Lost my male :(

[77railer]

Hey gang,
I came home yesterday to find my male Agassizii on the bottom of the tank and noticed a red sore on his side. I just did a 50% water change the night before. When I called my LFS they said that is usually due to a bacterial infection which could be onset by water being to soft. I checked the tank water and it was PH 7.2 Am 0 Ni 0 Na 0 KH 1.5
The water coming from my tap (well water) was a mixture of hot and cold which I tested to be PH 6 Am 0 Ni 0 Na 0 KH 0

I have a few questions about this.
1.) What and how much can I put in my tank wether it be crushed coral/arogonite to maintain the KH at 2. Is a KH of 2 ok for breeding?
2.) Will the drop in KH when I do water changes effect my fish much?
3.) Is KH even an issue?

Out of this list what do you think if anything is causing the KH and PH to increase in the tanks.
Sponge Filter (not likely)
Terracotta Pot (purchased at lowes)
Coconut Cave (cleaned out and boiled for 3 twenty minute sessions)
Sandblasting Sand(quartz based - rinsed and rinsed and rinsed)

I apologize for the long post, I just want to get things right so I wont loose anymore fish. Thanks for all your help...77Railer

 

[DH247]

I would expect it to be something else. Apistos come from very soft and acidic waters. They prefer water params like pH 6 or less and below 2 GH, kH and 0 on everything else.

I would be more concerned about how your pH swung up over a degree. The pH scale is logarithmic, so that one degree is an exponential factor, not a multiplier. Do you have anything in the tank that would cause the pH to rise? Any concrete type rocks? This reaction could also have produced your rise in kH. Typically GH and kH will act as buffers so your pH will not swing wildly.

Your well water is ideal for apistos!! Provided your phosphates are near 0 as well. Use it and do water changes at least once a week, ideally twice. I do not recommend adding anything to raise the pH of your tank.

I would maybe consider the sandblasting sand. It may not be of pure composition and contain other elements that can alter pH. I do know the dust from it is quite nasty stuff, and even though you have rinsed and rinsed some fines content may require strong mechanical washing to free it. How long has the tank been setup for? How long was it cycled? How many fish did you add at once? What were your water parameters while the tank was cycling?

If I've mixed anything up I'm sure someone will pipe in (and appreciative I would be!) Good luck 77.

 

[77railer]

I might remove the sand and go with play sand. Im using sponge filters that ran for a week in a 55G established tank that I then transfered to my twenties the day before the fish arrive. So the water in the tank water never cycled but the sponges should have been established by then. Frequent water changes never allowed any ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite to be shown.

Other than sand being a possible I did notice when breaking the clay pots that there is a grey material between layers of terracotta like a filler of some type was used. I do not know if this is normal or not. Any direction is appreciated. Thanks for the reply...77Railer

Can anyone chime in on the sand blasting sand? Supposed to be quartz based.

 

[Bev N]

We use sandblasting sand in a lot of our tanks after the local store discoutinued the torpedo beach which was rather expensive anyway.

I have no problem with it at all. I have it in tanks with everything from corydoras to I. adoketa without any problems. We found it to be just as stable and a whole lot cheaper. We didn't go with play sand because we would have ended up with a ton of that going out the drain or getting stuck in the sump.

I also have a bunch of triple reds cacs in the tank with the adoketa. When I moved the cacs to set this 50gal up for the adoketa I missed a few. We are using pure r/o water for the adoketa and it's has no ill effects on the apistos. Actually I think they are spawning in there as I see one really bossy very yellow female competing with the adoketa for food....she eats first and is probably 1/10 their size! So the kh should not be a problem for yours either.

 

[77railer]

Thanks, I have no clue what caused it then. Might have been a fluke as I have 20 Juvenile Golden Rams, Pair of Pelvicachromis, and Laetacara Dorsigera using the same water source and have no problems with them.

Any idea about the grey material between the terracotta pot outer layers?

77Railer

 

[dw1305]

Plants

Hi all,
Hi 77Railer, I would be a little concerned by the rise in the pH, it's either the sand or the pot. The other question that interests me is, did the tank have established plants in it? and had it only been set up recently? if it was a new set-up with no or just new plants? I don't think the biological filtration provided by the sponges was sufficient, even with the frequent water changes.

I probably differ from some of the more experienced fish keepers on this forum, in that I like to leave all my tanks planted, but untenanted for several months before I put any fish in them, this is because I'm not a very confident fish keeper. I don't use CO2 or feed my plants, and I haven't gone the whole Diana Walsted way, but I mix some woodland soil into the sand, (it includes both clay and leaf mould), before capping it with more quartz sand. I also add some Malaysian Trumpet Snails, and some tank debris and java moss with Asellus, Planarians, Ostracods, Daphnia etc. This allows the biofilm and algae to build up, and hopefully, for the tank to fully stabilize before I add the fish. I don't then cycle it as such, just add the fish. I do light filter maintenance, and occasional water changes, but once the fish are in, I change 10% of the water every day.

It's not a method that everybody would recommend, but I like it because it doesn't require much fishkeeping ability, and takes the water quality variable out of the equation when things go wrong.The other really big advantage I think with Apistogramma's is that there is plenty of live food for them when they are first introduced to the tank. I don't mind watching the tank when it doesn't have any fish in it, I like watching the invertebrates, and if anyone comes round and asks where the fish are, I just tell them that my (entirely fictitious) breeding colony of L46 are in there, and they don't come out in daylight.

cheers Darrel