tolstoy21

@anewbie Thanks for the reply. I plan on just hardscaping, no plants. So large driftwood and rocks, substrate that is a mix of black sand and lava rock of various sizes (this is what I have in my 125). I can't go more than 24" in width and no longer that 76" due to limitations in where the aquarium would be placed, so this limits me to increasing height as the water volume increases. I really like the look of aquariums that have both height and depth so that the fish are closer to eye-level when viewing and when you are standing you're not looking down at the lid. Water changes aren't an issue because this would just be plumbed into my water change system. I was more concerned about vacc'ing, and what the experience with that is as you go above 30" with an upper range of 42".

Hi all, I'm planning my next aquarium upgrade form my 125G. I'm not getting anything soon, but maybe in the next 2 years. So I have one question for all you out there who own and self-maintain very large, deep aquariums, something 30" or deeper. . . . . . What is the maintenance like on something this deep? Is a nightmare you regret? Not so bad? Super easy once you get the hang of it? Just trying to get a perspective on what aquarium depth becomes unenjoyable because of the difficulty of maintenance. Any shared experience or insights would be appreciated, but please, I would like to limit the replies to being from people who have, or have had, an aquarium like this so we don't get into an overly long thread full of speculation.

I can appreciate that concern, but a few of the species I am working with are covered, so for my needs, this is mostly decent, applicable information. For the one's not covered, I'll just go on the assumption that I can extend the findings of this research to my breeding efforts for those unrepresented species I'm working with, and if I find out its not applicable, I'll adjust and try again. Well, I'm not sure I would categorize it as an 'error'. The article doesn't claim to be a universal representation for all apistogramma, it simply presents the research data for the 39 species specifically studied and make no claims about the ones is hasn't. But yes, we can't assume the data would be the same for species in other regions, but it's a good base assumption to start from until one discovers differently through their own efforts.

Abacaxis was not one of the species covered in the research (nor was Baenschi). But the majority of the typical species available in the hobby available were. My abacaxis are F1 and they have spawned once for me at 4.5Ph and temp around 78.5F. I was looking at them again today. Seeing the adult female in non-breeding dress, I realized that perhaps my juveniles are still too young to sex (at least for me). In breeding dress the female did not show a full lateral line, and instead showed a distinct black spot. But seeing her again today, I realized that a non-breeding female exhibits a full lateral line. So, many of what I am assuming to be juvenile males may actually be females. I guess time will tell. I am able to get maintain a 4.5 Ph using RO, peat and oak leaves. I am slowly bringing the juvenile tank up to 6.4 over the course of the next week. I have another 2 adult males in 6.4Ph (dKh 0, dGh 8). So far they appear healthy. They have been my canary in a coal mine to see how well these fish will tolerate my well water. So far so good.

@newbie I work for a research institution so I have access to a lot of scientific journals. After searching a bit this morning, I found that there have been a few good studies done on how Ph and Temp influences gender ratios in specific families of fish. The best study I could find on apistogramma covered 39 apistogramma species (including most of the popular ones in the aquarium hobby). For obvious reasons, I can't copy or upload the article here. The title is Environmental determination of sex in Apistogramma (Cichlidae) and two other freshwater fishes (Teleostei) from the Journal of Fish Biology (Romer and Beisenherz, 1996). But, I can summarize what I think is useful for hobbyists: The sweet-spot for an equivalent male/female ratio seems to be a Ph of 5.5 and a temp of approximately 78-79F. For the most part, higher temps resulted in more male offspring on average, and that resulting number was further impacted by Ph (lower Ph further increases the number of males). To use A. Cacatuoides as an example: At 78.8F the following Ph levels produced the following mean percentage of male offspring: 4.5: 80%, 5.5: 64%, 6.5: 43% At Ph 5.5, the following temperatures produced the following mean percentage of male offspring: 73.4F: 19%, 78.8F: 62%, 84F: 83% There were variances in how Temperature & Ph impacted male/female ratios for different apistogramma species, but the trend is fairly similar across all species. In a few outliers, the data suggested that the percentage of males increased a tiny bit for the lower-end of the temperature spectrum (73.4F) when compared to the middle range (78.8F), but this uptick was minor. The study also noted that there were no significant statistical differences in the data when sampled against F1 from wild caught specimens when compared to F12-F15 laboratory, inbred specimens. Anyway, that about sums it all up. Hopefully this is useful info to anyone also interested in the subject.

