Hi guys,
I’m happy you would like to know more about my experience.
First of all I must tell you that I live in the UK.
I got my paros from a typical fish shop and they do all sorts of tropical, cold water and marine species as well as plants from Holland.
I think they use treated tap water at ph 7.2 but it is quite hard in my area. GH around 11 and Kh around 6 when I measured it.
However my shop sells pure RO which I use and with peat and JBL’s peat treatment I get water at Gh 3 and no Kh. Ph is below 5 and my test kit won’t measure lower.
The reason I say I rescued the fish is that although my shop is good, it does not provide a good environment for paros. Please see my previous topic for my meaning.
I use live food bought from the fish shop and will range from brine shrimp,daphinia, blood worms to glass worms. I also cultivate baby brine shrimp at home. Sometimes I have seen my fish take bites of dry food.
So the situation in the Uk is probably quite similar to elsewhere in Europe and you can buy all sorts of equipment and be as technical as you like. My friends keep fish but not especially difficult species but they have had experience in breeding bristlenosed plecs, and guppies. I have also bred swordtails and cories myself and I am also breeding cherry shrimp.
Please see my next topic for further developments on my paros.
Cheers,
Mike