P. taeniolatus water parameter help required.

[Fogelhund]

I hope to receive some wild P. taeniolatus in the coming month.

My tap water parameters are ph 7.8 and hardness relatively soft, about 150 ppm.

The fish will be going into a 75 gallon aquarium, with some large driftwood, and plenty of plants.

I've been breeding Rift Cichlids for close to 25 years now, and never had to do anything with my water to keep them happy and breeding. I do believe it will be in the Pelvicachromis best health to reduce the ph some in this tank, and am wondering what suggestions people have.

One thing for certain, I do not wish to have miscoloured water, so peat is out of the question.

I might be able to get something to supply me with RO water. Is that a good option?

Thanks in advance.

 

[tjudy]

Which taeniatus type are you getting? Wild fish are a bit more picky about water parameters. Your water is good for keeping most species, but the pH is a bit high for breeding. The 150 ppm TDS would need to come down a bit too. The only taeniatus that I would immediately change your wate for (lower pH and reduce TDS) would be wouri.

 

[Fogelhund]

Hopefully some Makoure, and yes, Wild.

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Makoure"

Hello Brett,

So you're finally taking the plunge into soft water fish, huh? Well, it's about time!

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Makoure" is indeed a soft water fish. I've only ever kept them in soft and acidic water, so I don't know how they would fare in your tap water. As Ted states, however, for breeding you may need to make an adjustment.

Funny that you should think of water hardness of 150 ppm as fairly soft. I think of it as fairly hard! I guess the judgement depends on whether one keeps eastern African cichlids or western ones.

Treating your water with a moderate amount of peat moss will only discolor the water slightly; so little, in fact, that it is hardly noticeable. If a slight tea tinge is not to your liking, filtering your water over carbon will remove most of it.

Good luck with your new arrivals.

All the best,

Randall

 

[Z Rock]

R.O water

Hey Brett,Yea I'd say humping R.r getting a R.O machine would be about your only alternative.

 

[Z Rock]

Unless your trying to justify getting one of those fancy Co2 injection systems to the misses. :twisted:

 

[Fogelhund]

The following fish have been ordered.

Pv. taeniatus Makoure
Pv. subocellatus Moanda

Seperate source, I've order Glossepis pseudoincicus.

Additionally adding in some Cardinal Tetras, Limia Perugae, perhaps some Black Ruby Barbs as well.

I apologize in advance to those who have biotope type tanks, as I've seemingly hit nearly every continent with this tank.

I will be obtaining an RO unit, and as per suggestion, adding some Peat, along with Carbon to filter out some of the yellow tinge. I'll also include some plants, that I will pot, in some peat on my own.

I'll post a "blog" of the development of this tank, and the successes I hope to have with it.

Thanks for the help Randall, you've been great.