Shell dweller tank mate and ID?

[BeckyCats]

Hello! I recently got a shell dwelling cichlid from Petco. He was the only one they had (they told me he killed the other one that he came in with). I am wondering if I should keep looking for another shell dweller for him, specifically a female. I think this one is a male because of the goldish edge to his dorsal fin. I read the females have a whiter edge, the males golder. But of course, that assumes I correctly identified him. Petco just called him a "shell dwelling cichlid". I think he's a lamprologus ocellatus, but I'm not sure because only some of the pictures of this species show spots. Most show it as all yellowish. Perhaps these are the "gold" variety and mine is the regular?

Also, I read that the space needs for this fish are minimal and that some people keep them in a 5 gallon (~19 liter) tank. We have ours in a tank that is longer than a 10 gallon, but less deep. It holds less than 10 gallons of water because of the shallower height (10") but has a footprint of 25" long by 9" deep. So, from what I've read, this should be sufficient space for him, but it still looks small to me. I did post this question on a cichlid forum and was told it was fine. What do you guys think?

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, he has lots of shells.

So, my questions are:
1. Is this a lamprologus ocellatus?
2. Should I keep looking for a female?
3. Is his tank big enough for him?

Thank you!

 

[BeckyCats]

One more question, actually. I used aragonite sand to make the water harder, but the grains are largish. Should I use regular aquarium sand and just cichlid salts and buffers to adjust his water? I read they like to dig in the sand, but he never does.

 

[james41683]

I wouldn't buy just one, get a few and remove rejected fish until a pair is left. Your tank should work with a breeding pair.

 

[BeckyCats]

Thank you. I have only seen just this one despite looking for almost a year. I may have to try online to find a female. I don't know why they are so hard to find.

 

[BeckyCats]

Do you think I identified him correctly? Lamprologus ocellatus?

 

[StevenF]

One more question, actually. I used aragonite sand to make the water harder, but the grains are largish. Should I use regular aquarium sand and just cichlid salts and buffers to adjust his water?

Aragonite is Calcium carbonate. It only disolves when the PH falls below 7. The amount that disolves is dependant on how low the PH goes. For a typical aquarium with PH between 6.5 and 7 it will only increase GH by 1 or 2 degrees. It is actually stronger at affectying KH (about 3 degrees). As it desolves it pushes the PH back up. It will naturally try and maintain the PH at 7 or very close to it. It will also react with any free chlorine in the water nutralizing it.

The best materials for increasing GH are calcium sulfate (gypsum) and magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) or Calcium Chloride and Magnesium chloride. With these you could make the water as hard as you want). Just be careful not to overdo it. You could make the water harder than your fish can tolerate. You can buy them premixed From Seachem. Replenish (chloride version) and Equilibrium (sulfate version). I would recommend using Equilibrium since sulfur is a macro nutrient and some plants need a lot of it. Chlorine is in comparison a micro nutrient so plants don't need very much of it.

you can buy your own gypsum and Epsom salt and mix it in a 4 to 1 ratio 4 parts calcium and 1 part magnesium. If you know which African lake the fish are native to you could use Seachem equilibrium chichlid lake salt. In addition to calcium and magnesium it contains other salts found in the african lakes. Seachem also provide mixing instructions to allow you to match as closely as possible the natural water conditions the fish evolved in.

 

[BeckyCats]

Aragonite is Calcium carbonate. It only disolves when the PH falls below 7. The amount that disolves is dependant on how low the PH goes. For a typical aquarium with PH between 6.5 and 7 it will only increase GH by 1 or 2 degrees. It is actually stronger at affectying KH (about 3 degrees). As it desolves it pushes the PH back up. It will naturally try and maintain the PH at 7 or very close to it. It will also react with any free chlorine in the water nutralizing it.

The best materials for increasing GH are calcium sulfate (gypsum) and magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) or Calcium Chloride and Magnesium chloride. With these you could make the water as hard as you want). Just be careful not to overdo it. You could make the water harder than your fish can tolerate. You can buy them premixed From Seachem. Replenish (chloride version) and Equilibrium (sulfate version). I would recommend using Equilibrium since sulfur is a macro nutrient and some plants need a lot of it. Chlorine is in comparison a micro nutrient so plants don't need very much of it.

you can buy your own gypsum and Epsom salt and mix it in a 4 to 1 ratio 4 parts calcium and 1 part magnesium. If you know which African lake the fish are native to you could use Seachem equilibrium chichlid lake salt. In addition to calcium and magnesium it contains other salts found in the african lakes. Seachem also provide mixing instructions to allow you to match as closely as possible the natural water conditions the fish evolved in.

Going on the assumption that he is l. ocellatus, then he is from lake Tanganyika and needs a much higher pH than I'm getting with the aragonite sand. I bought some of seachem's cichlid salts, Tanganyika buffer, and cichlid trace. I'm going to set him up with water that should be better for him. I'll do it slowly though I'm thinking, so it isn't a shock to his system. I'll change his sand to regular aquarium sand so that he can dig if he wants to, since I'll be using the cichlid salts to adjust his water.

Thank you so much for the info on aragonite sand. That explains why the fish store guy said it made his water go up to a pH of over 9, while I never get over 7.6. My tap water is softer and the fish store guy said his tap water is hard.

