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That would be boring! And you might miss something interesting going on in the tanks! I used to use buckets but now, with a couple of quite big tanks, I use a siphon out into the garden and hosepipe in. except recently the dwarf pike cichlids tank where I am preparing the water first -...
Yes, I realize it will take a while, and I haven't been able to do water changes every day, (mostly due to long power cuts, when the power is off we board up the tanks to conserve heat, and when its on there are always lots of other things that need doing). And my peat container is not very...
OK maybe I will not use it this time then, to be on the safe side. Also as it was raining very hard quite a lot of stuff ran off the roof. We live out in the country but as you say, you never know what rain water picks up on the way. With the peat water I am only changing about 40l (10...
Do you think t will be Ok to use the rainwater? Power will be off between 9.00 -1300h today so I won't be doing the water change until later. It doesn't look clean but I can't think that it would have anything harmful in it...
I have changed the water in the tank for peat water a couple of times since I last posted. I haven't needed to change the peat yet, the water with peat is still going down to pH 5.5 in a day. But the tank is staying at 6.5 still and the TDS has increased to 37, I suppose that is still quite...
I haven't bred them - but maybe put all together so they can select their own mates? (if the males don't try to kill each other?). Have you tried raising the temperature to around 80-82F?
Also the cardinals would soon disappear....
Various dwarf pikes do occur together with Apistogrammas, I am not sure about those two particular species, but Wallaciia regani has quite a large distribution, unlike some other dwarf pikes. I have the orinoco dwarf pikes, which do supposedly need...
Today the peat water was down to pH 5.5 (approx). I changed another 10 gallons in the tank. I suppose this way pH and temperature changes will be (very) gradual at least...
This time I put the peat water into the top filter not direct to the tank, still cloudy but not as bad as last time.
So the undergravel filter has definitely helped. I did change the small air pump I used initially for a water pump that circulates the water through the peat more effectively, and I added a bit more peat. Before the water was staying stubbornly around pH 6.5-6.6, always the same, and the same...
If you intend to breed the Apistogrammas, then yes it would be better to omit the tetras, to avoid stress for the female trying to defend the fry. Also in that case you should position the wood as MacZ suggested so that it makes more of a line of sight break across the middle (approx), so that...
Well the peat water container is in the same room as the tank, and that room does not normally get very cold, especially at this time of the year. At the moment the temperature of the peat water is 21C (about 70F) (yes much warmer than out of the tap) and the tank is nearly 27C (about 80F)...
Mm yes heaters are unpredictable, I have had new ones stop working after a few months, and some I have had for years with no issues. I don’t have a fish room, my (currently) 5 tanks are in 3 different rooms, so I do need to use heaters unfortunately.
I also did this accidentally a couple of years ago. One of the water pipes in the house had got blocked and the water pressure dropped so that the gas went out and I didn't realize the water was coming out cold until the tank temperature had dropped from 26 to below 20 very quickly, all the...
Yes, I will be keeping it at room temperature, I don't really want to add yet another heater! As its just for one tank I'll just check the temperature difference and heat the water change water if necessary.
For my other tanks I just run a hosepipe from a warm water tap and turn down the gas...
Many thanks, that is very clear explanation, I will try to set this up this afternoon. I am sure the rocks from our river are inert as the water is so soft, and I have some in my other ranks. My peat water container is smaller I think, but anyway I’ll see how it goes.
Mm well I don’t have matten filters, I will try Mike’s method, I didn’t have enough bits of UG filter left so will get one tomorrow, I found what I think is a suitable bag for the peat pillow. The peat should help to make the water more acidic theoretically…
Many thanks, I added a little of...
That sounds like a good plan, I'll see what I can do with the water change water, I have some pieces of a UG filter that I cut up for something else, maybe I can make one with what I have left or, if not I can get hold of another cheaply. I won't put anything other than leaves in the tank...