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  1. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    I would personally not put 4 males in that tank (2 groups of 4:2). I don't think there's a clear answer to how many, because it's so dependent on context and individual temperament of the fish. The keepers I know who have kept ortegai had to be fairly vigilant to deal with extreme aggression...
  2. Ben Rhau

    Happy day!

    If there is proper structure, a lot of the footprint will be taken up by hardscape or plants, so it will not be empty. If you prefer to see more fish in the tank, you could instead get a large number of smaller shoaling fishes. Dwarf cichlids demand large territories.
  3. Ben Rhau

    Juvenile Borellii “pantanal” sexing

    Check out <this thread>. How big are they?
  4. Ben Rhau

    Advice on buffering water

    There is no way the pH will go below 3 unless you add acid. Dissolved CO2 will buffer it enough that it won't go below 5.5 or 6. But also logically: If the pH could fluctuate that much without intervention, then the numerical pH would be meaningless. The water itself hasn't changed much.
  5. Ben Rhau

    Hi from London, UK

    If you really want to breed macs, what you need is bigger tanks, not smaller ones. The 60l you have is suitable for a single macmasteri, not a breeding pair. So my recommendation was for an 80cm tank for breeding. 75-80l might not seem much bigger than a 60l, but it's the footprint (in this case...
  6. Ben Rhau

    Is there such a thing as too much baby brine shrimp?

    BBS is an excellent food, but it's low in highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). In <killifish>, HUFA deficiencies have been observed to impair growth and health. The same has been <characterized in commercial fish husbandry>. The mysis you feed is likely high in HUFA. I tend to supplement the...
  7. Ben Rhau

    Hello and questions about my Trifasciata couple

    You can search for them on this site. Many, if not most questions can be answered via search. @MacZ has shared an <example schematic of tank structure> a few times. And @dw1305 often shares a <view of a heavily planted tank> from the front.
  8. Ben Rhau

    Hi from London, UK

    The water parameters depend on the species. I believe Macmasteri come from clearwater, so there's no need to go as low as 0GH and 0KH. In my opinion, a 60l cube (38cm x 38cm footprint) is too small for a breeding pair of Macs. They get larger than some apistos, and I would recommend 80cm...
  9. Ben Rhau

    Male or Female Hongsloi?

    The yellow/wasp coloration is breeding dress. That’s a female. If you see the female tilting to the side around the male, that’s a good sign for breeding activity.
  10. Ben Rhau

    Identifying wild viejitas

    By "stick to," Mac is saying that he's 100% confident in the species ID. They are macmasteri, for sure. Apistogramma viejita is not a breed, but a species. They are virtually impossible to source at the moment and never available for general sale. I don't believe there's a "benefit" to having...
  11. Ben Rhau

    Does the perfect fish exist?

    You could do albimarginata/channoides, but I think the tank would be too small for unimaculata complex. The challenge with Dicrossus is that they're almost never available sexed, so it's hard to guarantee a pair unless you buy a group and separate the pair out.
  12. Ben Rhau

    Does the perfect fish exist?

    There is no so such thing as "perfect." It really depends on what you're interested in and what your goals are. A 20 gallon high is the same footprint as a 15 gallon. You could probably do a pair of Apistogrammoides pucallpaensis in a 15, assuming you can move fish around when they breed. I...
  13. Ben Rhau

    Best killilfish for a breeding apistogramma d18 pair

    You'll get varying answers on this, but it really depends on what your priorities are. Both clown killifish and pencil fish are social and benefit from being in larger groups of 6 - 8 or more. However, if breeding the apistos is your priority, I would personally go with fewer dither/target fish...
  14. Ben Rhau

    Stocking with Panduro pair

    This is definitely better than starting with a sterile tank. I think the statement "enough to maintain a lot of helpful bacteria" is where there is some uncertainty, since those populations aren't static. That said, you can still get by in the early going with lighter feedings and more frequent...
  15. Ben Rhau

    Stocking with Panduro pair

    Haha yes, I guess a simpler way to say it is that we dig pencil fish and eques are much cheaper than mortenthaleri. :)
  16. Ben Rhau

    Stocking with Panduro pair

    I've never kept Pseudomugil, but with apistos I've kept both Nannostomus marginatus and N. unifasciata, the latter of which look similar to eques. I believe most of the species are suitable, but some find that N. beckfordi can more aggressively pursue apisto fry. Otherwise, they are compatible...
  17. Ben Rhau

    tannins, apparent effect on floating plants

    I see obvious nutrient deficiencies in some tanks and not others. As I observe more, I don't think it's related to tint. But I do have tanks with nearly identical water chemistry and see plants happy in one and not the other. These are all soft water tanks.
  18. Ben Rhau

    I'm truly at a loss here, please help (cycling low KH tank)

    Out of curiosity, I searched for Euryrhynchus, and did find a seller in the US. They are $10 each. I probably would have bought these when I set up my Parosphromenus tank had I known about them. They are 3x the cost of Tangerine Tigers (a Caridina species) which now live in that tank. The...
  19. Ben Rhau

    I'm truly at a loss here, please help (cycling low KH tank)

    There isn't a lot of nitrogen in botanicals, because plants tend absorb sugars and nitrogen compounds from leaves before they shed them. The ones you're adding are the shedded, dead leaves. I don't doubt that one can create a traditional "fishless cycle" with added ammonia. I just don't think...
  20. Ben Rhau

    I'm truly at a loss here, please help (cycling low KH tank)

    Not knowing where this came from, my advice would be to determine whether the person who said this has had success with true blackwater species. The bacteria and archaea needed are everywhere. They will find their way into your tank, particularly if you add plants. I'm extremely skeptical of...
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