@anewbie Yeah, I'm just going to experiment to try to determine what drives sex ratios in my specific fish room setup. But finding and reading any existing information is going to be the first place to start. There seems to be a decent amount on apistogramma.com on this topic. @mountaintoppufferkeeper Yeah, as far as I know, temp is a determining factor in sex ratios in apistogramma species, at least according to what I've read. I don't believe its a determining factor for all fish species, but it does affect some in my understanding.

Ok editing this after misreading your post. Yeah I believe females are in the cooler range of the spectrum, but I do remember coming across something that suggested that heavy spawn would be produced at the extreme ends of the temperate rage, warm and cool, with females being in the goldilocks zone in between. But I could be remembering that incorrectly. I plan on diving into this subject over the next few weeks and seeing what I can find to read.

I actually just started. Right now I am just taking down the basic environmental parameters -- GH, KH, PH, TDS, Temp, date etc. I'm also tracking parentage/lineage. I plan on getting a breakdown of sex ratios to the best of my ability when they are of an age to be sexed. I'm sure there are other data points to be considered, but this will be my starting point I guess. So far I have recorded information for Abacaxis and Benaschi, one spawn of each. I keep everything in Excel, because this is the tool I'm familiar with and have used for graphing datasets for day-job-related kindof stuff. I'm slowly tuning into an 'old guy' but I've never been a pencil-and-paper ledger kind of person.

@nabokovfan87 Yeah I believe it's primarily temperature as the main factor, then Ph as a secondary factor. However, I have read that the high/low threshold for male/female ratios may differ depending on specific species. The only thing I can say anecdotally is that all the male-heavy spawns I've had recently all have been at or close to 78-79F. And that I've had female heavy Cacatuodies spawns at lower temps, but what temp exactly I cannot remember. This is why I'd like to get much better as note taking notes as I go through successive spawns. I would like to get the ratios dialed in better is I can, with it being 40/60 male/female as I find it a lot harder to find homes for individual males than it is for individual females, in my experience thus far.

@newbie You know, I'm not sure what the TDS was at this time, below. hundred. If I were to guess, probably in the 45 to 60 range. I need to get better to tacking that as a measure of water quality. The water in the aquarium was 100% RO with oak leaf litter and Fluval peat pellets in a box filter, so the Ph stayed pretty consistently at 4.5. I have been gradually acclimating the fry and parents to harder water and a higher Ph, so I can't get a good measure of it at this moment in time because it would not represent the breeding conditions. I am ready to start round 2 with this pair and will get a measure of TDS if they spawn again. My last few spawns of apisto species have been very male heavy -- Abacaxis, Baenschi, Agassizii. Trying now to determine what factor exactly is influencing that the most, as I hate to see a batch of 30+ males and only 2 or 3 females. Cacatuodies is the only species giving me more or less even sex ratios. I guess I just need to take more and more notes and give this time, as collecting data over a number of successive generations doesn't happen overnight.

Unless you completely enclose the space and insulate it correctly, it's probably going to be hard to hold the heat without running some kind of heater full blast 24x7. I made a 10x12 room in my basement over the last year+ and insulated both it's exterior walls and interior walls. I used 2" foam insulation panels on the concrete walls and filled all the gaps and cracks with spray foam. The interior walls have standard fiberglass insulation. The whole thing is finished with dry wall. My basement doesn't drop below 55F (12C) in the winter. On those days my space heater runs most of the day to keep the room at 76F. Without taking the time to build out the space properly I think you are going to have problems holding heat. I don't think a polycarbonate sheet is going to do much if it's as cold as you suggest.

Alas, don't have any more cories. I re-homed them to someone locally. One of these days I would like some panda cories. My only display tank at the moment has 2 Oscars in it, so . . . . . . . no tank mates.

@anewbie Funny, my adult L397s seem to prefer zucchini and cucumber flesh over the skin. I usually keep Igapo Explorer on hand (have some in the mail coming to me as we speak), but never thought of mixing it with Soilent Green nor feeding it to plecos. Might have to try that.

I think you just need to give them time to adjust to their new aquarium.

What's the torpedo position look like? As for eating, I find a lot of the time, especially if they are alone in an aquarium with no real competition for food, they will eat when they are ready, according to their schedule, not necessarily when food is dropped in unless its something alive and wiggling that suddenly attracts their attention. This is especially true if they are timid. They will wait till the coast is clear and kind of hunt and peck the substrate for morsels of food. My personal feeling (just a guess really, without actually having really observed them in nature) is that this is their mode of feeding, scavenging bugs and bits of stuff from the bottom while only darting out if they see something wiggly in the water column. They certainly don't feed like other fish species -- like Odessas Barbs for instance, which form a crazy, ravenous school of frenzied feeding, churning up the water's surface, the moment food hits the tank. Or my Oscars, which perk up and wait near the surface the moment I walk into the room (they beg for food worse than my dog!).

