New to Apistos

[smileandnod]

As I am hoping to get my first Apistos in the next week or so, and I have read an awful lot here already, I thought I'd register and say hello.

I have bought a 60 litre tank (about 13 UK gallons), and have planted it, and cycled it, using filter medium and water from an existing tank. There are four neon tetras in there to help it maintain it's cycledness(!)

I will be adding some caves before the Apistos go in and maybe a couple more tetras.

I will be looking for 1m 2f, Cacatoides, which I hope to breed once they have settled in. This will take some effort on my part though, as we have very hard water. A GH of around 18. PH is 7.5.

I plan on starting to mix the water change water with RO or rain water, depending on the weather here, to lower the hardness slowly. Obviously I will be taking careful measurements. Or does anyone think the whol plan is a bad idea, and I should start off with softer water.

Of course I don't want to wait, as I am really looking forward to getting my first Cichlids.

Cheers.

Ian.

 

[farm41]

You can lower the hardness pretty fast, I'd do a 50% water change to start with using only RO replacement water, just run the RO in slowly. With softwater fish you can lower it fast.

The next water changes you could use 60% RO and 40% tap, cacs will be OK in that water.

With your hard water and a desire to keep softwater fish, you should really invest in your own RO unit, they can be bought for less than $100.

How long has your tank been running?

 

[aspen]

hi ian. i would target a hardness of gh 4- 6, and a kh of 2- 3 for cacatuoides. by simply doing a calculation of what you are starting with, you can figure out how much r/o will be required to attain these parms.

with a gh of 18, you would likely need approx 25% or less tap to r/o to produce a viable spawn of cac's. however i raise apistos in harder water. then, this can be lowered to induce spawning- the principle of keeping them out of breeding form by keeping the hardness high, then making things more appropriate for the fish when you are ready for them to spawn. condition them first with good food and grow them out a bit, then as you lower the hardness they will TEND to breed for you when you want them to. (science + art)

all of my tanks have a strip of green tape on the side, and are marked in exact gallons on the tape. if f/i you know the gh is 12, and you have 12 gallons in the tank, if you drop the water level by 50%, then re-fill to the 12 gallon level with r/o, the hardness is now gh6. if the next water change is a 33% change (4 gallons) re-filled with r/o, then the 12 gallons will now be gh 4. i only ever measure when the hardness gets very low, ie below gh2, kh1, and only for ph to make sure it stays stable. my water is very stable down to this point, but can get a little shaky below this point. you will know more when you get more exp with your own water, and lowering it's parms. keeping notes will help you remember where the parms are.

rick

 

[Neil]

smileandnod,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Boy, not much to add here. The guys have given great advice.

Of course I don't want to wait...

IMO you don't really have to. Follow the suggestions of farm41 and aspen. You neons should love the fairly quick change to water more similar to where they come from and you should be ready soon to start with the cacatuoides.

Have fun!

Neil

 

[smileandnod]

Wow, thanks guys.

Some really comprehensive advice there.
This weekend I will be off to get some RO water then.

Costs a few pence a litre, so for now, I won't bother with a unit, esp as we plan to move in 18 months or so.
The tank has been up and running for nearly a week now, and I just got a nitrite spike last night. Up to 0.3ppm, and still the same tonight, so I guess I will have wait till the water settles down :cry:

Still, my lfs won't have them in for another week or two, so I guess I can't rush it anyway :?