Water Parameters

[fishscale]

I haven't kept any apistogramma yet, and I'm trying to get more info. How vital is it to have low pH and TDS for apistos? I am thinking about 2 male cacatuoides in a 55g. I don't have an RO filter, and I probably don't have the money for one at this point in time. My tap is fairly hard, according to the town water report. The pH is anywhere from 8.1-9.3, and the hardness is 143 ppm (I am not sure if the report is referring to kH or gH, but I would guess gH. There is another report that lists the alkalinity at 38 ppm as CaCO3) Sodium is at 48 ppm (I believe some might be added during treatment to reduce hardness). What I am planning to do is use RO from grocery store filters and fill up the tank with a mix of RO and tap. I am also thinking about running a dedicated HOB filter in addition to my canister that just has peat pellets in it. What would you recommend?

 

[Mike Wise]

I look at your water values & wonder how your water can have a pH around 9; certainly upper 7 or 8, but 9?

If you have any tetras in your tanks, then you should be able to keep A. cacatuoides in the same water. This is a "whitewater" (muddy water - not fast water) species that has been collected in the wild in water values close to your tap's (I doubt that they would breed in it, however). If you are bringing in the cockatoos from somewhere outside your area, you might want to acclimate them slowly by starting with ½ R/O and ½ tap water. Then use only tap water for weekly water changes.

 

[fishscale]

I'm not sure how accurate the gH/kH values are, but I have tested for pH many times at around 8.2

I would be getting fish roughly from the same area, but I think the LFS uses RO, since they breed the fish themselves.

 

[Mike Wise]

Your cockatoos will handle pH 8.2 fine. If these were bred by your LFS, you might want to talk to them about how the would keep them in a non-breeding community tank. I would imagine that the fish would have no problems in local tap water.