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  1. dw1305

    From Frogs to Fish!

    Hi all, Welcome to Apistogramma.com Picture of the tank would be useful, basically you need lots of plants and cover, rockscape is much less important to Apistogramma spp. What are the dimensions of the cube? A lot of people make extensive use of "structural leaf litter" and floating plants...
  2. dw1305

    Pair Bonding Species

    Hi all, Yes, basically they are both <"common misconceptions"> in the hobby. Unfortunately the whole area of buffering and pH is <"conceptually quite difficult"> for "non-chemists", of which I'm one, as the linked <"UKAPS thread"> clearly demonstrates. The real problem is that you just can't...
  3. dw1305

    A. macmasteri Biotope Info

    Hi all, Agreed, it will flatten out over time anyway. You just don't need that much depth of sand if you don't have any plants planted in the substrate. I don't have any <"aquariums without plants"> (and I never will), but Water Lettuce <"Pistia stratiotes would be biotope acceptable">, and...
  4. dw1305

    Newbie questions

    Hi all, Both evergreen and deciduous Magnolia leaves are fine to use. I've used both. I only have <"experience of M. grandiflora"> as an evergreen and those leaves are very persistent. I don't treat them, I just give them a rinse and chuck them in. They use them as <"decor, and spawning...
  5. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, You may be able to float it off? Just put the peat / perlite in a bucket of RO water and give it a good stir? I know that @Mike Wise used to use <"undergravel filter plates"> and peat to prepare "blackwater" and @Microman put peat into a pillow-case to contain, I also did this when I...
  6. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, It floats and gets everywhere. cheers Darrel
  7. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, Eucalyptus leaf is no good, the seed pods might be though. I've got access to a fruiting Eucalyptus gunnii, so I'll try with that (but not in a tank with any fish). I'll heat the seed pod first to get it to release any seed. The advantage would be that the seed pods are persistent on...
  8. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, No, and worse than useless <"https://apistogramma.com/forum/threads/seachem-acid-buffer.915/#post-5410">. Perfect. Also perfect. I wouldn't change anything at that point. Where are you located? Can you pick your own Oak (Quercus spp.) or Alder (Alnus) "cones"? There are other "leaf"...
  9. dw1305

    dicrossus filamentosus or dicrossus maculatus

    Hi all, They spawned, but I never got any fry. There was a sub-adult Ancistrus L100 in the tank as well (not by design), so it may have eaten eggs or fry. They were fine all time they were juvenile, but as they matured they would have needed a much bigger tank as a group. cheers Darrel
  10. dw1305

    dicrossus filamentosus or dicrossus maculatus

    Hi all, I grew out four young Dicrossus maculatus in our rainwater, which has some carbonate buffering. They were unproblematic to keep and ended up a two pairs. I gave one pair away and kept the other pair. It all went well until they bloated, which I believe is quite common in Dicrossus...
  11. dw1305

    Macmasteri in Metaframe tank

    Hi all, I'm not sure I believe them. I've had the good / mis fortune to visit a lot of sewage works and the only place you get commercially collectable quantities of Chironomid larvae are grossly organically polluted. I have no compunction about feeding Bloodworms that I've <"ranched">...
  12. dw1305

    D24 How to improve Color?

    Hi all, Interesting. I'd guess that if they were getting a good diet, with crustaceans etc, that they were about as coloured up as they were going to be and that there wasn't any "extra" colour to develop. My fish get a lot of live food and on the rare occasions I've bought fish from a shop...
  13. dw1305

    D24 How to improve Color?

    Hi all, A diet <"rich in carotenoids"> will enhance red coloration. cheers Darrel
  14. dw1305

    Apistomaster

    Hi all, Sad news. I knew he was ill, but not that he had died. Larry will always be a hero for me. Ed Ruiz wrote a eulogy on PlanetCatfish (possibly the same one?) Cheers Darrel
  15. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, That is where I struggle, I'm not a chemist. I think it should go down, but pretty minimally. I might try lowering the temperature and / or waiting for low barometric pressure? cheers Darrel
  16. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, You've swapped a proton and I think that the proton (H+) would be a slightly less conductive than ions with a higher valency, like calcium (Ca++), and you swapped them 1 : 1. I think size is also important (smaller = more conductivity), and you can't get any smaller than a H+ ion, so...
  17. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all Peat would have some caution exchange capacity, (it would swap an internal H+ for a Ca++ etc. in the water column). Cheers Darrel
  18. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, That makes sense <"https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/did-you-know-when-you-are-drinking-tea-you-are-also-drinking-some-ink">. I think they are photodegraded as well <"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926669021011687">. cheers Darrel
  19. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, If I was going to get a "cheap" pH meter, I'd get a Hanna one. That is one of the issues, the electrodes needed to be stored in 3 mol. KCl. The other problem is just that they work via ion exchange and the internal reservoir of potassium ions will eventually be exhausted requiring a...
  20. dw1305

    Can I make blackwater using my tap water?

    Hi all, They need calibration every time you use them, and you really need a meter with "2 point calibration". The other problem is that pH meters aren't very good with low conductivity water, and this applies even to more expensive lab. type meters. You can stabilise the reading with a...
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