 

[StevenF]

I'm going to set him up with water that should be better for him. I'll do it slowly though I'm thinking, so it isn't a shock to his system.

Good plan. As to the guy at the store with PH 9 water aragonite cannot do that. I probably was not clear on this but Aragonite cannot push the pH above 7 and it definite cannot push it to 8 or 9. However rapid plant growth can by absorbing sulfate and chlorides. When this happens excess potassium can build up in the water. Excess potassium can then push the PH up to 9 or more.

 

[hobby5]

Just to make it clear: potassium has no influence on pH. Or can you please explain the mechanism you are talking about? What is buffering your pH in normal fresh water is the carbonate concentration. Which is messured by KH. That is why only the KH but not the GH has an influence on the pH in your tank.

 

[StevenF]

PH is a measure of acid or bases in the water (0 is a strong acid, 7 neutral, and 14 is a strong base. KH is the buffering. KH will counteract acids and push the PH up. When a free potassium Ion forms in the water it will quickly react with water to form:
K + H2O >> KOH(potassium hydroxid) + H(a single hydrogen ion.

Potassium hydroxide is a strong base and that will can push the PH up to 14. For Calcium the reaction is a little different:
Ca + 2H2O >> Ca2OH +2H
Calcium hydroxide (Ca2oh) is also a base but it is not as strong and will react with CO2 to form a carbonate ion (KH):
Ca2OH +CO3 >> CaC03 + H2O(water)

The reaction for magnesium is similar to calcium. Calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate are soluble when the PH is below 7. They are not soluble above a PH of 7. Since it is soluble below a PH of 7 it will react with acids and neutralize them (called buffering) and pushing the PH back up to 7. Once the PH is at 7 it is no longer soluble and will no longer have any effect on PH. The term PH buffer is also used to describe a chemical mixture of a precisely know PH. These are often used to calibrate equipment or to temporarily adjust the PH of water in an aquarium.

GH refers to the total concentration of any salt that contains calcium and magnesium. These can be calcium sulfate, calcium nitrate, calcium chloride, or calcium carbonate. For magnesium, magnesium sulfate, magnesium nitrate,magnesium chloride, and magnesium carbonate. Other than the carbonates most of these have little to no effect on PH most of the time. The GH test will detect carbonates but it is not specific to them. KH is however specific to carbonates.

Since the GH test is not specific to the type of calcium its output is often expressed as a function of carbonate. For example A GH reading of 100 CaCo3 means that if all the calcium in the water is carbonate it would be equivalent to 100ppm of Calcium carbonate solution. However if you add that much dry calcium carbonate to PH7 water you will only get a solution of about 11ppm calcium carbonate. However if you purchased carbonated water (PH of about 4) and added calcium carbonate a reaction will occur that will give you a 100ppm solution, But as CO2 in the solution is lost to the air the calcium carbonate will slowly precipitate out forming what is often called lime scale. Lime scale will form on shower walls, sinks and water fixtures but almost never forms inside the water pipes.

 

[hobby5]

@StevenF

Some details are correct but the big picture is wrong.

In your tank there is no reaction of free K with water to form hydroxides. But - as you mentioned for the GH - K will be present as potassium ions which are part of dissolved salts (Potassium Sulfate, Phospahte, Chloride, Carbonate, etc.). And those potassium ions, no matter which concentration, have absolutely no practical effect on pH.

 

[BeckyCats]

Any opinions on whether or not I identified this fish correctly?

 

[james41683]

I'm not too good at id'ing Shellie's, but it looks close. Maybe try joining and posting on cichlid-forum.com I'm sure someone there knows for sure.

 

[StevenF]

Any opinions on whether or not I identified this fish correctly?

Sorry I have never owned any chicllds.

Some details are correct but the big picture is wrong.

In your tank there is no reaction of free K with water to form hydroxides.

The reaction between potassium and water was one of the first thing I learned in high school chemistry. And from the web:

Potassium reacts rapidly and intensely with water, forming a colourless basic potassium hydroxide solution and hydrogen gas, according to the following reaction mechanism:

2K (s) + 2H2O (l) -> 2KOH (aq) + H2 (g)

This is an exothermal reaction and potassium is heated to such an extend that it burns a purple flame.

http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/water/potassium/potassium-and-water.htm

Free Potassium is potassium that is not reacted with anything else in the aquarium and. KOH doesn't stay in the aquarium very long. It continues to react with carbonates, nitrates, sulfates, and finally halogens. Each step along the way reduces the effect of potassium on PH. KOH is very strong effect on PH and when concentrated will burn your skin and have a PH of 14.

MSDS documents for KOH (Material Safety Datasheets) say:

Potential Acute Health Effects:

Very hazardous in case of skin contact (corrosive, irritant), of eye contact (irritant, corrosive), of ingestion, of inhalation. The amount of tissue damage depends on length of contact. Eye contact can result in corneal damage or blindness. Skin contact can produce inflammation and blistering. Inhalation of dust will produce irritation to gastro-intestinal or respiratory tract, characterized by burning, sneezing and coughing. Severe over-exposure can produce lung damage, choking, unconsciousness or death. Inflammation of the eye is characterized by redness, watering, and itching. Skin inflammation is characterized by itching, scaling, reddening, or, occasionally, blistering.