Does hard water (high kh/gh/ph) adversely affect cichlid breeding?

[yaajer]

Every time my cichlids spawn, the eggs do not hatch. I've somewhat tracked it down to my water being too hard. Does hard water, high ph 8+ with high kh/gh prohibit the fertilization of the eggs during breeding? Are eggs produced by female cichlids that have lived in hard water for a long time 'harder' than those who live in soft/neutral water? I've searched a lot on this topic, and there seems to be some information here and there, but not much.

So the question is, I'd like to soften my water with as little maintenance as possible.

My questions:
1) If I add some peat moss (125 gallon), what should I expect and how much/little should be added to safely bring down the water hardness yet allow the current fish enough time to acclimate to the new water parameters.

2) I will also be adding some cholla wood into the tank. Will this also soften the water? Do I need both the cholla wood and peat moss?

3) Doing weekly water changes of about 25-30%, how will the tap water affect the current treated water in my tank?

4) How often should I replace the cholla wood and peat moss (fulval peat granules)?

I have a ro/di unit, but the collected water is extremely small compared to what gets washed away. Do I collect 30gallons of water each week for my water changes? Or do I simply just leave the fish to breed and take the eggs out into a 10 gallon treated RO/DI water that has nutrients put back in, and say no the trying to modify the water?

 

[flukekiller]

well since you are talking about the eggs im guessing they are not mouth brooders... first off what type of cichlid as there are
hard water and soft water cichlids. i would say possibly in general but there are things that could affect this, such as age, like with
discus many do not successfully fertilize the first few times.
we need more info...
type of fish
water parameters
temperature
tank mates
there are a lot of things that can affect fertilization

 

[yaajer]

SA/CA cichlids. but the question is more about water hardness and it's affect on cichlids eggs, be it SA/CA/AFrican.

 

[flukekiller]

yes, thats my point. hardwater will not affect africans b/c the
majority are hard water fish. now SA/CA are softwater fish so
the principal being hardwater will affect those eggs. but there
are also variables that affect this. i know people who have bred
discus in hard water,although the number of fertilized eggs were
about a 1/3rd those in soft.. captive bred vs wild caught will also
make a difference b/c alot of captives are raised in neutral water.

so the easy answer would be yes, it can affect fertilization

 

[yaajer]

What do you suggest as the best method to making my water softer? Some means where doing 25% weekly water change won't fluctuate the water parameters too much. peat moss? wood? ro/di?

 

[duanes]

I believe you need to be more specific about what kind of cichlids you are talking about.
I have Central Americans that breed successfully in hard water (Chuco, Herichthys, Parachromis, Vieja, Nandopsis etc) S Americans (Gymnogeophagus , Australoheros) and some Africans. Many of the above come from very hard water areas
If you mean Amazonian species like the soft water Geophagines, or dwarf species like Apistogramma, or wild Pterophyllum and Uaru, hard water could be a definite problem.
In some S American dwarfs, the difference between a pH of 6-6.5 can make a difference in sex ratios.

 

[Raul-7]

The best way to soften water is to invest in an RO unit. It's expensive, but it will pay off in the long run.