Breeding A. macmasteri

[Strong Style]

So I just got my hands on a male A. macmasteri "red neck". The store has plenty of juveniles and I am waiting a bit to see if I can find females with less guesswork. I really would like to breed this male but I am not sure what the best route would be. I've kept apistos in my water in a community setting. My parameters are GH 3, KH 6, and pH 7.8-8.2. In these odd parameters, I've spawned blue rams to purple spotted gudgeons. Yes, they are a bit unusual but my water is from a well and it is softened to reduce GH. Now I know that many apistos need acidic and soft water. Perhaps I have soft enough water, but the pH is still very basic and I am not sure if I can trigger spawning in such conditions. Do I need to fix these parameters and if so, what is the safest way?

Moreover, it seems this is deemed okay in the past, but is a 20 Long with proper decoration the right size for a breeding setup of 1 male and 2 females?

Thank you for all your help. It's thanks to this great place that I have finally had some success with this wonder genus.

 

[Mike Wise]

Question, do you soften your well water with a water softener that uses salt? If so then you are increasing the electrical conductivity a lot! With macs you would be better off using non-softened water diluted with some distilled water. BTW your Rams and gudgeons are better adapted to water with a higher e.c.

 

[Strong Style]

Yes, we use water softener salt and not R/O. I do use water straight from the well for my guppies. Then the GH is about 8. What would be a good ratio to dilute the well water with? Also, which is the most economical way to get DI water until I get an R/O system? I'm going to be researching electrical conductivity until then, I never really thought about it. Thank you again!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Yes, we use water softener salt and not R/O. I do use water straight from the well for my guppies. Then the GH is about 8. What would be a good ratio to dilute the well water with? Also, which is the most economical way to get DI water until I get an R/O system? I'm going to be researching electrical conductivity until then, I never really thought about it. Thank you again!

Can you use rain-water? I've used it since the 1970's without any disasters.

We have a hard water supply (about 18dGH/dKH), it is pretty clean (it is from a deep limestone aquifer) and good to drink.

We also have a ion exchange water softener (exchanges calcium for sodium ions) for the washing machine, showers etc. This is "strong acid" ion exchange so it doesn't change the anion, the softened water still has the same carbonate hardness, but sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) is soluble.

We get through a lot of salt, and you can't use the softened water for the plants or in the fish tanks.

cheers Darrel

 

[Strong Style]

Thank you Darrel! I'll set up some rainwater collections outside. My area used to be pretty rural, but new housing has been built rapidly in the area and I am not sure of the water safety. Nonetheless, testing some rainwater parameters cannot hurt.