Hello from Illinois

[Leliana10]

Hi!

My name is Sarah and I'm a college student. I'm just getting into this hobby so I am very new at it and thus will have a lot of questions. I got my first tank in March, an impulse buy, but it is set up and cycled now. I love doing research and learning new things. I plan on having a community tank with some snails and a pair of Apistogramma along with some nano fish. I'm here to learn more about cichlids and caring for them.

 

[Pellegrino]

What are your water quality conditions

 

[Leliana10]

What are your water quality conditions

Ammonia- 0ppm
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrate- 5.0ppm
Low PH- 7.6
High PH- 7.4
GH-214.8

Is that everything? or am I forgetting anything?

 

[Pellegrino]

I have cockatoos orange and red Facebook three different times 2 different pairs my pH is low to Middle sixes you might want to get that down

 

[Leliana10]

I have cockatoos orange and red Facebook three different times 2 different pairs my pH is low to Middle sixes you might want to get that down

Okay. How would I go about lowering it? I know there are chemicals you can use to lower the PH but is there a natural method? I do have plants and driftwood in my tank, I don't know if that would make a difference.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Pellegrino]

I filter my tap water through a RO unit and I also collect rainwater which drops it down too low sixes and they also have almond leaves in the tank so far it is been doing well for me I have probably 70-80 fry all various ages now up to a couple months old

 

[Leliana10]

I filter my tap water through a RO unit and I also collect rainwater which drops it down too low sixes and they also have almond leaves in the tank so far it is been doing well for me I have probably 70-80 fry all various ages now up to a couple months old

Okay. So I could use almond leaves to lower the ph? Wouldn't that add tannins to the water? I've read that having tannins helps the fish not be as stressed and brings out their color too.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Pellegrino]

Absolutely it gives a little tent to the water I have about 4 to 5 leaves per 10 gallons at like it to be a little on the heavy side

 

[Leliana10]

Absolutely it gives a little tent to the water I have about 4 to 5 leaves per 10 gallons at like it to be a little on the heavy side

Okay. I could probably get some off of Amazon next month. I plan on adding my fish over the next few months or so, starting with the snails and smaller fish first. So I don't need to buy the leaves right away.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[Pellegrino]

Google what type of leaves that can go into a fish tank you could collect the oak leaves will work Magnolia leaves too

 

[Leliana10]

Google what type of leaves that can go into a fish tank you could collect the oak leaves will work Magnolia leaves too

Okay. I will do that! Thank you!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[gerald]

I think your hardness (and probably KH alkalinity too) are too high for the leaves to have much of a softening or pH-lowering effect. I would choose Apisto species that do well in harder, near-neutral water, like trifasciata, borellii, cacatuoides, macmasteri, and several others. Later on, if you really fall in love with soft/acidic water species, then you can consider getting an RO unit, or collecting rainwater. But since you're new at this, don't make it too difficult by trying to keep fish that aren't compatible with your local water as-is. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Leliana10]

I think your hardness (and probably KH alkalinity too) are too high for the leaves to have much of a softening or pH-lowering effect. I would choose Apisto species that do well in harder, near-neutral water, like trifasciata, borellii, cacatuoides, macmasteri, and several others. Later on, if you really fall in love with soft/acidic water species, then you can consider getting an RO unit, or collecting rainwater. But since you're new at this, don't make it too difficult by trying to keep fish that aren't compatible with your local water as-is. Just my 2 cents.

I can check my kh to see what it is. Yeah I was thinking about either the borellii or the cacatuoides, they keep coming up on cichlids for beginners lists. Well would having tannins in the help all the fish to feel more at home, even if it doesn't do to much for the ph?

Edit: I just checked my kh, it is 71.6 or 4 drops of the testing liquid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[gerald]

Yes I think tannins and lignins from wood/leaves are still beneficial even if they dont lower the pH. Your KH isn't as high as I expected. Around here (central NC) GH and KH values are typically pretty close to each other. My tap water GH and KH are both around 25 to 35 mg/L. High GH can be a problem for egg fertility in some of the soft-water species; not an issue if you're not planning to breed them. Is this the "column" tank mentioned in your other thread? If so, I'd get A. borellii. Most of the larger Apisto species are more territorial, and really need more horizontal space than a column offers. A single Apisto would be OK in a column, along with the tetras and danios you listed in the other thread.

 

[Leliana10]

Yes I think tannins and lignins from wood/leaves are still beneficial even if they dont lower the pH. Your KH isn't as high as I expected. Around here (central NC) GH and KH values are typically pretty close to each other. My tap water GH and KH are both around 25 to 35 mg/L. High GH can be a problem for egg fertility in some of the soft-water species; not an issue if you're not planning to breed them. Is this the "column" tank mentioned in your other thread? If so, I'd get A. borellii. Most of the larger Apisto species are more territorial, and really need more horizontal space than a column offers. A single Apisto would be OK in a column, along with the tetras and danios you listed in the other thread.

I'm from Illinois so that would explain the difference between kh and gh, are they normally close to each other?

Yeah it is. The column tank is 13.5" square that is has 3" on substrate so the is 18" of space left for swimming and it's overall height 24".(the tank was an impulse buy). I guess I should have mentioned that in my original post.

Well I was told the danios would not work in this tank due to being tall instead of long. I also told the same thing would apply to the apistogramma species. Would that be the case for apistogramma borellii or apistogramma cacatuoides?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk