Apistos In High Ph

[ZoddyZod]

Everytime I visit my lfs I am drawn to the Apistogramma cacatuoides and their amazing colours. I know that these are a soft water species so have always steered clear (7.8 in my tank).

My lfs keep all fish at tapwater pH levels (around 8 in this area) so I was wondering if anyone has had 'success' (1+ years in a tank) keeping any of the apistos at high pH? Or is this simply a "sorry but no" idea?

 

[Tolak]

Cacatuoides are a species that does well in harder water with a higher pH. I've bred them in tap water with a pH of 7.6 give or take.

 

[ZoddyZod]

very interesting, I've never read anything about them adapting to higher pH. Just goes to show that you can read all the 'care sheets' out there but they aren't a patch on first hand experience.

 

[shroob]

I will start by saying that if your LFS shop successful keeps them, then I would be inclined to give it a go. As apisto's go, A. cacatuoides is a relatively mass bred and adaptable species. Clean water and stable conditions should suffice.

Though having said that, it is best to try and replicate the prefered habitat. Have you tried altering your tanks pH? By this I mean not with chemicals you can buy in sachets but simple things like bogwood or peat? Another option to guarantee water quality would be an R.O. unit (prices vary). This might be especially be needed if breeding is the desired goal.

I will end by a few quotes from articles I will link below:
'Chicago area water is tremendous African Cichlid water, hard and with a pH of 7.4. Tanganyikans thrive in it as do mbunas from Malawi. Strangely enough though, fishes like Apisto's from soft acid water do quite well also. To date I have successfully kept and bred; A. agassizii, bitaeniata, caetei, gephyra, pertense and what was sold to me as ortrmanni. None of these species required peat or chemical additives to induce them into the act.'
LINK 1

'Many of those offered for sale will live very nicely in most municipal water.... Whatever your pH or Hardness, I would leave it alone.'
LINK 2

'I thought I would have to keep them in very soft water in order to get them to spawn. They proved me wrong! '
LINK 3


EDIT: To add to Tolaks post:
Furthermore, these fish are considered soft-water dwarves and are all from South America. They are, however, not the only soft-water dwarves in South America. Additionally there is a certain misleading quality to universally attribute the title "soft-water" to them. Many species in these genera come from neutral or relatively hard-water habitats. There seems to have been a widely held assumption in the past that these "soft-water" small fish are the only legitimately recognized dwarf cichlids. In the opinion of this author, that is far from the case. There are, in fact, dwarf cichlids from many continents with wide-ranging water chemistries in their natural biotopes.
From this article

Also from the species page on cichlid-forum 'This fish can also thrive in slightly hard water.' Though it does state its prefered conditions as soft water.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Though having said that, it is best to try and replicate the prefered habitat. Have you tried altering your tanks pH? By this I mean not with chemicals you can buy in sachets but simple things like bogwood or peat? Another option to guarantee water quality would be an R.O. unit (prices vary). This might be especially be needed if breeding is the desired goal.

I'm not interested in attempting to change my pH, I just try to make sure that anything I do keep accepts my high pH. I didn't know that cacatuoides were successfully bred at higher pHs so this is encouraging news and shows that they aren't as intolerant as I thought.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

A carbon dioxide bubbler for some live, faster growing plants, can naturally lower the pH by ~0.8 in moderately hard water (gH 14; kH 11).

 

[ZoddyZod]

A carbon dioxide bubbler for some live, faster growing plants, can naturally lower the pH by ~0.8 in moderately hard water (gH 14; kH 11).

interesting to know.....but 'advancing' to the more high-tech plant techniques is not something I'm considering at the moment. More time & more money are not very appealing right now

 

[shroob]

I would just give it a go. If they do well at your LFS then they should be OK in your tank. I would still add bogwood though, in my opinion the best aquarium decoration around and fits a S.A. theme nicely.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I would just give it a go. If they do well at your LFS then they should be OK in your tank. I would still add bogwood though, in my opinion the best aquarium decoration around and fits a S.A. theme nicely.

I've already got some bogwood in there. Tank is quite well populated at the moment. Need to move some out before adding anything else, was just asking the question for future reference.

 

[BethK]

my cockatoos are in a ph of 8 and are doing well

 

[ChilliPepper]

We have very hard water and a pH of 7.5, and my Apistogramma Agassizi is thriving

 

[ZoddyZod]

We have very hard water and a pH of 7.5, and my Apistogramma Agassizi is thriving

hmmmmm, really wish I had asked this question before I got so many bottom dwellers!

my cockatoos are in a ph of 8 and are doing well

 

[karin]

Mine are in a Ph of 8 as well and doing well.