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  1. Ben Rhau

    Tank mates for a. panduro

    You may have already concluded this yourself, but I would personally not add any fish until you can get the pair into a larger tank, preferably the 29. I'm not surprised at the aggression against the pencil fish given the small footprint, low waterline, and a female ready to spawn. The pencil...
  2. Ben Rhau

    I need help!

    They look like snail eggs to me.
  3. Ben Rhau

    Wild apistogramma agassizi

    The footprint on a 30-gal cube is OK for a pair, though a longer tank is preferable. Can you show a shot of the full tank? If the fish can see across the tank, then a couple of them could get killed soon if not moved/separated. 4 apistos are too many for these dimensions, in my opinion.
  4. Ben Rhau

    Hi from Belgium

    If you haven't already, you may want to ask for help about your diatom issue on the UKAPS forum, which has a lot of plant experts. This forum tends to focus more (not completely, but more so) on the fish's needs. The floating plants will make the fish feel more comfortable, and you can have...
  5. Ben Rhau

    Hi from Belgium

    I just wanted to know which kind it was. If it were black beard algae, for example, it's harder to get rid of and you would need to kill what's there. When people say "brown algae" I'm not always sure if they're saying "it's some kind of algae and it's brown," or "it's diatoms" as Mac said...
  6. Ben Rhau

    Hi from Belgium

    Yes, just wanted to make sure it wasn't BBA or something else. In the photos, it definitely appears to be diatoms. I didn't catch earlier that you're using CO2. High tech tanks are out of my realm of experience, but that is a bright light. I think it's well worth having a dimmer to control that...
  7. Ben Rhau

    Hi from Belgium

    Do you know whether it's algae or diatoms? In either case, excess nutrients are probably not the problem. Algae can grow in extremely low nutrient environments, but plants cannot. And algae tend to proliferate when plants are not doing well. Plants usually don't do well because there's too much...
  8. Ben Rhau

    My Apistogramma borellii

    The water doesn't "capture" CO2, it happens passively through diffusion. Diffusion is very efficient without the need for flow or forced circulation. Think of what happens when you put a drop of food coloring in water. It very quickly makes its way through the water without needing mechanical...
  9. Ben Rhau

    My Apistogramma borellii

    The conventional wisdom on the forums is that, because pure water has "no" buffer, any small amount of ion change will swing the pH and there is nothing to stabilize it. There are a few key reasons this idea isn't relevant for aquariums: Perhaps the easiest way to think about it is that it's...
  10. Ben Rhau

    Introducing microfauna: scuds, amphipods, isopods into botanical tank

    Yes, that's also my experience. It's definitely nice to have other things growing in the tank. Some people even try to make the tank self-sustaining. That's not easy to do, and comes with its pros and cons. On one hand, when the fish have plenty to eat that's living in the tank, they don't...
  11. Ben Rhau

    Introducing microfauna: scuds, amphipods, isopods into botanical tank

    They have them at Aqua Imports. But I would suggest Tangerine Tigers. They will probably work, unless your TDS is below 50. And they are a LOT cheaper. Scavengers aren't really needed if you don't overfeed. Apistos are eartheaters and will definitely browse the substrate for leftovers. That...
  12. Ben Rhau

    Introducing microfauna: scuds, amphipods, isopods into botanical tank

    Where are you based? E. amazoniensis is available in the States. And also: Do you really need blackwater shrimp? And/or do you mainly want them to populate a regional biotope?
  13. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    Can you import the borellii yourself?
  14. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    Of course, it's completely up to you. You don't need to keep only 1 pair unless it's a 20 gallon tank. A 65 opens up options to keep a colony in that genus without having to return the unpaired fish. Whereas with ortegai, you're limited to 2 - 4 fish. I think they're interesting because they...
  15. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    On that note, I've seen Dicrossus foirni listed recently. Those are usually very hard to find, so that could be an intriguing possibility if you like that fish.
  16. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    The reason they kill each other is that people put 5 or 6 in a 30 gallon tank, waiting to see them sex out, since they're not sexable as juveniles. If you wait even a little too long, they eventually get too big for that tank. Might be easier in a 65, especially for the larger species like D...
  17. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    I agree. I'm not sure what I would do with a 65 gallon tank, since most of the fish I'm interested in don't need large tanks. Perhaps a colony of Dicrossus would be interesting? Or a display tank.
  18. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    I'm saying that aside from borellii and some other species/species groups that have been in the trade a long time, we don't have that much information on species-specific behavior and variance. The information we have is anecdotal, so it's hard to make general statements for a species based on...
  19. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    Title of your post: Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai? Two groups, based on above info, is 2 x (4 females and 2 males) = 8 females and 4 males. You probably are asking about two trios, not two groups. But that part is less important than how many fish. 2M2F is technically...
  20. Ben Rhau

    Is 48inchx16inch large enough for two groups of ortegai?

    You asked if it was big enough for two groups, and then said a group is 4 females and 2 males. Sorry if I misunderstood, just going by what you wrote.
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