Stuart911
New Member
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BACKGROUND: I purchased a male and a female Agassizii a few months back. The female died very quickly, I got another male and then both males died over the next few weeks. My LFS was having a hard time with this group of Agassizii as they lost four fish one night and had to medicate their tank. That said, I still lost three agassizii in about six weeks and since I love this breed of fish I changed my tank conditions and purchased another fish yesterday. So I'm wondering if my changes are going to help. If you can weigh in on the changes, it'll be greatly appreciated.
Old tank -
20 long w a couple of tetras as tank mates,
no live vegetation but lots of driftwood, oak leaves, and caves.
fluval aquarium safe peat balls as my substrate to keep the Ph down
Parameters were 6.7 Ph, 5.6 dh, 81F.
Nitrates were consistently below 20.
New tank
20 long w a couple of tetras as tank mates,
Moss ball and about 10 bacopa stems creating a little "forest" AND lots of driftwood, oak leaves, and caves.
Removed the peat substrate and am using aquarium sand instead. (Higher Ph, but a lot cleaner)
Put the peat in a diffuser floating in the tank rather than as substrate.
Parameters are 7.0 Ph, 8.7 dh, 81F.
Nitrates below 20.
My questions:
Was peat a bad idea as substrate?
Is 7.0 Ph, too high for long-term agassizii success? What about breeding?
Is 8.7 dh too high for long-term agassizii success? What about breeding?
Is my temperature too high? too low?
Will plants make a difference?
Is a 20 long big enough for one Agassizzi?
Advice welcome...
Old tank -
20 long w a couple of tetras as tank mates,
no live vegetation but lots of driftwood, oak leaves, and caves.
fluval aquarium safe peat balls as my substrate to keep the Ph down
Parameters were 6.7 Ph, 5.6 dh, 81F.
Nitrates were consistently below 20.
New tank
20 long w a couple of tetras as tank mates,
Moss ball and about 10 bacopa stems creating a little "forest" AND lots of driftwood, oak leaves, and caves.
Removed the peat substrate and am using aquarium sand instead. (Higher Ph, but a lot cleaner)
Put the peat in a diffuser floating in the tank rather than as substrate.
Parameters are 7.0 Ph, 8.7 dh, 81F.
Nitrates below 20.
My questions:
Was peat a bad idea as substrate?
Is 7.0 Ph, too high for long-term agassizii success? What about breeding?
Is 8.7 dh too high for long-term agassizii success? What about breeding?
Is my temperature too high? too low?
Will plants make a difference?
Is a 20 long big enough for one Agassizzi?
Advice welcome...