Hello all. I have a 55g planted soft blackwater South American tank with Cardinal tetras, a few small groups of different species of Corydoras, and 2 pairs + 1 lone male of Apistogramma Hongsloi. I'm planning to rehome the tetras and corydoras in a 29 gallon, and setup separate 10 gallons for the each pair of apistos. The lone male will probably end up in the 29g tank as well. My well water is 7 dkh and 7.4 ph. I also have roughly a dozen multies in a 10g tank. I'd like to turn the 55g into a Tanganyika community tank, focused mostly on the multies. I'd like to get ph up to 7.8-8 and increase gh/kh, though the multies I currently have are in just my well water.
My thought is to put rockwork on one end of the tank, and leave an open sand bed in the middle and on the other end for the multies. I'd like to add a pair of Julidochromis to occupy the rockwork area, currently I'm leaning toward transcriptus. I'd also like a small school of fish to occupy the middle and upper area of the tank, I'm thinking either Cyprichromis leptosoma or Paracyprichromis nigripinnis, with my preference being for the nigripinnis if I can find them. I prefer smaller fish to larger fish generally, I usually avoid anything much over 4".
I'd also like to have some plants - currently, I have amazon sword, two varieties of crypts, chain sword, and java fern that I'd like to try. They are doing fine in my water currently.
Some questions:
1) Currently I'm using just HTH pool filter sand for my multies. What's the best way to keep a stable, elevated ph and hardness? Based on this article, my thought is to make a mixture of baking soda, epsom salt, and marine salt to add during water changes: https://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ ... mistry.php. Can I add this directly to the aquarium while changing water? Or do I need to premix it in a separate container and then add to the tank from there? I'd prefer it if I could add it straight to the tank during the water change, just for simplicity and being able to not use buckets for the water change.
2) Thoughts on stocking? I'd like to have a nice, thriving mutli colony where if not all, then at least a decent amount of the multi fry survive. My LFS is happy to take extra fish for store credit if I end up with too many (fingers crossed). I'd also like to have the julis and the cyps/paracyps breed successfully as well, if possible.
3) Thoughts on my plant choices?
Thanks!
My thought is to put rockwork on one end of the tank, and leave an open sand bed in the middle and on the other end for the multies. I'd like to add a pair of Julidochromis to occupy the rockwork area, currently I'm leaning toward transcriptus. I'd also like a small school of fish to occupy the middle and upper area of the tank, I'm thinking either Cyprichromis leptosoma or Paracyprichromis nigripinnis, with my preference being for the nigripinnis if I can find them. I prefer smaller fish to larger fish generally, I usually avoid anything much over 4".
I'd also like to have some plants - currently, I have amazon sword, two varieties of crypts, chain sword, and java fern that I'd like to try. They are doing fine in my water currently.
Some questions:
1) Currently I'm using just HTH pool filter sand for my multies. What's the best way to keep a stable, elevated ph and hardness? Based on this article, my thought is to make a mixture of baking soda, epsom salt, and marine salt to add during water changes: https://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ ... mistry.php. Can I add this directly to the aquarium while changing water? Or do I need to premix it in a separate container and then add to the tank from there? I'd prefer it if I could add it straight to the tank during the water change, just for simplicity and being able to not use buckets for the water change.
2) Thoughts on stocking? I'd like to have a nice, thriving mutli colony where if not all, then at least a decent amount of the multi fry survive. My LFS is happy to take extra fish for store credit if I end up with too many (fingers crossed). I'd also like to have the julis and the cyps/paracyps breed successfully as well, if possible.
3) Thoughts on my plant choices?
Thanks!