Want to try natural conditions???

[wayne]

Some reporters from British magazine Practical fishkeeping visited the Rio Negro last year, and printed reports when they got back, such as this,
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=154
Which should make for interesting reading. There are others with info on guapotes et al. Now who's going go for a tank with a temp that swings from the 80's at night to over 100 in the day , pH 4 to 5?

 

[Orion]

That article is a great find wayne. True, it would make most of us think twice before claiming to have an 'Amazon biotope' around the house.

The most interesting of all to me was that seemingly the more adverse the conditions got (ph 4, temp over 100), the more fish they found .

I think I just might pass up the natural conditions of the basin for now.

 

[wayne]

Yes I would assume most of the fish they found in those backwaters were there as the main river is jsut too hostile. These were interestingly most of the fish we are familiar with.
You should try to find info on natural population density of apistogramma. 1 pair per 10 gallon doesn't really match populations of 10's to hundreds per square metre

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Thats a great article! Thanks for sharing it. This is definently a bookmark.

I was surprised at how different the conditions are than what we usually read! 100 degrees and pH of 4!

I'd love to go down there on a trip one day, and to the rift lakes.

 

[Orion]

True wayne. But the obvious is smacking us right in the face. How many people could consistantly simulate the amount of fresh water that are flowing throughout the rivers in the home aquarium? It could be done to a degree, but I would say very few could afford, or would want to take the time for such a venture. I think of what could actualy be done with in the confines of home aquaria when enough dedication is put into it makes the possibilities endless. Majority of people are satisfied with minimal maintance on tanks, and so very few fish would actualy be kept in conditions that are similar to thier wild niche.

I too would love to go there Matt (both places). What an experince would that be. I would say that even on the worst of days out, it would still be worth every penny of going there.

 

[wayne]

Well it's always nice to know what it's like where you get your fish from. I guess it's a knowledge is power thing - you get to realise that some of the truths in this hobby are not really truths at all. It's also handy to know if you ever get your hands on something unusual or difficult
It would indeed be nice to have auto water changing by overflow to do 100% water changes every day. This is possibly not as rare as you think in commercial discus breeding setups in the far east.

 

[Orion]

I would like to see some of those water change setups. I've been sick this past weekend and have spent some time thinking about what it would take to run a system like that. Just about as far as I have gotten would be to need for a 200-300(depending on the number of tanks serviced) gallon water storage container . lol

I also have thought on several occasions of a setup that simulated water conditions that started as soft, and progressed its way down to the hard waters, then finaly brackish and full marine. A tank to do this would easily have to be 20 or 30 feel long. I have no idea when the water would enter each new biotop how it would be treated to simulate that particular condition, but its an idea that has always intrigued me. If I did, I think I just might bypass the 100+degree temps and extreame low ph.

 

[wayne]

Plumb it into the mains. The only freshwater fish that I'm now tempted by are tropheus in a largish tank, and if I go for it I'll keep them in the basement where I have an available faucet and floor drain.

Thus you can either plumb straight into the mains, but more likely plumb a storage tank or two in, load it up, dechlor every day. If you plumb straight into the mains, and assuming you don't have cloramine treatment (chlorine far less difficult), 10% a day is quite nice/possible I would guess. I would confess I have never done this, and it all depends on how much conditioning your tapwater needs

 

[wayne]

Oh ,and everything gravity driven by drilled overflows

 

[Orion]

I see where you are going. That would most deffinatly be the most cost effecient. But you are right, the amount of treatment would play a large role in the amount of water able to output in a day.

 

[wayne]

Yes, if you have to do large amounts of water treatment it might be tricky, costly.

The last freshwater fish I nearly bought were some Teleocichla jurapari(which they weren't, but they were teleocichla). My local tap is super soft, pH 8, so for these guys which are from rapid flowing highly oxygenated water in the Rio Xingu it would have made life easy, as without daily water changes I think these would be tricky to keep alive. Also they would make a great biotope with some of the fancier L numbers which would likely be straightforward to breed insuch a setup if I got a 4 or 5 foot tank hooked up.

With Tropheus on the other hand I would be faced with the challenge of maintaining a high pH and kH, which would likely mean a staging tank. The challenge of producing mucho softwater in a hard water area would be harder.