[QUESTION] Water Parameters

[DrunkenAlcoholic]

Hello peoples,
I am just getting into keeping dwarf cichlids and would like to know if the following parameters are suitable for breeding conditions. I have ordered TDS meter from ebay so TDS ppm wont be included until I get the meter

My Tap Water:
7.2 - 7.6 Ph
3 GH
3 KH


In aquarium with driftwood:
6.4 - 6.8 Ph
3 GH
2 KH

Species wanting to keep:
Quad red Cacatuoides
Orange Flash Cacatuoides
Agassizi Fire Gold
Apistogramma Sp.Tefe

Currently have a rack with 4 x 2ft and 1 x 4ft tanks, also have another 6ft and 4ft but I prefer to keep these apistorgramma's in the rack, the current fish that's there now is

Aquariums on the rack:
#1 4Ft L x 1.5ft W x 1ft H(178 liters)
Albino Corydora x 4, neon tetra x 7, Harlequin rasbora x 4

#2 2ft L x 1.5ft W x 1ft H(89 Liters)
L397 x 10

#3 2ft L x 1.5ft W x 1ft H(89 Liters)
L007 x 10

#4 2ft L x 1.5ft W x 1ft H(89 Liters)
Royal Whiptails x 6

#5 2ft L x 1.5ft W x 1ft H(89 Liters)
Growout tank, currently Red terror Festae's and Albino bristlenose.


So based on my water parameters and what I would like to keep and what tanks I have with current fish in them, can you point me in the right direction so I get a good start, All the rack tanks utilize 1 or more hamburg mattern filter with power heads, I have doubled the recommended surface area for the mattern filters to insure I am over filtering.

 

[gerald]

Yes pH 6.0 to 6.8 and GH and KH around 2 - 3 degrees should be fine for most species of Apistos, except for certain "serious blackwater" species. A. cacatuoides and agassizi should do fine; I don't know about A. sp. "Tefe".

 

[Mike Wise]

A. sp. Tefé will easily live in such water values, but need lower pH & hardness values for breeding.

 

[DrunkenAlcoholic]

Thanks Gerald and Mike, I feel more confident getting the "all ok" on water parameters from experts like your self's. I am glad that the Tefe will be fine in that water, I will maybe invest in a RO unit next year for breeding after I have played around with the cacatuoides and agassizi's.

Also just out of interest, based on what I currently have in those 5 tanks and sizes of them, do you think the apisto's will be okay in those tanks? im guessing the L007 tank is out of the question as they have been know to eat fish, also still have a awhile for the festae fry to grow out so that tank is out also. I guess what left is the 4ft with neo tetras and rasbora's, I am thinking 2 pairs in this tank, and then a single pair in with the whiptails and a single pair in with the L397's

 

[Mike Wise]

None of the tanks in the photos are ideal. They are just too open and don't have visual territorial boundaries. Properly decorated any of the tanks is large enough for breeding tanks. None of the tankmates are ideal either. Neons are efficient fry predators and loricarids often bother females and sometimes enter caves at night and eat eggs.