Through the wall / My Fish Room

fishguy1978

Legendary Member
I am very seriously considering changing the fish room collection out for Rift Lake species only. After losing my T musaica woodcats and my T intermedia starting to show the stress of my less than soft water, I think it’s going to happen. I have already offered the intermedia to a hobbyist with softwater.
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
I am very seriously considering changing the fish room collection out for Rift Lake species only. After losing my T musaica woodcats and my T intermedia starting to show the stress of my less than soft water, I think it’s going to happen. I have already offered the intermedia to a hobbyist with softwater.
Ohhh... I like that! Maybe I can help... :)
 

DMD123

Administrator
Staff member
Contributing Member Level III
I am very seriously considering changing the fish room collection out for Rift Lake species only. After losing my T musaica woodcats and my T intermedia starting to show the stress of my less than soft water, I think it’s going to happen. I have already offered the intermedia to a hobbyist with softwater.
Central American cichlids are another option, your rainbows thrived when you had them. But I will say all the cool catfish seem like they are South American ones, though there a a few interesting Asian species. Seems like its a start from scratch situation for you. Sad but hopefully exciting prospects ahead.
 

fishguy1978

Legendary Member
Central American cichlids are another option, your rainbows thrived when you had them. But I will say all the cool catfish seem like they are South American ones, though there a a few interesting Asian species. Seems like its a start from scratch situation for you. Sad but hopefully exciting prospects ahead.
I have a very cool prospect. Dependent on rehoming my SA collection.
 

sir_keith

Legendary Member
Contributing Member Level III
It's always unsettling to start out fresh, but it can be fun, too. When I was in college my place had soft, slightly acidic water, and I enjoyed keeping Apisto's in my tiny apartment. Everything changed when I went to graduate school in NJ, where the water was hard and alkaline, making Apisto's out of the question. Fortunately, the 'African Invasion' was just starting, and the rest is history. There are so many endemic cichlid species in the Great Rift Lakes that you never lack for options, and they all need pretty much the same kind of water. :)

Interestingly, one of my professors at Princeton was a semi-professional discus breeder; fishes that are very fussy about their water. He had a massive RO setup for the water, and a dedicated Xenopus breeding colony to provide live food for his discus breeders. Amazing operation. And no, he didn't get tenure, but by then was probably making a better living breeding discus than teaching biology. :oops:
 
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fishguy1978

Legendary Member
It's always unsettling to start out fresh, but it can be fun, too. When I was in college my place had soft, slightly acidic water, and I enjoyed keeping Apisto's in my tiny apartment. Everything changed when I went to graduate school in NJ, where the water was hard and alkaline, making Apisto's out of the question. Fortunately, the 'African Invasion' was just starting, and the rest is history. There are so many endemic cichlid species in the Great Rift Lakes that you never lack for options, and they all need pretty much the same kind of water. :)

Interestingly, one of my professors at Princeton was a semi-professional discus breeder; fishes that are very fussy about their water. He had a massive RO setup for the water, and a dedicated Xenopus breeding colony to provide live food for his discus breeders. Amazing operation. And no, he didn't get tenure, but by then was probably making a better living breeding discus than by teaching biology. :oops:
Xenopus = clawed frogs?
 

John58Ford

Well-Known Member
It is a bummer your water isn't working for the fish you've chosen, but the idea of starting over is a fun one too. It's a bummer I'm not a MFK, some of the fish you listed would be pretty cool to watch. I don't think my fish room could take the weight of a 240+ unless I ditched the rack tanks and built a load platform or paid big bucks to inject a slab under the house. Would gladly let you truck my water down there though lol.

On the subject of fish rooms and water, I'm surprised there aren't a larger majority of city/treated water users with water closets like the reef tank guys set up. RO/DI units of dumping into reinforced trash cans or barrels hooked up to a float switch, dosing systems to remineralize stock solutions at various points in the supply line can be set up to run multiple biotope on command as required. This gives the user water they really know and can be tailored to spec, no relying on the city to notify you if they change process or update a line of supply. Using a soft well source, I'm already doing the re-mineralization, even for my soft biotopes, but at my scale it just makes more sense to make a 5 gallon bucket of stock solution for whatever biotopes I'm doing that day and then run my fill system for the bulk of the water. Have been thinking to eliminate my nano-rack and use the space to build a water closet hidden under a faux built-in table, the county is trying to buy our well rights from the HOA and along with that will likely come some form of "treatment" processes.

Sorry if I missed it here, but what are your actual parameters after your water de-gasses?
 

fishguy1978

Legendary Member
It is a bummer your water isn't working for the fish you've chosen, but the idea of starting over is a fun one too. It's a bummer I'm not a MFK, some of the fish you listed would be pretty cool to watch. I don't think my fish room could take the weight of a 240+ unless I ditched the rack tanks and built a load platform or paid big bucks to inject a slab under the house. Would gladly let you truck my water down there though lol.

On the subject of fish rooms and water, I'm surprised there aren't a larger majority of city/treated water users with water closets like the reef tank guys set up. RO/DI units of dumping into reinforced trash cans or barrels hooked up to a float switch, dosing systems to remineralize stock solutions at various points in the supply line can be set up to run multiple biotope on command as required. This gives the user water they really know and can be tailored to spec, no relying on the city to notify you if they change process or update a line of supply. Using a soft well source, I'm already doing the re-mineralization, even for my soft biotopes, but at my scale it just makes more sense to make a 5 gallon bucket of stock solution for whatever biotopes I'm doing that day and then run my fill system for the bulk of the water. Have been thinking to eliminate my nano-rack and use the space to build a water closet hidden under a faux built-in table, the county is trying to buy our well rights from the HOA and along with that will likely come some form of "treatment" processes.

Sorry if I missed it here, but what are your actual parameters after your water de-gasses?
My ph is over 8. I haven’t tested Kh or Gh in a while. The last time I did (iirc) my Gh was at around 15 drops and no color change. I could set up an RO/DI system but the cost of running enough water is prohibitive. I’m dedicated but not that dedicated :)
 

John58Ford

Well-Known Member
Hey @John58Ford, have your crypts ever flowered? I noticed these “bulbs” on stems and am not sure if it’s leaf starts or flowers?View attachment 12496
Mine haven't ever flowered, I have read that they commonly flower when grown emersed though, seen pictures of twisted looking blooms, cooler looking than anubias. Above the water line crypt can reproduce sexually with pollen. Submerged the pollen can't transfer so a flower would be wasted energy but even plants make mistakes I guess. Mine tend to send runners just below the surface of the substrate 3"-5" long and drop baby plant clones asexually. Would be cool to see how that bloom turns out, I would think it to be fairly rare submerged.
 
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