What Apisto's are good for PH 7-7.5

[Aaron T.]

I sure this has been asked many times but I was wondering if anyone has an extensive list on which species will do good in a PH of this range?

My PH 7.4
Medium Hard water

I have debated an RO unit, but if the wife sees one more piece of equipment I might die..
Where I live the water would need extensive conditioning to get PH below 6.9 and hardness down My current supposed to be impossible Cardinal tetras do well in water specs...

If anyone has some Ideas it would be greatly appreciated....

 

[Linus_Cello]

Other alternatives:
Collect rain water/snow
Collect water from your de-humidifier/air-conditioning unit (may want to stick some polyfil in it if you are concerned with copper or other metal contaminants)
Buy a 40 gallon trash bin, fill it with garden peat moss and water and let the water steep for about a 72+ hours, then use this water (it will be tea colored from the tannins). Refill bin with water and continue to use until the water stops becoming stained and use new peat moss.

 

[Mike Wise]

Some species that are commonly available and should breed in slightly basic and moderately hard water are A. cacatuoides, A. cf. alacrina (Rotpunkt), and A. borellii. A. steindachneri is another possibility. Most whitewater species are worth a try, too. Even A. macmasteri should work. One way to look at this is most species that have many different domestic color strains are good candidates.

 

[jloponte]

Some species that are commonly available and should breed in slightly basic and moderately hard water are A. cacatuoides, A. cf. alacrina (Rotpunkt), and A. borellii. A. steindachneri is another possibility. Most whitewater species are worth a try, too. Even A. macmasteri should work. One way to look at this is most species that have many different domestic color strains are good candidates.

This is interesting...can you please explain what you mean by "...different domestic color strains...". Does this mean they are more "adaptable"? Are the species you mention examples of this?
I am in a similar situation and would like to try keeping apistos.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[Mike Wise]

You'll find that many of the domestically produced color strains are in species that are easy to breed - read don't demand special water conditions. Good examples are all of the red and orange varieties of A. cacatuoides & the color forms of A. macmaster ("A. viejita") and A. hongsloi. A. agassizii is a bit of an exception, but most need only slightly more demanding water values. Hope that makes sense.

 

[jloponte]

Mike, thanks for advice. I was about to ask you about a guide to grouping/geographical/organizational information when I googled upon your tremendous article "A DESCRIPTION OF APISTOGRAMMA SPECIES-GROUPS" on the "Martin and Tom" site. Plenty to digest there...I'm obviously new at this and overwhelmed by the amount of data that has been collected. Thanks for your generosity.

 

[MonteSS]

Just dont get wild caught fish. Domestically bred fish are so many generations from wild that they should do fine in your water.

...Bill

 

[Mike Wise]

It really depends on the species of wild fish. Some are delicate and others will work just fine. When in doubt Monte's suggestion works.