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Breeding tank set up



Hi everyone,

I need some advice for fertilizing plants in a tank
intended for breeding Apistogramma borellii.  I hope I
can count on some of you with experience of breeding
apistos in a planted tank.

I am presently cycling a 20 gallon long for this
purpose.  I put in a bunch of Cryptocoryne wendtii,
some Microsorium pteropus, Anubias, Bacopa and
Micranthemum micranthemoides.  As you can see,  all
these plants have a low to moderate light requirement.
I am in the process of installing a 40W (24")
fluorescent light fixture for it.

I intend to add CO2 via DIY yeast generator. I have a
Hydro sponge III filter that can accomodate a powerhead
so I can get CO2 to dissolve in the water.

Since apistogramma likes soft acidic water with low
conductivity for breeding, I am trying to keep the
conductivity of the tank water low (between 50 to 90).
However, I don't know what effect PMDD would have on
the conductivity.  My heavily planted 75 gallon tank
has tapwater (original conductivity: 199 microS/cm)
treated with PMDD .  The conductivity of the treated
water in this tank is 345 microS/cm.  I wonder if the
high conductivity might have a lot to do with PMDD
besides a high fish load.

In the tank I am cycling, I got about 8 gallon of DI
water (conductivity: 0.512 microS/cm) mixed with
tapwater to make up the rest of the volume.  I suppose
I can increase the proportion of the DI water to
compensate for the increase in conductivity.

Should I worry about adding any PMDD with the kind of
plants I got in there.  Should I use Root tabs or Jobes
sticks, instead?

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Tomoko