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Do hongsloi require special water condition for the eggs to hatch ?

anewbie

Well-Known Member
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1,366
This is more of a curiosity but do hongsloi require special water conditions for the eggs to hatch? The reason I ask this is I was told no and my water is tds 120 gh 7 kh 3 ph 7 - but the females frequently lay eggs with no hatching. Specifically this last female laid eggs in an open area (on sponge filter) where I could watch them and her. She successfully defended the eggs for 4 days but they slowly turned white and this morning the last of them had a heavy layer of fungus.
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So this begs the question either they are not getting fertilized or the water is not suitable hence this question.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Literature says pH 5.5 - 6.5, best at 6.0. Can't find anything about necessary TDS, the pH implies GH, KH lower than they are right now in your tank.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
Ok thanks. The seller said he bred them in tap water. I'm not really trying to breed them right now as they are in a community tank but after i move and have more space for a dedicated tank i'll try lowering the ph/gh/kh.
 

CRD

Member
Messages
56
2dHK, 2dGH, 7.2 is as high as I had successful spawns from mine. When in doubt, soften the water
 

Mike Wise

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5 Year Member
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Everyone's tap water is different. Not only that, but it will change depending on tank maintenance even if you and the breeder used the same water source.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
Yea i know he gave me his kh/gh - seems i need softer water and that will have to wait till i move in a year.
 

Sean71

New Member
Messages
1
This is more of a curiosity but do hongsloi require special water conditions for the eggs to hatch? The reason I ask this is I was told no and my water is tds 120 gh 7 kh 3 ph 7 - but the females frequently lay eggs with no hatching. Specifically this last female laid eggs in an open area (on sponge filter) where I could watch them and her. She successfully defended the eggs for 4 days but they slowly turned white and this morning the last of them had a heavy layer of fungus.
-
So this begs the question either they are not getting fertilized or the water is not suitable hence this question.
You can use Indian almond leaves to lower the pH and soften the water, they also have antibacterial and antifungal properties which can be helpful in preventing the eggs from not hatching.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
You can use Indian almond leaves to lower the pH and soften the water, they also have antibacterial and antifungal properties which can be helpful in preventing the eggs from not hatching.

Only with sufficiently low KH. Otherwise they don't change anything about the parameters. ;)
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
Only with sufficiently low KH. Otherwise they don't change anything about the parameters. ;)
What is considered sufficiently low kh. Btw i did put in one full almond leaf and when the nij. female is aggrevated (like a water change) she will hide under it but otherwise she prefers to be open in the 'sun' (I mentioned this because of the comments about the tank being too bright).

I guess I'm covering two things in this singular post: (1) what kh is consider sufficiently low for almond leaves to impact water condition and
(2) the tank might be too bright but frequently the fishes seem to prefer to be out in the 'light' areas and tend to avoid the 'dark' areas 'cept when frustrated (mostly water changes)
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
For leaf litter and botanicals to lower pH by more than maybe 0.5 the KH better be between 0-2°KH. I use almost 100% RO (GH < 3°, KH 0°)and a LOT of oak leaves and alder cones to keep a stable 6.0-6.2 pH maintained.
 

anewbie

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1,366
My kh is 3 and i won't mess with RO until after I move. After I move i'll have an ro unit and mix with tap - i guess 2:1 or 3:1 to lower kh and tds. I can then put some peat behind the mittenburg filter and hope it stays stable. If not i'll resort to mixing acid with the water before putting it in the tank (water changes). That is actually my concern about using peat to begin with - the water added to the tank won't have lower ph and that will stress the fishes and the only easy way to lower the water is with acid - what a mess - really dreading the idea of using peat. For this tank i do water changes twice a week because it lets me check the tank for issues - my current project is getting rid of sulfur pockets that have built up under the substrate - luckily most of them are being sucked up by the python but i'm sure i'm missing a few.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
My kh is 3 and i won't mess with RO until after I move. After I move i'll have an ro unit and mix with tap - i guess 2:1 or 3:1 to lower kh and tds. I can then put some peat behind the mittenburg filter and hope it stays stable.
With peat you don't just hope, you KNOW it will stay stable. Because the peat is what stabilizes and prevents swings. Still it will have to be replaced from time to time.

If not i'll resort to mixing acid with the water before putting it in the tank (water changes). That is actually my concern about using peat to begin with - the water added to the tank won't have lower ph and that will stress the fishes and the only easy way to lower the water is with acid - what a mess - really dreading the idea of using peat.
There is a misconception about the pH swinging when waterchanging a low pH tank. Using a stabilising element like peat or mulm this is not true. You will still use a certain amount of RO, so the difference in pH is irrelevant when you use water with the same KH as the tank. I have no swings after waterchanges because of that. Peat is the safer method in contrast to straight up acid. When doing waterchemistry changes, >easy< is never the way to go, but >safe<. Sometimes that takes more work. You will soon find out that taking shortcuts will more often go wrong than not. Aim for stability for the sake of the fish.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
With peat you don't just hope, you KNOW it will stay stable. Because the peat is what stabilizes and prevents swings. Still it will have to be replaced from time to time.


There is a misconception about the pH swinging when waterchanging a low pH tank. Using a stabilising element like peat or mulm this is not true. You will still use a certain amount of RO, so the difference in pH is irrelevant when you use water with the same KH as the tank. I have no swings after waterchanges because of that. Peat is the safer method in contrast to straight up acid. When doing waterchemistry changes, >easy< is never the way to go, but >safe<. Sometimes that takes more work. You will soon find out that taking shortcuts will more often go wrong than not. Aim for stability for the sake of the fish.
If I understand what you are saying if i change 50% of the tank with 1kh and 50tds the peat in the tank will immediately react with the new water entering the tank and bring down the ph as it enters the tank via ionization.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Not immediately, but as the new water has also almost no carbonates the concentration of H+ ions is still high enough to keep the pH on the level it was before. But as you can imagine there will be more H+ diffusing from the peat each time, meaning long term it still gets depleted. If done correctly it only has to be exchanged once every 1-2 months, depending on amounts and quality even only three months. Still beats adding a certain amount of acid with every waterchange and possibly forgetting the addition at one point.
 

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