Deionized water for Apistogramma.

[merlin]

I have what has been said elsewhere soft water but that it probably contains phosphates which are buffering my ph at 6. If I bought a deionize filter and resin does anyone have an opinion on what minerals i need to replenish for apistos breeding. My tapwater reads Ph 7.8 gh 3, KH, ammonias and nitrates all negligible. TDS 42. I filter my storage barrels through peat and add tannins.

Derek

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

My tapwater reads Ph 7.8 gh 3, KH, ammonias and nitrates all negligible. TDS 42. I filter my storage barrels through peat and add tannins

That sounds pretty good for tap water. You are probably right about the phosphates and buffering, as you may remember we had this discussion with the seller of "Ultiphos" on the BCA forum <http://www.britishcichlid.org.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=7161>, it gets a bit chemical, and starts fairly acrimoniously, but the tone does improve and it has a lot of useful detail, including a description of PIMS (phosphate induced metal stabilization).

If you did go to 100% RO, you should have a small volume of rejected water (but not if the water is very cold), and very long membrane life.

I think a number of successful breeders of the extreme black water Apistogramma spp. just peat filter their RO and don't do anything else to it. I can't find the thread, but I'm pretty sure that is what "microman" does., and there is mention of his method and Mike Wise's here: <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/index.php?threads/question-extravaganza.8189/>

If you want to add some buffering you could use the details here:
<http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/RO.htm>

cheers Darrel

 

[merlin]

Hi Darrel.
What about by passing the RO stage and just using a DI filter since the tap water is pretty good. Add good minerals anf hopefully fish all happy and laying.

Derek

 

[Mike Wise]

Would plants help with the phosphate problem?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Yes, you could just use a DI resin, although this becomes as expensive as buying an RO unit when you factor in the costs of replacing the resins. A product like "Ultiphos" would reduce the P levels, but again you would have on-going costs.

Would plants help with the phosphate problem?

Mike has the answer for me, the answer is always plants. A slight problem is that as your water is very good quality all ready, and it may lack the nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) required for enough plant growth to reduce the P levels. Although NPK are the plant macro-nutrients, plants use about x10 more N & K than they do P. Additionally although iron will be available, magnesium and/or calcium levels may be low enough to be limiting for plant growth. You could add small amounts of these, but that would really be the "tail wagging the dog".

Personally I'd just the peat filtered tap, and ignore pH and phosphate levels. Another option is the one I use rain-water, it is free and naturally distilled, and at least an inch (25mm) seems to fall on us every day at the moment.

cheers Darrel