Compatible Fish

[Furby]

I am about to switch my tank set-up. I have a 3.5 inch Kenyi and a 3 inch Auratus in a 38-gallon tank and it is getting to the point where the Kenyi is bullying the Auratus and the Auratus won't fight back. I know the tank is too small and that is why I am trying to get rid of the two fish I have. I did not find out how aggressive those two cichlids were until after I bought them. I bought them at Wal-Mart and they did not have info on them and they had them in a "mixed cichlid" tank. Anyways, I was planning on getting the new set-up going before adding any fish once I get rid of the fish I have and I was wondering how much the stuff that I put into my tank will lower the pH? I am going to have either sand or pea gravel or both as a substrate and I will have a piece of drift wood in the center of the tank plus a broken 6.5 inch clay pot will form caves across the floor of the tank. I will also have live plants in the tank (Indian Red Sword plant, Java Fern, Elodea, and eventually I might have a Java Moss wall). I also have a bubble disk and a bubble wall that I can put into the tank if it won't hurt the fish to have that much aeration or water movement. The filter that I am running on the tank is an Emporer 400. When I do set up the tank do any of you have suggestions for fish that would go well with Apistogramma Caucatuoides? I am looking for fish from the same region as the Caucatuoides (Columbia) and ones that are just as pretty or more pretty than the Caucatuoides. They would also have to be compatible with the Caucatuoides. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

the kenyi (metriclima lombardi) and the auratus (melaonchromis auratus) are 2 of the most aggressive mbuna known.

add to this these are a sp that need to be overstocked to keep the aggression down.

AND being kept in a tank that is FAR too small, they need a MINIMUM of a 4foot tank. if not bigger.

I think you can see therefore why your having issues.

with regard your pH question, a lot of that depends on what comes out the tap. bogwood releases tannins that may reduce the pH, however if the water has a high KH it will do near enough nothing to it.

as for compatible tankmates, most tetras, corydoras and small plecs (consider anstrisus sp) work well with them

 

[Furby]

The water comes out of the tap with a pH range of 7.0 - 7.2 and I don't know what the KH reading is because I don't even know what that term means. I have only been keeping fish for approx. 1 year and most of what I keep only care about the pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

 

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

KH is carbonate hardness, it is the measure of how well the water can buffer itself.

pH is generally indicative of what the general water parameters are. with 7-7.2 I would suspect you have pretty low levels of KH and GH (general hardness, calcium and magnesium mainly) though the pH may be resistant to dropping. the wood may have an effect, it may not, you'll just have to see.

 

[Furby]

Do you know how much it would cost to get a liquid reagent test kit for KH and GH if there is even such a thing? Also, if there is such a thing, would PetCo or Petsmart carry it?

 

[Mike Wise]

Tetra makes a good GH/KH test kit, Mardel makes test strips (ppm) that work, too. Both should be found in the 'big box' pet supply stores.

 

[Furby]

I have a question about the fish that I plan to put in this tank once I get it set up in the new set-up. Can I put a pair of Apisto. cacatuoide, a pair of Apisto. uaupesi, and a pair of Microgeophagus ramirezi in the same 38-gallon tank together? If not, maybe two of those pairs?