I have a male and female, currently in my large (about 220 gallon) tank with other South American cichlids. I think they are Wallaciia cf nothopthalmus "sp Orinoco". I have had them well over a year but they have never really showed any signs of breeding and mostly ignore each other. I am thinking of freeing up a 240l (about 63 gallons) planted tank to put the pair in and try to get them to breed, but I would be very grateful for any advice about what, if anything, I could do to encourage them. My water parameters are: GH 1-2, KH 0-1, pH 6.6-6.8, TDS less than 20 from the tap, usually under 30 in the tanks. I have been keeping them at 26-27C and they will eat pretty much anything. They might be eating too much in the big tank as it is difficult to control. There are a lot of small snails in the 240l tank, should I let the pikes just eat them or would this make them ill if they gorge themselves?
Breeding Orinoco dwarf pikes
- Thread starter Mazan
- Start date
Yes, I was thinking that I would probably have to reduce the pH, I am just not sure how to go about doing this. Once I tried peat in the filter but it did not seem to have any effect on the pH despite the very low KH. This could be because I was still doing water changes with tap water, but even during the week there was no noticeable reduction in pH. Presumably I would have to prepare water beforehand for water changes anyway. There are products for reducing pH - I have seen Seachem pH buffer and pH regulator - not too sure about using chemicals like these but might look into it some more. Surely I would not have to use RO water with the water out of the tap so soft and with such low conductivity??
Apparently you can drop your PH with a porous container of Akdama volcanic pumice. It’s used in bonsai pots and can be found at most garden shops, I haven’t tried it but a shrimp breeder mate of mine swears by it for his caridina shrimp.
That is interesting, not s
That is interesting, I am not sure if I will be able to find it here but will have a look, thanks!