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  1. gerald

    Newbie questions

    Might as well get a few more cardinals too, so you have 10-12 of each of the schooling species.
  2. gerald

    Removing heavy tannin staining

    Toss them in a rain barrel outside for a few months?
  3. gerald

    P. pulcher Fry Showing Mouth Brooding Behavior

    Wow, never heard of a krib doing that, other than for short-term transport when retrieving runaway fry. But some of their not-too-distant cousins do it, like Chromidotilapia.
  4. gerald

    Newbie questions

    You didn't tell us the other tank dimensions, but assuming it's similar to a USA 40 or 50 gallon tank, you could probably safely house 40 or 50 small tetras and pencils along with the Apisto trio.
  5. gerald

    Inusual trifasciata colour

    The chemical pathway toward synthesizing melanin involves some intermediate steps that can produce yellow and red pigments. In a "xanthistic" mutation, some or all of the melanin production gets side-tracked and makes yellow pigment instead of black. As long it doesn't have any other...
  6. gerald

    Inusual trifasciata colour

    Looks like he's already grown up, based on those dorsal rays. Either he has low melanin production, or the bare tank and light-colored surroundings are making him stay pale. He might darken if placed in a tank with dark sand and more wood, plants, rocks, etc. Was he tank-bred, and if so, do...
  7. gerald

    Chromaphyosemion/Aphyosemion

    "Kribs" guarding fry are just as protective as most other good-parenting cichlids. Since the fry generally stay together near the bottom, I guess they don't need to defend quite so large and area around their fry cloud as some other cichlids. But they can certainly terrorize anyone who...
  8. gerald

    Chromaphyosemion/Aphyosemion

    I've kept Aphyo (now Fundulopanchax) gardneri together with small Tanganyika cichlids (Julies and shell-dwelling Lamp's). One particular male gardneri loved to fight with the cichlids.
  9. gerald

    Genetic, Environmental & Hybrid Sex Determination

    Some good discussion at the link below on the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in determining sex in Tilapia, including hybrids with a genetically skewed balance of testosterone vs estrogen. I'm guessing it's probably relevant to Apistos and many other cichlids too. It reminded...
  10. gerald

    Newbie questions

    Thanks - i thought peat was just a natural form of ion exchange; wasn't thinking about its chelation potential. Yes that would explain the conductivity drop.
  11. gerald

    Newbie questions

    I dont think peat can lower conductivity. The principal behind CEC (cation exchange) is that it absorbs hardness ions (+2) by exchanging them for other ions (+1). It may even increase conductivity as it lowers hardness, since two Na+ ions have more conductivity than one Ca+2 ion.
  12. gerald

    Ap. Borellii Opal - male and female?

    Looks like fin tips have been nibbled off, so fin length won't be useful until they have time to grow back. Lighting from the front might help, to show the blue iridescence on the cheeks better; males should have more.
  13. gerald

    Newbie questions

    Not true; GH and KH are independent, in a chemical sense: GH hardness is due to +2 ions (mainly Ca+2 and Mg+2) whereas KH alkalinity is due to carbonate, bicarbonate, phosphate, and other ions that neutralize acids by binding with free H+ ions. With chemicals you can easily create hard water...
  14. gerald

    Newbie questions

    Calcium carbonate (chalk) should raise GH and KH in roughly equal amounts. Since their reported KH is 4x higher than GH, i'd guess something else is being added (or naturally present?) such as sodium bicarbonate, sodium hydroxide, etc that raises KH but not GH. Yes, nitrification will...
  15. gerald

    What's this? Algea?

    Boiling driftwood won't necessarily get all the sap and other organics out. It may still grow fungus for awhile even after boiling.
  16. gerald

    Newbie questions

    Based on those parameters, yes Sphagnum or peat should lower the GH. The KH is probably due to a pH-booster added at the water treatment plant to reduce pipe corrosion, possibly NaOH. You can neutralize that directly with acid, or just let the bacterial nitrification process neutralize it.
  17. gerald

    What's this? Algea?

    I usually soak new wood in my rain barrels outside until they get over the slime-growing phase. P.S. - if that's all it takes to drive you mad, why the heck are you keeping discus? ;)
  18. gerald

    Newbie questions

    Yes, but both have only LIMITED potential to absorb hardness (mainly Ca and Mg ions). If your water hardness is more than about 4 dGH (70 mg/L) you probably won't notice any effect. I'm guessing that microwave treatment might burst the cells and reduce it's ion-exchange (softening) ability.
  19. gerald

    What's this? Algea?

    It's fungus and bacteria growing on the decaying organic matter left in the wood (sap, sugars, etc). It's harmless and will go away after all the decomposable material has leached out.
  20. gerald

    Hello from Missouri

    Welcome M. Another N. Amer native fish fan here; did my M.S. on shiners and stream communities in NC. Try these folks if you haven't already hooked up with them: http://www.missouriaquariumsociety.com/events.htm
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