Jacob, you are fully right: blackwater tanks are not as easy to maintain than normal clearwater tanks. But: They are not as difficult to maintain as some of your fears seem to indicate. And additionally, there is a very interesting experience that we in Europe have made: humine acids and humine substances are important for that fish, but not necessarily a very low pH and even not necessarily true blackwater. Many Parosphromenus-species have in Germany been grown and bred in clearwater if the load of germs only was rather low. It’s the density of germs that is limiting the survival of eggs, larvae and very young blackwater fish, not the blackwater or the very low pH itself. But that helps to minimize the germ load.
Yes, try that S. vaillanti under these conditions. We have breeders with good success with these fish under similar circumstances. But look for P. harveyi or tweediei, linkei or brilliant quindecim or the new wonderfully red spec. Langgam: If they are presented adequately, they most certainly will gain new friends for those special, more biologically set-up aquaria, too.
The
PAROSPHROMENUS PROJECT
