Water conditions for Dwarf Cichlids

[Wiley]

I have been keeping various apistos and other SA dwarves for a couple of years now, but I seem to have a little trouble keeping the water conditions stable. I either have low pH from my RO unit go up over time or I get crashes and loose fish. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Neil]

Wiley,
Typically both problems can be handled by buffering the water in one way or another. The other suggestion is good old water changes. If you do water changes with at least a little tap water it will provide some stability to the water to help avoid crashes. But if your water changes are regular enough and your bio-load is small enough (amount of fish and food, etc.)there usually is not a chance for the waste products to build up in the tank to cause crashes.
There are many factors involved in pH and there are many ways to alter and control it, but I have found that if you don't try to do too much you are better off. Try peat-filtering. This is a short-term solution, but it will help and has the added benefit of adding other elements to the water that can be beneficial for breeding.
Maybe someone else has some ideas about stabilizing pH!? Neil

 

[aspen]

how are you checking ph? electronic ph meters are not accurate when measuring r/o or very soft water. (check the manual)

keeping water stable at low hardness levels and ph is an art. i have not been able to master it, luckily my first venture into apistos is with a cacatuoides, and they are reputed to breed fine in my tapwater. (hooray!)

rick

 

[Neil]

aspen,
Welcome to the forum. I have read your posts and you have a lot of good info to offer.
You are correct. Nothing seems to be easy in regards to the water chemistry o acidic water. I find myself "winging it" far more than I should. I have two pH meters and occasionally run comparative tests with a low pH test kit and the two meters. However, unless you are working with water almost devoid of any KH and/or TDS, the meter should come close. Once you get a feel for what goes into making water a particular pH, taking into account the water that you are working with, you can go by "feel". That is to say, if you don't have to be exacting to the 1/10th, you can manage things with no test at all. Peat-filtered RO (of my tap) is about 5.7 to 5.9. 25% tap added to reg. RO is about 6.5. And 50% tap is closer to 7.0.
It takes some playing and tinkering, but cacatuoides is a great fish to start with. The main consideration is the gender-ratio of the fry, but you most definitely can spawn them in tap. A far more important consideration, in my mind, is the cleanliness of the water anyway. Most apistos will fair much better in a tank with low conductivity and TDS with a higher pH, than they will in a tank with infrequent water changes with a lower pH. Judging by your other posts, you have no worries in that department. Discus are just apistos with a vertical hormone problem
Keep posting - love your input! Neil

 

[aspen]

thaks for the kind words neil. i have not really gotten serious about breeding but will soon when my red turks get just a little older. i have a couple making a few of the 'right moves' now but they are a little young. (9 months). the good thing about trying some breeding with dwarfs is the small amount of water they inhabit, as compared to discus. this makes it easier to play with water parms without spending an arm and a leg.

i tried to play with ph reduction with just using acid, and was having my ph flying all over the map. the fish REALLY didn't like this. i have an r/o unit on the wish list. for now i am just buying the bottled stuff from the grocery store, i've only got 2 pairs of dwarfs at the moment that i'm playing around with (rams and cacatuiodes).

rick

 

[Neil]

aspen,.
i have a couple making a few of the 'right moves' now but they are a little young. (9 months).

They have probably been capable of breeding for months. Most apistos can breed at a suprisingly small size and are sexually mature by 6-months, if not sooner! This might explain the "moves". You may be getting into breeding before you think.

). the good thing about trying some breeding with dwarfs is the small amount of water they inhabit

That's one of the many reasons why I like them. Plus it seems to me far more ethical to keep animals that can be housed in what is truely an adequate environment in captivity. I am not sure that most larger fish have it so good.
Although a smaller amount of water is less forgiving to mistakes, it is easier to play with it. And I hate doing water changes on larger tanks. 45 out of the 70 tanks that I have are 15gal and smaller. No way I could keep and breed so many different species if I weren't doing Dwarfs!!!
Good luck with your fish and keep an eye on those cacatuoides. Neil