I Love It When A Plan Comes Together.

[TwoTankAmin]

So its altum season again. I am working with some very knowledgeable and well connected folks to get a hold of some wild caught Altums collected from the Rio Atabapo which borders Colombia and Venezuela. It is difficult to be certain regarding the collection locales for a lot of wild fish and this is a unique opportunity to do so. However, cycling a tank for fish that need to be in a pH below 6.0 presents some major issues regarding cycling. In the wild altums are found in pH levels between 4 and 5 and levels as low as 3.5 have been recorded.

Ammonia is way more toxic the higher the pH and wild caught Altums are extremely sensitive to ammonia. Even the smallest amounts will kill them. Moreover, low pH, aka acid, water is extremely hostile to bacteria. Fish from these waters are not exposed to a lot of bacterial threats the way most other fish are. The result is they have underdeveloped immune systems which makes them highly susceptible to bacterial threats. So the water the go into really needs to be acidic. A side effect of all this is that the normal nitrifying bacteria we need in our tanks are also going to be trashed by the acid water. So how exactly can one one cycle an acid pH tank?

The normal method used by folks who bring in these wild fish is to take a good 3-4 months to get a tank cycled. The method they use, and which Dr. Hovanec also suggests, works as follows. You start by cycling a tank for a neutral pH. Once cycled you begin the process of lowering the pH gradually. You lower the pH by .2 and then hold it there for 2-4 weeks monitoring ammonia and nitrites. When the tank stabilizes at the new pH level, you can then drop it again by .2 and repeat. (One complication is finding test kits that work reliably in acid water.) What happens is as one lowers the pH a lot of the bacteria are killed off by the acid water. However, not 100% will be killed. Some will manage to adapt to acid conditions and will reproduce more ot the same. The basic process at work is to develop your own "strain" of acid resistant nitrifiers and then get the bacterial colonies up to proper strength.

But what can you do if you don't have 3 to 4 months to get a tank ready for acid pH loving fish? This was my problem as I am just now preparing a tank to receive fish next month sometime. Even before dealing with the cycling issue I have been taking crash courses in ro/di water and UV sterilizers which are a must for these fish initially and if one is going to keep them in acid water (6.0 pH and below) long term. All of this is new to me as I have always operated using the rule that I will only keep fish that can live in my tap water.

Fortunately, I know somebody who is an acid water expert and who has as complex a water treatment system for his fish room as I have ever seen or heard about. He is a water treatment professional by trade. He imports and breeds wild discus and lots of other acid water fish especially cichlids including lots of unusual apistos. Today I made arrangements to get seed material with acid adapted bacteria from him next Tuesday. Now its time to scramble to get everything ready tankwise for this.

Things coming now include:
Bacteria for seeding
Dried oak leaves
Alder cones
Branchy manzanita wood
UV Sterilizer
RO/DI unit- (3 stage portable)
Resupply of Flubendazole for deworming. (I have metro and praziquantel) I may also get some levamisole HCL as well.

"I love it when a plan comes together." Hannibal Smith of the A-Team

 

[Whitey_144]

Hi!, sounds interesting! i look forward to hearing how it goes!

I bought an RO unit 6months ago to get neutral PH, people said it wasn't possible, but it is! and although i do a 50/50mix, i think my fish are happier for it.

I didn't know it was possible to create an acid resitant strain? i would've thought this would've happened more in the wild and increased their immune system..obviously the environment is never controlled enough to let them become resistant.

good luck!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Well one isn't really creating a new strain. What happens is that acid water will kill off most of the bacteria. However, some will survive. These survivors basically reproduce and the new bacteria will also be acid resistant. This of as more like selective breeding to fix a quality such as long fins in bn.

After an exchange of emails with Dr. Hovanec, I have a couple of bottles of ammonium chloride coming so I can feed my soon to arrive acid resistant seed bacteria and get them reproducing into a viable self sustaining colony.

 

[Tolak]

I've found that it's easier to find electronic pH meters that read the lower ranges than the chemical test kits. I'm very interested to see how this works out, I've been running a tank full of cardinal tetras for about 2 years on RO filtered through peat, keeping it at about 5.2 with a TDS of right around 20.

 

[minnnt]

I've found that it's easier to find electronic pH meters that read the lower ranges than the chemical test kits. I'm very interested to see how this works out, I've been running a tank full of cardinal tetras for about 2 years on RO filtered through peat, keeping it at about 5.2 with a TDS of right around 20.

Any chance of some pictures John? Sounds excellent.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The article on the angel site which lays out the issues and solutions about cycling a low pH tank offered the following re testing:

*Note: that most ammonia and nitrite test kits may not work as pH decreases. Check Elos and Sera who have some good specialized kits, both are available online here in the U.S.
http/elosusa.com/store/product/9/aqua-test-nh4-ammonia-ammonium-test-kit
http/www.aquacave.com/sera-ammonium--ammonia-br-test-kit-2213.html

One kit costs $24 and the other $12 (plus shipping). I have not decided yet what I will do. I agree that an electronic tester would probably be the best but these run about $37 (plus shipping) or more for combo units. I already have their TDS meter.