Water tds
- Thread starter Ashfro
- Start date
The average TDS (conductivity) of Lake Tanganyika is higher than 600 ppm, so your tank will probably be adequate.
But if you want to bring your tank water up a bit, you could use an aragonite substrate, or add crushed oyster shell to the substrate, or in filters (sumps) as buffers , or add some of the commercially available African Cichlid salts. I prefer the aragonite or crushed shell in the substrate methods myself as they constantly and slowly leach buffers into the tank.
If you live near the sea, any shells found on shore (abandoned by their original inhabitants) can be used, because I live very close to the beach
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I pick up shells and place them in the flow to my sump..
But if you want to bring your tank water up a bit, you could use an aragonite substrate, or add crushed oyster shell to the substrate, or in filters (sumps) as buffers , or add some of the commercially available African Cichlid salts. I prefer the aragonite or crushed shell in the substrate methods myself as they constantly and slowly leach buffers into the tank.
If you live near the sea, any shells found on shore (abandoned by their original inhabitants) can be used, because I live very close to the beach
,I pick up shells and place them in the flow to my sump..
can
I use these water to breed plecos and Molly's
Can we keep flowerhorn fry
Since the FH is a hybrid between A. trimatulatus and another cichlid (maybe a Vieja, or Herichthys ) its hard to speculate about proper TDS, because of its man-made factor.
Water tested where Trimacs are originally collected, had TDS readings of around 900- 1200 ppm conductivity, but that may have only reflected that particular day in that season when they were caught, and riverine flow of that particular moment in time.
Herichthys are often found in waters with conductivities of over 3000 ppm.
Many Vieja are found in habitat with similar although slightly lower conductivity, but again may only only reflect that certain day when tested, 6 months later a riverine habitat during the rainy season can be totally the opposite.
So if you are simple buying fish from a LFS, your values (if the same) should be fine, because these species are adaptable.
Its often when trying to breed certain species, that conductivity becomes important when fry are very young.
Or if a lax water change schedules allow bacteria to flourish that these fish are not evolved to live amidst (in a certain conductivity), and a few years down the road, or certain ages develop HLLE or some other chronic bacterial malady.
Water tested where Trimacs are originally collected, had TDS readings of around 900- 1200 ppm conductivity, but that may have only reflected that particular day in that season when they were caught, and riverine flow of that particular moment in time.
Herichthys are often found in waters with conductivities of over 3000 ppm.
Many Vieja are found in habitat with similar although slightly lower conductivity, but again may only only reflect that certain day when tested, 6 months later a riverine habitat during the rainy season can be totally the opposite.
So if you are simple buying fish from a LFS, your values (if the same) should be fine, because these species are adaptable.
Its often when trying to breed certain species, that conductivity becomes important when fry are very young.
Or if a lax water change schedules allow bacteria to flourish that these fish are not evolved to live amidst (in a certain conductivity), and a few years down the road, or certain ages develop HLLE or some other chronic bacterial malady.
Yes.
You can also keep WC frontosa, no problem, and no need to tweak your water, unless you want to. I have lost count how many WC Tangs I have seen raised & bred successfully in these parts, including by myself. One does not need to match every parameter to the wild, most of these cichlids can easily acclimate. As an example, this is a link to our latest local water report. One of the most successful Tang breeders in our Province kept, bred, and raised fry in our water - and supplied most of the larger LFS in the province for many years. Good luck.