water parameters for taeniacara candidi

[icecube]

Hi hobbyists
I recently got a shipment of taeniacara candidi, got 2 males and 2 females, these guys are currently living happily in my normal tap water,
the tap water is med-hard with a ph of 7.5, will this be good for breeding them?
from what i read, people everywhere recommend using Ro water, but i dont have access to Ro water,hence i have them in my tap water in which they are quite happy,also i added a few IAL(indian almond leaves) to soften water and the water is quite brownish but the ph is 7.5,

so my question is can i keep and breed the taenicara candidi in my tap water and expect good and colourful fry from the spawn, and will the fish spawn in my tap water??

 

[Apistomaster]

You are going to want to use RO water with very little TDs, >50 ppm and a pH of 5.0. Use the leaves to lower your pH gradually. These are very sensitive fish to large quick changes in water chemistry.
Males will fight so set up a trio. If you keep both males in the same tank one will waste away due to long term stress caused by the more aggressive male.

 

[Rod]

A couple of months ago I got a pair and later added another female
Nice fish(long ventral and pointed caudal on the male) but colours have been washed out

I've set them up in a 40 litre tank....peat substrate, ketapang leaf once a week......80% rainwater/20% treated tap water

Last night I did a 30% water change using only rainwater that had sat in a bucket in the Sun for a couple of weeks.....I put a mirror against the tank and the male lit up like a Christmas tree!!!

I think the ph has gradually lowered and so has conductivity as I've been using rainwater only for water changes.....but I also wonder if the water being a bit green also stimulated the male....??

Water is very brown making photography difficult....but I'll try tonight

I have found most "soft water" cichlids very prone to internal bacterial infections if kept in hard/alkaline water
My advise......if you can't collect rainwater or purchase an RO unit.....don't keep them....they will die a terrible death
and you wont soften(lower conductivity of!) water with additives/peat/driftwood etc

 

[Mike Wise]

I, like the others, suggest you lower the hardness and pH of your water. Even if you can't afford an RO unit, many pet stores (especially those that sell marine fish) and grocery stores sell bottled RO or distilled water. I don't know the ratio of RO to tap water you need since you don't list how hard your tap water is.

Rainwater is a good source of soft water, too, but needs some minor clean-up - like running through some carbon before adding to the tank - before adding to the tank. You never know what pollutants are in the air or in the roof.

 

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi,

you can get the pH down in a ntural way by using peat moos. Get good (not furtelized) peat moos at the (your) gardeners (shop) and pack it into fine a piece of fabric (so it does not disolve in the filter or in your aquarium). Add also some well watered drift wood pieces and surely the pH will go don.

They will hardly sopwn in pH 7.5. The highest pH I found the in was 5.2, normally they live in pH-values of 4.5 and even down to 3.7. In nature they spawn at pH values below 5.

Best of luck,
from a collector

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com

 

[susan123]

very nice suggestion Mr icecube....

 

[Rod]

I believe there is a lot of misinformation about regarding the needs of soft water fish

With Hard water fish....it's easy....add more soluble salts and minerals!!!
It seems to me people want to apply the same philosophy to soft water.....add peat/ketapang or driftwood....all these things are great...IF THE WATER IS ALREADY SOFT
it may remove some of the soluble minerals but they wont make the water significantly softer.....and certainly doesn't reduce TDS or conductivity....the 2 best measurement systems for soft water fish

Soft water fish live in rainwater filtered through decaying vegetation....water with low total dissolved solids and low conductivity......

In my experience.....the most important thing to add to tap water for soft water fish is water....pure water....no salts no minerals....just H20
If you can't get RO water or rainwater....my experience is if you buy soft water fish breed them quickly because they wont live long

 

[Apistomaster]

Not only is it impossible to make water softer by the addition of anything other than pure water but a large number of soft water fishes eggs do not develop and hatch if the water isn't sufficiently hatch even if you some how get them to spawn in harder water.

It is so much easier to begin with pure water(RO, Rain, Distilled) and a minute amount of minerals or better yet use a small amount of tap water if the electrolytes are well balanced. I often use 90% RO mixed with 10 tap water to get water which has a TDS of about 30 ppm. My RO water has a pH of only about 5.0. I don't use the mixed bed ion exchange cartridge and my tap water has pH of 7.4. When blended in the above ratio the pH of the blended water is only about 6.5. Since it lacks much buffering capacity, it gradually falls to around 5.5. In my most extreme cases I only use RO water and any minerals have to be from slight dissolution of carbonates that may be present in the thin layer of FloraBase substrate which isn't very reactive and from the minerals excreted so the food adds some minerals. The small amount of organic decay is enough to further decrease the pH to only >4.0.
I keep a miniature Loricaridid catfish, Parotocinclus cf. epplyei(17) and about 33 Black Darter Tetras(Poeciliocharax weitzman) in this ultra soft and acid water. I make regular water changes using only the RO water as the refill water. Both of these species are challenging to keep and I havve had this group for 1 year and they are still growing, at least the Tetras. The Parotocinclus epplyei females barely reach one inch and their males only about 2/3 an inch.
Many Apistogramma spp, Dicrossus spp and Taeniacara thrive and breed successfully in water this soft and acid. It is also perfect for Heckel Discus and Altum Angelfish. Many SE Asian swamp fish also need similar conditions; the small wild Betta spp in the Betta coccina complex, Chocolate Gouramis and the small Boraras spp to cite some examples. Most fish keepers have no experience keeping their soft water fish in conditions this extreme but if they did they would have greater success with breeding many of these soft water species.

 

[Rod]

Spot on!!!

I also keep dwarf bettas....coccina,uberis,burdigala
I had about 15 juvie uberis in a 20 litre tank.....peat substrate 90 % rainwater and a good clump of Java moss and lots of duckweed

I travel away from time to time....before one trip I did 50% water change with rainwater and added a ketapang leaf

On my return all the java moss had rotted(no light in that room while away) water was a milky brown....so I thought ph crash...all fish would be dead
but this wasn't the case....they were all there hiding under the leaf or in the peat substrate and they were a deep burgundy colour and great deportment....magnificent

I now happy to use water that is so soft and acid....plants wont survive!

 

[Apistomaster]

Rod,

We should talk. I have tried and failed 3 times to get some healthy Betta coccina. I failed to breed my Betta rutilans; I had 3 pairs.
And you have B. uberis and B. burigala!! Man, those are rare and on my wish list.
I raised hundreds of Betta sp "Mahachai" and Betta imbellis but I have sold all of those.

I find Singapore Moss thrives in my ultra soft and acid water tank as are 2 potted Cyperus helfneri. I did add a substrate fertilizer in the potted plant substrates. Algae doesn't grow well but even if it did my Parotocinclus cf. epplyei eat all that forms even keeping the Moss clean.