Re: [Killietalk] Silly questions - not

["Scott Davis" <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

> Well, I always heard killies don't like new water , I keep only
> aphysemion/fundulopachax and  panchax.
>
> I change my water once a week with R/O water .

That's not a silly question ZZ. If you are only changing in RO water you run
the risk of ultimately killing or deforming your killies (or any other
fishes). You need to suppliment your RO water to a certain "safe" level.
This can be done by cutting the RO water with tap water, If you don't like
the additives to your tap water, there are other options. Barry Cooper uses
Seachem's Equilibrium. I've used a certain amount of a Rift Lake Cichlid
Salt, measuring the hardness in the barrel until it came up to about 80 ppm.
(A standard application is easy there after.)

Any of those approaches will (hopefully) insure that needed trace elements
and major items like calcium, magnesium, potassium and more (which I've
forgotten) will insure proper neurological development, a strong bones and
bright shiney teeth. Check David Koran's posts for last month. He gave an
analysis of typical American river water in one of his missives.

Are tropical African rain forest waters the same as American continental
ones? Nope. But some of those minerals are still needed (at a certain
concentration) by the killies.

By the way, topping off evaporated water in the winter, with RO water, is a
terrifically wise thing to do. A lot of general aquarists begins to
experience a flock of "mystery deaths" about this time of the year because
their aquariums are about three times the hardness that they were last fall
and the fish are burning up their osmosregulatory systems.

> All my killies tank are filter with corner box filter with codelle and
ceremique.
>
Sounds cool! What is codelle? What happened to you childrens' college fund?
;)

> Is it stupid to have annulatus with buvittatum in the same tanks (15
gallons) full of java moss ?

The bivs will thank you. ;)

I have successfully raised bivs, australe, striatum and geryi together
during an emergency. (Note that they are easily told apart and grow at about
the same pace at 77 degrees F.) Raising gardneri and australe together
produced some very full gardneri.

There was an old Aquarium magazine article on spawning Bettas in some
floating plants kidnapped from another tank. As they grew up, the author's
Bettas curiously resembled Epiplatys (what they called chaperi then, dageti
now).

When moving plants from one tank to another, it is wise to move them to fish
radically different from the tank of origin. (From your Fundulopanchax to
the panchax tank for instance.) I bounce killie to livebearer or chicklett
and vice versa. (Just don't snag fry - like I have also done!)

> With which of the fish I can keep my annulatus ?

Nadda? They may even be Epiplatys (and Archaphyosemiom and
Scriptaphyosemion?) chow in West Coastal Africa.

A planted 15 gallon tank or a long 20, well lit and fed with baby b.s. can
become an annulatus factory. However even there an equilibrium factor is at
play. If young adult ANN are removed, there will be more small fry
surviving.

Don't apologize for your questions. [ Though humility is a virtue. ;)  ]
There is likely a lurker somewhere who will be glad you asked them. I wish I
had asked one of them sooner for myself. :)

All the best!

Scott
Please remember the Chicago killie show this March 20-21. Rosario LaCorte,
lots of killies, multitudes of neat killie people. http://chika.aka.org/




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