Panda Uaru heartiness

[fishfanatic80]

This was a pleasant read, hopefully one day I'll be able to establish a group for myself since they've always been on my wish list after owning my first uaru amphiacanthoides. I would think the use of ro water would also help. I already use ro for my salt and fresh tanks.Generally it makes water pretty soft and mine comes out around 6.0 even though my tap is 7.0

 

[J. H.]

I don't know much about Uarus and such, but I do know that nitrifying bacteria don't do very well at very low ph. You would need a lot of biomedia and a low stocking density or a lot of plants (which I believe your uarus will eat). With chocolate gouramis, also notorious for being delicate, soft water fish, many keepers use a ph of 7 and run uv to kill bacteria the way acid would. I personally hate the idea of low ph and the idea of a uv, but that really does lower my stocking options.

 

[Beetlebug515]

Woefulrelic , it would appear I am not needed here.

I don't know much about Uarus and such, but I do know that nitrifying bacteria don't do very well at very low ph. You would need a lot of biomedia and a low stocking density or a lot of plants (which I believe your uarus will eat). With chocolate gouramis, also notorious for being delicate, soft water fish, many keepers use a ph of 7 and run uv to kill bacteria the way acid would. I personally hate the idea of low ph and the idea of a uv, but that really does lower my stocking options.

It's not as bad as it seems, at least in my experience. My tank is at 4.7ph 45 tds with a quality 15w uv, and I've never seen even a hint of nitrogen cycle instability. I know anecdotal evidence doesn't mean much, but it's what I've observed.