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Re: cichlids and plants

JDAVIS at bio_tamu.edu wrote:

>snipped<...  Most of the plants that we keep in our aquaria are soft water
>loving.  How can you keep cichlids like Julidochromis (my favorite) from
the >hard-water lakes of eastern Africa, with plants that are by far the
>softest-water loving thing around!!
>
I live in San Diego where the water leaves hard "lime" deposits on the top
edges of the tank and on the glass covers.  I keep "teardrop" rotala, hygro
polysperma, "melon" & "amazon" swords, nuphar japonica, A. Crispus, a few
variations of crypt. wendtii (red & green), crypt balansae, cyperus
helferi,"corkscrew" val, "narrow" Sag, anubias lanceolota, ludwigia, green
lloydiella, and java fern in a standard 55 gal tank.  I do not treat my
water with anything other than dechlor.  

This is a "grow out" tank currently consisting of, two ("true red tail" &
"neon blue") schools of C. leptosoma (Tanganyikan), C. furcifer burundi
(Tanganyikan), Hap. "Taiwan Reefs" and Auloncara "albino flavescent"
peacocks (Malawi).  I also have several oto's and med. size SAE's.  I have
chosen to pot all my plants (in small 4" clear plastic pots from Home Depot)
and have covered them with #30 sandblasting sand (also Home Depot).   If
they weren't in pots that I could remove, I'd have a devil of a time getting
the fish out of this tank as they get larger.

I do not use CO2 and I have approx 2 watts per gallon fluorescent (2 40 watt
Ultralumes, 1 40 watt Daylight).  My growth is slow (I have to trim the
hyrgo and rotala once every 2 weeks when I do my 50% water change) but
steady.  I use PMDD @ 3ml per 100l every day (a little more with the water
change).

I have 2 other tanks (same lighting wattage per gallon - no CO2) - a 30
(with Tanganyikan shell dwellers - has primarily small swords, with 1
largish "osiris", and 2 a. nana) and a 240 (with Tanganyikan "feather fins"
- furcifers, ventralis, and others - same mix of plants as 55 with some
additional anubias - barteri and 2 beautiful coffeafolia - Thank you George
B.!!!! and crypts).  The 240 also has a breeding pair of Julidochromis malieri.

"Some" cichlids and "some" plants do indeed go together just fine!!!  And
hard water and plants can also do the same.  But I don't believe that soft
water and Africans would do well at all. 
________________________________________________________________________
Cindy Vann                                 QUALCOMM Incorporated
Programmer Analyst                         Phone:  (619) 658-4767
email:  cvann at qualcomm_com                 Loc  :  E-131
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