a gh of 3.
Will that be okay?

 

[fishgeek]

sounds very good as long as it it staying close to that and not fluctuating everytime you do a water change
better if your tap is just a bit harder to leave it as straight tap , was it cacatoides you settled on?, they dont need very soft water
andrew

 

[cakey87]

It won't be too hard when doing a water change, I'll just add my tap water and a 1/3 rain water as that's what I did to get the water what it is.
I settled on the borelli, I hope they came in- I guess I will find out Monday.:wink:
If they weren't available I am going to try and get a pair of yellow gold Cacatuoides... I would really like Rams, but I think my pH is a bit high (??) and I don't want to tamper with that and then run into more problems.

 

[apistoireland]

Rams will be fine unless they are wild caught. Try to get hold of some German or Czech fish. I have bred them in water like yours. The Bolivian ram is also an option since it is a bit hardier and does not require very soft water. Are you trying to breed apistos in your tank? If not you can keep quite a few more species.

 

[nightowl1350]

Ph is fine at 7 for blue rams. My water is at 7 give or take .1 and I have ram pairs spawn in it. I have pulled eggs and raised them without doing anything to my water. My Apisto C eggs haven't been hatching well, but I did get about 12 from one spawn I pulled. Not sure if the pair is getting past prime as they were purchased as adults, or if I need to go RO water with them. Mom is sitting on eggs right now so I will see how it goes this time.

Just be very careful your ph doens't do major flip flops....rams, apistos and discus (central amer.) are very sensitive to changes like that. It is very hard on most species of fish, but they seem to be very hard hit by the changes.