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  1. Ben Rhau

    Male cockatoo agression. How to resolve

    I have a lot susswassertang in these. The apisto tank had big clumps of it in the back and one in the front on the ride side. It's pretty effective at blocking lines of sight. In the blackwater tank, it filled up the entire area below the spider wood.
  2. Ben Rhau

    Male cockatoo agression. How to resolve

    I've attached a couple pictures of my 20 long. The one that's called "apisto" is the one I'm talking about where they successfully bred. You can see two of the cave locations, one in the center and one in the left back. There is another cave on the right in the back that's not visible in the...
  3. Ben Rhau

    Male cockatoo agression. How to resolve

    Yeah, I would personally add bigger pieces and stack them higher. It took more wood than I thought. If you're able to separate the fish now, you may be able to add the wood more slowly. There will be some oxygen demand if you add a lot at once. Make sure you have good surface agitation.
  4. Ben Rhau

    Male cockatoo agression. How to resolve

    I've tried quaranting a pair in a 10 gallon tank with the bottom covered with many pieces of PVC, where the fish could hide but also escape. That didn't stop the chasing, and I had to separate them. I put a divider in the tank and the female did get very yellow (ready for breeding). but when I...
  5. Ben Rhau

    How to train apistogramma to eat pellet

    The varieties are mostly similar in composition. Just different sizes, formats, and packaging. I buy the small tropical fish granules for convenience.
  6. Ben Rhau

    question on low ec

    My plants tend to grow the longest roots in low EC and the biggest leaves in low light. They’re adapting to collect more nutrients/light.
  7. Ben Rhau

    question on low ec

    I’ve observed this as well, and always assumed it was because the plants suck up nitrates, phosphates, and potassium from the water. Those ions are net exported out, because the plants need to be trimmed and the excess growth is removed from the tank.
  8. Ben Rhau

    Hello

    15 gallon is definitely too small for a trio of adults. It's good for the fry to be with the mother in the beginning, but once they get large enough that she chases them away, it's time to separate them.
  9. Ben Rhau

    Hello

    It depends on whether your setup can accommodate a trio, but also it would be pretty easy to get just a male. Cacatuoides is the most commonly available species of apisto.
  10. Ben Rhau

    Setting up new 10 gallon

    Maybe Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis could work? I think @anewbie has done that.
  11. Ben Rhau

    question ph

    If his ppm is 30, it matters little whether it is GH or KH. The water is soft. Chestnut bark is acidic, so I think that's the reason. Did you make sure that the chestnut stump has been dead for some time (completely dry)? You want to ensure there are no sugars from a recently living plant...
  12. Ben Rhau

    Should Apisto Agassizii be kept in threes?

    Sure-- I wasn't making a claim about whether or not there would be aggression with this species or all species. Just that adding an additional female introduces variables that are often not taken into account when the general advice is given to keep trios to avoid too much attention/stress on...
  13. Ben Rhau

    Should Apisto Agassizii be kept in threes?

    I've kept trios of apistos (not agassizii) in a 20-long that was planted and scaped such that you could not see the other side of the aquarium either from the front or from either side. In my experience, having a third fish present makes the social dynamic more complicated (not necessarily...
  14. Ben Rhau

    Newbie questions

    I’ve used air hose before to keep plants separated from the air pump output. But I always had protein scum accumulate on the still portion, so I eventually stopped doing it.
  15. Ben Rhau

    Breeding question

    Here are things I've used my 2.5 gallon for: Breeding pairs of small fish, like many killifish or parosphromenus. They go back to the larger tank after spawning, however. Medication, recovery, or separation of small fish (less than 2" in size). Inverts (asellus, shrimp, or blackworms)
  16. Ben Rhau

    question on water hardness and leaching

    It's possible if you're using leaded crystal (quite unlikely) or painted glass (possible). But the amount of lead that would leach into the water would only be a few ppm, and it might take weeks to get to that point.
  17. Ben Rhau

    question on water hardness and leaching

    I don't think I could conclude anything from the results you've given, but I also don't think the substrate was leaching (independent of your test). If there's a diffrence with fresh substrate, I would think it's from debris that will eventually be rinsed away.
  18. Ben Rhau

    Apistogramma from Colombia and Venezuela

    The technique is far more important than the equipment.
  19. Ben Rhau

    question on water hardness and leaching

    I use mason jars.
  20. Ben Rhau

    question on water hardness and leaching

    In the future, it’s good to do all the treatments at the same time so the only thing that’s different is the thing you’re varying. i.e., the water starts the exact same, temp is always the same, etc.
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