[Joshua Morgan]

‘ello all! Here’s how things stand:
– Ammonia/ammonium levels are now under control (.25 mg/l right before 40% water change), courtesy of reduced feedings.
– PH levels are still aggravatingly high (6.7 in the main tank). Will be performing a tank restart to try to get it to the desired 5 or less value. I’ve also heard of a product (acid buffer by seachem) that seems to convert carbonates to CO2 in the process of acidifying the water…likely a useful product for a paro tank 🙂 Will be looking into that in the near future. On a related note, I have taken to boiling alder cones to extract their tannins, which is being VERY helpful in that respect
– In an impulsive moment, I made the mistake of removing all the plants and other decor from the main tank while trying to see the male more. While it worked…all three fish are much more flighty now and (likely combined with the above PH issue) visibly stressed (in particular it has been a while since I have seen the male try to court any of the females, and his colors are faded). This is going to need fixing…going to rescape the tank to both make it more enjoyable to the fish and to make it less of an eyesore (while on that topic…any suggestions on caves for amorous male paros? I tried using terra cotta caves as shown in many paro tanks, but they sent the PH in the spawning tank I tried them in jumping up)
– Still feeding the fish BBS every other day. I have grindal worm cultures I received last week that are doing well, but they are not quite at harvesting level yet…when they are they will be fed 2 or 3 times a week (on days they are not fed BBS)
Well, that’s my update! Thankx for giving me a listen!