PH/KH/GH ...

[MonsterMinis]

I first thought about directing this directly to Sol, but decided to ask other gar keepers imput as well.

my Ph is in the high 7's about 7.8-8.0
gh and kh aren't off the charts but both are 100+

atm my floridas are doing fine in this water. But i'll be adding a cuban to my collection. this is pretty much straight out the tap readings. I'm doing 30%-50% weekly WCs on the tank and it's been consistant and stable like this since I moved here. I never really worried about it with my floridas.

atm I'm useing the api dip strips. and have access to a liquid kit at work to double check my findings ( which I will do before the fish is introducd to tha tank just to cover the bases). though the strips are new, and the nitrate reading does flux on testing my other tanks though the ph/gh/kh are all pretty consistant ( save the tanks I've intentinally softened) So I have no reason to think im'm getting off readings.

Is this water going to be alright for the cuban or am I going to have to fiddle with things? I know cubans like harder water.. but is it to hard? was getting ready to go out and pick up some argonite sand tonight...but if i'm understanding it all right.. my water is good?

 

[E_americanus]

hey Amy,

will comment with more later, but in short - your setup will be fine. CBGs like pH stability, doesn't necessarily have to be high pH (higher pH tends to have better buffer capacity though). again, your setup should be fine. if you mix in a bit of aragonite somewhere in the tank it will help with buffering, but it may not be necessary since it seems like your pH doesn't flux much. i have never measured GH/KH for any of my tanks, and the CBGs have all done fine for many years, and the current group has had no problems.
hope that helps! your fish will go out tomorrow!--
--solomon

 

[Wiggles92]

hey Amy,

will comment with more later, but in short - your setup will be fine. CBGs like pH stability, doesn't necessarily have to be high pH (higher pH tends to have better buffer capacity though). again, your setup should be fine. if you mix in a bit of aragonite somewhere in the tank it will help with buffering, but it may not be necessary since it seems like your pH doesn't flux much. i have never measured GH/KH for any of my tanks, and the CBGs have all done fine for many years, and the current group has had no problems.
hope that helps! your fish will go out tomorrow!--
--solomon

x2.

 

[xander]

I first thought about directing this directly to Sol, but decided to ask other gar keepers imput as well.

my Ph is in the high 7's about 7.8-8.0
gh and kh aren't off the charts but both are 100+

atm my floridas are doing fine in this water. But i'll be adding a cuban to my collection. this is pretty much straight out the tap readings. I'm doing 30%-50% weekly WCs on the tank and it's been consistant and stable like this since I moved here. I never really worried about it with my floridas.

atm I'm useing the api dip strips. and have access to a liquid kit at work to double check my findings ( which I will do before the fish is introducd to tha tank just to cover the bases). though the strips are new, and the nitrate reading does flux on testing my other tanks though the ph/gh/kh are all pretty consistant ( save the tanks I've intentinally softened) So I have no reason to think im'm getting off readings.

Is this water going to be alright for the cuban or am I going to have to fiddle with things? I know cubans like harder water.. but is it to hard? was getting ready to go out and pick up some argonite sand tonight...but if i'm understanding it all right.. my water is good?

ime my cubans did well when the water was at least between 30 - 60ppm KH (carbonate hardness) and 120ppm GH (general hardness). do keep me informed on how they do in your parameters so that we can update the captive care guide!

 

[pharmaecopia]

I would add some argonite just in case. My water is far harder than yours, with GH and KH testing at 280, and 350 respectively. Even so I don't take any chances and use some argonite.

 

[MonsterMinis]

Thanks for all the imput guys. atm it's a bare bottom tank and I was looking into useing a black and white argonite mix sand for african cichlids. Other then looking cool at work we keep our rays on it so I know unlike crushed coral it has little to no potential to hurt the fish.

Thanks for easing my mind in reguards to the water. I was pretty sure I was OK.. but I'll get a bag or 2 just to be safe as well.

xander I intend to keep a diary of sorts w/ the water, behavior I see ect ect... So i'll def share my info w/ you guys, and prolly be picking your brains and pestering you for info.

 

[E_americanus]

Thanks for all the imput guys. atm it's a bare bottom tank and I was looking into useing a black and white argonite mix sand for african cichlids. Other then looking cool at work we keep our rays on it so I know unlike crushed coral it has little to no potential to hurt the fish.

Thanks for easing my mind in reguards to the water. I was pretty sure I was OK.. but I'll get a bag or 2 just to be safe as well.

xander I intend to keep a diary of sorts w/ the water, behavior I see ect ect... So i'll def share my info w/ you guys, and prolly be picking your brains and pestering you for info.

amy that sand should work well - that is what i have as substrate in the holding tank 75g with the study 1 CBGs right now (where your fish is currently being held). they have done just fine, and i added that sand the day i set up that tank (was under some time pressure as we had to get ready for the 3rd group coming in).

i believe i have that same type of sand (it's been years since it was added) in my main big gar tank (Gar-Den II), and it has worked well. again, stability is the key, and that stuff will help maintain stability. FYI none of the 45 CBGs for our study have exhibited any stress from pH issues...and that's a pretty large sample size when we are talking Cuban gars--
--solomon

 

[Wiggles92]

The Cuban gar that I got from Solomon a little under three weeks ago is doing great with a pH around 7.6 or so. I haven't measured the GH and KH since my bottle of test strips got ruined, but I suspect that those parameters fall within the recommended range since I have 30 lbs. of aragonite sand in the gar's aquarium in order to keep the those parameters stable as well as to keep the pH stable.

 

[MonsterMinis]

Good to know. I do plan on putting him/her with my 2 floridas which atm are 16" do you think this will be a problem? I also have a oceanic 54 gallon or something ( same footprint as a 40B I can set-up tonight if need be, and i have an extra filter on the floridas tank in-case I do need to.). My 2 floridas are mellow and pretty chill guys, so thought they might be a calming influance on the cuban oppose to putting it seperate. generally I do the whole QT thing but I figure you've had them long enough that issues would be minimal.

 

[E_americanus]

Good to know. I do plan on putting him/her with my 2 floridas which atm are 16" do you think this will be a problem? I also have a oceanic 54 gallon or something ( same footprint as a 40B I can set-up tonight if need be, and i have an extra filter on the floridas tank in-case I do need to.). My 2 floridas are mellow and pretty chill guys, so thought they might be a calming influance on the cuban oppose to putting it seperate. generally I do the whole QT thing but I figure you've had them long enough that issues would be minimal.

as long as the FLGs aren't too aggressive (which i am yet to see a comparatively aggressive FLG), they should be fine with this gar. i would keep an eye on the girth differences though, just in case the FLG is bold enough to try to eat this fish. the CBGs i am shipping out are on the average size of the whole group, so you are looking at a ~9-10" fish. they will be slim arriving as they have been fasted for nearly 40 hours now (always do that prior to shipping), but they increase in girth dramatically upon feeding.
with good ration the fish should continue to grow at a decent rate, and i would say even at this size they are more aggressive feeders than a typical FLG...so i think you should be ok. obviously observe the fish closely over the first couple days to look for signs of aggression issues.
they have been in "quarantine" with each other for nearly a month now as they have not been fed any feeders since the end of the study and have only been exposed to each other, should be absolutely parasite/pathogen free!--
--solomon