65 gallon LJ project

[Amazoniantanklvr]

Do you have Ro water?
This is a harder to take care of apisto.
Ive never kept them but have researched them a lot.
I would suggest against them. They do best in a VERY low ph. Not in the range of what angels(P. scalare) prefer

 

[Lalo J.]

I don't have RO water, but I can get it, I hope you do not take my next comment badly, but I think that most tropical freshwater fish are incredibly adaptable to other water conditions. I'm not talking about introducing a goldfish with altum angelfish, I am just talking about adaptation, in saltwater it's used continuously for species that are difficult to maintain. I'm still not sure about Apistogramma iniridae, mostly because of its aggressiveness, in case it's not nice, I don't have a place to put it to keep it apart.
The LFS has an import from Colombia, with some interesting species, I'm preparing a quarantine urn for tonight, I want to take some precautionary measures with these fish, and place them directly in my QT, before the LFS places them in their tanks .

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

I don't have RO water, but I can get it, I hope you do not take my next comment badly, but I think that most tropical freshwater fish are incredibly adaptable to other water conditions. I'm not talking about introducing a goldfish with altum angelfish, I am just talking about adaptation, in saltwater it's used continuously for species that are difficult to maintain. I'm still not sure about Apistogramma iniridae, mostly because of its aggressiveness, in case it's not nice, I don't have a place to put it to keep it apart.
The LFS has an import from Colombia, with some interesting species, I'm preparing a quarantine urn for tonight, I want to take some precautionary measures with these fish, and place them directly in my QT, before the LFS places them in their tanks .

I totally agree with you but most Apistogramma iniridae are WC or only a few generation form that.
I would set up a tank just for them. They NEED a ph lower than Angels (3.5-5.5). So Ro water is a near must unless you have crazy good water.
So if they are importing there is a good chance that they are WC. So I would say not to get them. JMO.

 

[Lalo J.]

You definitely know the Apistograms, I really appreciate your contributions to this topic.

 

[Amazoniantanklvr]

Haha. I don't know that much. But Im always glad to give my honest opinion.
I would get them but put them in a separate tank. A 15-20 gallon would be nice to keep a pair.
What ever you decide I wish you the pest of luck.

 

[CichlidFins]

It's not the pH that matters its more of the softness of the water. I don't fully understand gH and kH units and conversion so I can't exactly comment on that but apistos will like softer waters, and lower pH is appreciated but I see no reason you would not be able to keep them in pH of 6-7 if you are not breeding. I would assume they would like a lower TDS too. Although I am keeping fish that want TDS's in the teens or so they seem to be doing fine in my tap. If you plan to get tank breds (f1+) you would be fine over a wide range of pH but they would still like softer water.

If you want to get pH into the 4-5 you can't only resort to RO you probably would want something like muric acid (or something along those lines, I don't hve the exact name in mind)

 

[Lalo J.]

Jay, thanks for the contribution, I'm using drinking water, I'm not sure of the movements in the hardness of the water either, but I have almost no growth in algae, the fish are vigorous and eat aggressively, the Melanotaenias are showing great colors, They improved their coloration after entering the tank, these are signs that there is a good quality of water, but I am thinking of changing to RO water, if so, what benefits do you think I would get from RO?

 

[CichlidFins]

I see no benefit in RO if all fish are doing very well in your drinking water. Unless you do plan to get the Apistogramma that require softer water.

I always tell myself, "if its not broke, don't fix it." and I think it applies to your situation well.

 

[Lalo J.]

Thank you, luckily my fish are doing great and I appreciate that you share the information in this thread.
I was always thinking about getting the Apistogramma, so today I assisted with my LFS and sadly told me that the fish available for import ran out very quickly, so there were only a handful of species left available. I was a little disappointed but anyway, there is still something interesting in the final list. The fish that I was going to order and that unfortunately have left the stock were:
-7x Corydoras eques
-Hypancistrus debilittera
-Apistogramma iniridae

 

[CichlidFins]

Depending on your current stock it may be wise to hold the apistos in a separate tank to get them used to captivity before introducing them in the 65?