Water parameters for Pelvicachromis taeniatus questions

[cedartree]

1. Everything I've read so far about taeniatus indicates they prefer soft, acidic water. However, a book that I have by Ulrich Schliewen states: "the Moliwe and Muyuka color forms, unlike the others, dislike acid water values." I live in the Austin, TX metro area, and the water here is alkaline and moderately hard. An R/O water unit is not, for economic and space reasons, an option for me. However, I'v found a local fish shop that sells DI water for a fairly reasonable price. If I mix tap and DI water 50/50, my GH drops down into the 7 or 8 GH level. The PH goes down slightly to about 7.5 or so. Comments will be appreciated.

Just joined this forum. Kudos to those who put this very nice and informative site together.

Best regards,
Walt

 

[bigbird]

Hello Walt,

I have kept these before, however is around 6 to 6.5 ph water. I honestly could not tell you if they would keep well in harder water. Did you also ask your LFS ? Some fish do adjust to higher PH and harder water.
Sorry not to help you and welcome to the forum. cheers jk :biggrin:

 

[aquaticclarity]

Welcome to the forum Walt!

When I get orders of wild taeniatus in more often then not they go into a tank with my straight well water (7.5pH and 300ppm). The fish do just fine in it. If you are looking to see the best colors and/or spawn the fish I would recommend a pH in the 6.8-7.0 range for Moliwe.

So the bottom line is your mix of DI and tap water shoud be just fine for keeping the fish and would need a little fine tuning to maximize color and breeding.

Jeff

 

[tjudy]

I can tell you first hand that the water parameters in Cameroon where P. taeniatus are found are:

pH 7.0-7.1
TDS 5 - 25 mS
temp. 23 - 25 C

Soft and neutral, but the habitats are black water. The reason the pH does not drop is because of water flow. In the stagnant water in the residual pools (where there are not cichlids) the pH is in teh mid 6's.

 

[tjudy]

What book by Uli Schliewen do you have?

At Moliwe the pH is also 7.1, butthe TDS is slightly higher (50 mS). I am not sure if this is natural or due to the the area being surrounded by agriculture. The Muyuka form has been extirpated from its natural range, which is close to Moliwe... so the water parameters there may be similar.

 

[cedartree]

Thanks for the welcome aboard and prompt responses from you all.

Jeff: Re your comments about being able to keep your taeniatus in hard, alkaline water. As you suggest, I can probably tweak my water a bit and get them to breed. Imagine that the M/F ratio will still be skewed a bit though?

Ted: The book by Schliewen is a general fish reference book entitled: Tropical Freshwater Fish from A to Z. It's a pocket book Barron's edition and is very handy to take along for aquarium shop visits. BTW, I belong to the Hill Country Cchlid Club here in Texas. Believe our most prominent member, Greg Steeves, delivered a lecture on Lake Victoria Basin cichlids to an aquarium club in your neck of the woods not too long ago. Is that correct?

JK: There are 2 decent aquarium fish stores here in my area. Unfortunately, they rarely carry Westies and they don't have
enough experience with them to give reliable advice. I had the privilege of visiting Australia on a business trip almost 20 years ago. Spent all my time in Sydney during my visit. Lovely city with very nice people.

Walt

 

[aquaticclarity]

Walt,

If the spawn was viable in the higher pH and hardness I would expect a male heavy sex ratio. Getting close to or just under a 7.0 pH SHOULD yield a close to 50/50 split of sexes.

Jeff

 

[cedartree]

Jeff,

Thanks for the tips. Actually the first spawn by my Moliwe pair did not survive 24 hours. The female ate them. There were only about 8 or 9 fry. The male beat up on the female pretty badly, and I currently have them separated. At this point, I'm not really sure they are a compatible pair. Maybe I should try and obtain a group of 6 and have them pair up naturally. Are P. Moliwe considered to be monogamous or are they harem breeders? I will try to get the PH down to 7.0, or thereabouts, after my female heals up a bit or I find some other stock.
Walt

 

[aquaticclarity]

Pelvicachromis in general are pair spawning fish. Females HATE each other. I usually set up 2 pair in the same tank for breeding purposes. The once the dominate pair is established they set in on destroying the weaker pair. Usually the weak female is killed quickly. The weak male may be abe to hang on for a while though.

By letting the dominate pair beat up (and even kill) a weaker pair I get a much better pair bond. This USUALLY means fewer fights between the male and female, larger stronger spawns, and better parental care.

Jeff

 

[cedartree]

Very interesting observations, Jeff. Thanks.
Walt

 

[cedartree]

What book by Uli Schliewen do you have?

At Moliwe the pH is also 7.1, butthe TDS is slightly higher (50 mS). I am not sure if this is natural or due to the the area being surrounded by agriculture. The Muyuka form has been extirpated from its natural range, which is close to Moliwe... so the water parameters there may be similar.

Obviously Mr. Schliewen didn't know the Muyuka have been wiped out. The book was published by Barrons in the summer of 2005. Since it is a translation, no telling when Schliewen wrote it. I can't find a copyright date on it.
Walt