what is everyone keeping their pike tanks at? ph, temp, nitrate, lighting schedule. just wondering what is workin for everyone thanx
water params
- Thread starter saltydog_1
- Start date
I keep my johanna at around neutral 7.0, 82 degrees, nitrite 0, amonia 0, nitrate is usually around 20ppm, and light from morning til around 8 at night and its doing just fine. Pikes are pretty hardy IME and can adapt pretty well so hope this helps bro.
Scatocephalus;910905; said:
.....uhh...haha. Are you being serious? Or just pointin out that it really isn't all that important? When i was in Nebraska mine was 8.2 pH, sand, lights on for 16 hrs and 82 degrees minimum. 50% waterchange twice a week...haha...sometimes more. With all your tankz though man, you've gotta have some crazy free time!! nebraska has some hard water huh i realize its not that important for maintaining the fish in most cases it never is stable ph is better than ideal ph anyday. however i do believe it is better to be as close to ideal as you can when you are thinking about breeding. i think i will shoot for 6.4-6.8 for starters any other suggestions?
We had pure well water in Nebraska, it had a lot of heavy metals in it as well, so it was fun keepin fish...haha...notice the sarcasism.
Well, first off, we need to know your water parameters right now. Your 300gal is a LARGE tank, so droppin the pH in it AND keepin it stable (VERY IMPORTANT) will be A LOT more difficult than say, a 55gal or a 100gal tank. Ideally, if you want to breed Crenicichla you want to be in the 6.0 to 7.0 pH range. If you go lower than 6.0 it is possible to see better results, but then the chances for HITH, less stability and the like go up. However, when I had my sp. 'xingu III' in Nebraska, they acted like they were gonna spawn, and actually did the ritual, cleaned a spot, the like. Just no eggs, ever. The lower pH plays a huge role in this I'm sure.
Finding that trigger that gets them to actually spawn is the TRICKY part. If we knew what it was exactly, there would be a lot of people breeding them probably. Noone knows for sure actually. It might be the lighting, the parameters of the water, certain foods, or aggression levels of other fish. Its really anyones guess what pushes Lugubris pikes over the edge to breed.
Best way to lower your pH would be with peat moss, almond leaves, and driftwood. Natural alllll the way. If you start usin chemicals things can get outa control and be way more dangerous. Adding a little crushed coral to the filters to help stabilize the pH is a good idea...but not soo much that you can't lower it...
Well, first off, we need to know your water parameters right now. Your 300gal is a LARGE tank, so droppin the pH in it AND keepin it stable (VERY IMPORTANT) will be A LOT more difficult than say, a 55gal or a 100gal tank. Ideally, if you want to breed Crenicichla you want to be in the 6.0 to 7.0 pH range. If you go lower than 6.0 it is possible to see better results, but then the chances for HITH, less stability and the like go up. However, when I had my sp. 'xingu III' in Nebraska, they acted like they were gonna spawn, and actually did the ritual, cleaned a spot, the like. Just no eggs, ever. The lower pH plays a huge role in this I'm sure.
Finding that trigger that gets them to actually spawn is the TRICKY part. If we knew what it was exactly, there would be a lot of people breeding them probably. Noone knows for sure actually. It might be the lighting, the parameters of the water, certain foods, or aggression levels of other fish. Its really anyones guess what pushes Lugubris pikes over the edge to breed.
Best way to lower your pH would be with peat moss, almond leaves, and driftwood. Natural alllll the way. If you start usin chemicals things can get outa control and be way more dangerous. Adding a little crushed coral to the filters to help stabilize the pH is a good idea...but not soo much that you can't lower it...
ive found with co2 you can set it where ya want once you get it there the rest is easy i have used peat in the past it will lower ph just not that much however i think it has more advantages than just acidifying the water. i think there are other compounds being released that are just as important. right now my ph is 7.4 i will prolly add peat granules in the next week or so i still need to get a gh and kh test kit find out where im at after the peat and if im not happy i will add the co2. once it is where i want it i think i will make the jump. 
I'm dead serious about my parameters. The water here is very, very hard and comes out at 8.4. The upside is that it is very high quality. I have the main tank hooked up to an automatic water change system that changes out at least 100% of the tank's volume daily. I've never measured it but it is probably much higher than that.
The temp I keep high as the fish seem to color up better and resist disease better.
The lights I leave on because I have found that they spook less easy and I end up with less dead fish on the floor.
In regards to the importance of water parameters, by far the most important aspect is healthy, clean water. No ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Large, frequent water changes are critical for the health of the fish. This is alos in part why I ditched gravel and sand in lieu of tiles. I find it much easier to siphon out solid wastes with the tile helping to keep nitrates down even more.
The only time I find it critical to monkey with water chemistry is when trying to breed the fish. Then it is important to mimic what that fish would see in the wild. At this time I hook up an RO unit to my automatic water change system that changes out 60% of the tank's volume daily. This drives the hardness waaaaay down and helps to drop the pH. I'll also add oak or maple leaves to the tank to help drop the pH. I've not gotten the pikes to breed yet but have gotten some difficult specimens to at least ripen up such as a female Cr. jegui and some difficult species in other genra to breed.
I find the pH less critical than the hardness. It's the soft water that's key.
The temp I keep high as the fish seem to color up better and resist disease better.
The lights I leave on because I have found that they spook less easy and I end up with less dead fish on the floor.
In regards to the importance of water parameters, by far the most important aspect is healthy, clean water. No ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. Large, frequent water changes are critical for the health of the fish. This is alos in part why I ditched gravel and sand in lieu of tiles. I find it much easier to siphon out solid wastes with the tile helping to keep nitrates down even more.
The only time I find it critical to monkey with water chemistry is when trying to breed the fish. Then it is important to mimic what that fish would see in the wild. At this time I hook up an RO unit to my automatic water change system that changes out 60% of the tank's volume daily. This drives the hardness waaaaay down and helps to drop the pH. I'll also add oak or maple leaves to the tank to help drop the pH. I've not gotten the pikes to breed yet but have gotten some difficult specimens to at least ripen up such as a female Cr. jegui and some difficult species in other genra to breed.
I find the pH less critical than the hardness. It's the soft water that's key.
Lets see, today my water is....Really Hard. Nitrates are at 20 ppm, Nitrites are at 0, hardness is very hard at 300ppm, alkalinity looks like 120 ppm, and ph is at 7.2. Temp is at a constant 83-86f. Some sort of light is on 24 hrs a day, with my plant lighting on for 14 hrs a day. I do 20 to 50% water change every week and run UV clarifiers. When I ever start to breed Im gonna start using RO water for sure.
PH is 7.6 Like the Nebraska water My water here in Eastern Missouri is Very Hard.
0 nitrites, 0 ammonia and 5 nitrates.
50 water change weekly. Lights on bout 12-14 hrs.
As for as leaving them on 24/7 doesn't that effect the fish in a negative way, as for as sleeping and rest?
0 nitrites, 0 ammonia and 5 nitrates.
50 water change weekly. Lights on bout 12-14 hrs.
As for as leaving them on 24/7 doesn't that effect the fish in a negative way, as for as sleeping and rest?