300 ppm is about 16 - 17 dGh, if I'm doing my math correctly. That's a tad on hard side of things. I've kept them fine in around 9 dGh (and lower). I can't really speak towards anything above that.

Also, looking at your videos, they don't appear to me to be unhealthy. They appear to be hiding. The breathing of the male in the last video appears normal, and it also appears alert. Fins extended. Pectoral fins moving at a normal pace. Given they are huddled in the corned near a cave, I would suggest they are just a bit nervous about their new environment. Sometimes when I move an apisto to a new aquarium by itself, it will do the same thing and just sit in the corner behind a sponge filter for days (sometimes they stay there as they feel safe under the shelter of it). I too get nervous and think 'God, is he (or she) Ok back there? Did I just kill them?' The answer to this is always 'No'. They are just scared and feel safe hunkered in somewhere that feels safe for the time being. Here's to hoping I'm correct and that your fish are actually in good health and continue to bring you joy!

I can think of two scenarios that could impact your fish -- There is something to the water quality that they are reacting to -- different Ph perhaps, but they should have acclimated to that by now -- or something else you didn't measure for. Stress -- Perhaps they are just stressed because they aren't familiar with the new environment. I have moved fish and seen them go into hiding for a while because they were not yet comfortable in the new space. I think they have to check it out and start to feel like they are not in jeopardy of being eaten, etc. I don't think it has any anything to your tank being cycled or 'seeding'. If you move over established media, you should be fine. In general seeding a tank with bacteria gets it prepped to handle the bioload. But, let's say you didn't do that, it would take a few days for the bioload to accumulate to a point where it would start impacting your fish's health. This is not something that they would react to the moment they are introduced (unless of course there was a build up of ammonia in the aquarium from decaying matter, if the aquarium was running for a while and had not yet fully cycled). But this would be measurable in the water. I move fish around quite a bit, from old seeded tank to another old seeded tank, from old tank to new tank, etc. I move seeded filters with them when needed and provide ample hiding places to ease their transition. I make sure the water is similar in terms of parameters, etc. The only think I have observed from this that is detrimental is the stress of the move. Now, I will admit that I have moved some fish and almost killed (and, alas, have killed). But this was due drastically differing params. I once instantly killed a bag of plecos once because I made the mistake or assuming they were raised on soft water (I found out they were bred in something close to a Ph of 8.0) and plopped them into a tank running 6.4. Four of the six died instantly. The other two had to be nursed back to health. But the Ph of your water isn't that drastically different, and if the fish are still alive, they would have acclimated by now. And they aren't in a Ph that is not native to their biology and they cannot adapt to. So unless you suspect there is something in your water they are reacting to, I would focus on trying to avoid introducing any more stress (not saying you aren't already doing that), but I would think stability and some seclusion might benefit them if they appear in distress. In the meantime, continue to run some tests for things like Ph, ammonia, nitrite, etc. If your water is from the same source, it should be fundamentally the same unless you are on city water and your municipality did something to change it. But that should be testable. And to be safe, you could probably run carbon in your filter for a short while if you have an HOB where you can place. Anyway, those are just some thoughts. Keep us posted

I've kept apistos on this gravel and they did fine. I would say something is off in your water parameters, or they are just stressed from the move and need a little time to recuperate. Water doesn't get seeded. The beneficial bacteria exists on surfaces, gravel, hardscape, in filters/media/sponges/etc. For that to affect the fish, the fish would have to create waste first for that waste to turn to enough ammonia to affect their health. What is this a measure of ? Kh? This could be a possibility. You could move them, but if stress is what's causing their issues, that will just exacerbate things,

I have endlers that somehow, sometimes jump into their neighboring tanks. I swear, relatively speaking, this feat seems equivalent to me jumping over my house. I have no idea how they manage it. Would be awesome to get on film. Good luck!

Yea that's the way to go. Or you can get neoprene (the material wetsuits that divers and surfers wear are made out of) as a any craft store that also sells fabrics. This works as well for padding and helps level the aquarium base. Well, never mind then! Good job. I think I remember seeing a King of DIY video where he had the same thing happen, and many months into having the aquarium full (it was a large one) the glass broke. In his case, he had set the aquarium down before putting it on the stand and a small piece of gravel was stuck to the base. Over time this caused enough torsion and stress to pop the glass. And it wasn't a small aquarium! I believe torsion stress for corner to corner is the worst kind a tank can have, much more so that being a little un-level side to side, or front to back.

Molts look like a shrimp’s ghost. Dead shrimp look more like shrimp cocktail!