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Hello everyone, I am brand new to keeping paros, and very happy to have found this forum!
I have a question about water. I have read I think every single post on this forum regarding water parameters, and yet I still think I must ask this:
I live on Vancouver Island, in Canada – we have very very soft tap water here.
The water, straight from the tap, has a pH of 7, kH of 1, and gH of 2. As for conductivity, my municipality water site states that it is 45 μS/cm.
Do you think that with this water, it would be possible (with addition of oak, catappa, alder cones etc) to lower Ph and kH, and have the proper water parameters for paros, therefore bypassing the need for RO/rainwater/distilled?
I realize that ‘tap water’ is an evil phrase on this forum, but please be gentle with me 🙂
Welcome Myrrhiam to the Paro forum. Most of us in the U.S. are not as lucky as you with their water conditions. However, there are a couple of individuals on the west coast that do have soft water direct from the tap. I believe Seattle and San Francisco have members with soft water. I would invite them to comment on your request.I believe they do as you are suggesting – adding IAL, alder cones and perhaps peat to their water. I, on the other hand, must use RO water mixed with tap and then place IAL in the bucket to age prior to adding to the tank – a much slower process.
I get regular requests from North American members looking for a source of any Paro species. It is not easy here in the U.S.to obtain these species, but your Canadian neighbors have even a greater difficulty it would appear. Could you tell us how your acquired your fish and what species you have.Great to hear that the soft tap water here (with addition of IAL, alder cones etc) just may be right for paros. I have already started experimenting with this.
As for where I acquired mine…. to be honest, they were an impulse buy (of which I am NOT prone to, I usually research species I am about to get quite thoroughly). I was in my LFS about a week ago, and spotted a lone pale licorice gourami languishing in a bright tank with many other large fish. I felt sorry for it, I remembered reading about them – that they are very very shy and like soft water and live food (of which I have both)….so, I asked to buy it…as the employee fished it out, another one shot out into the net, so I ended up taking home two. Apparently they had been sitting in the shop for weeks.
I put them in a 20 long heavily planted tank along with boraras species (6.2 pH, 1KH,2GH).
By the next morning, they had coloured up dramatically, and it seems I have lucked out and acquired a male/female pair. I placed a few PVC tubes in the tank, and the male immediately claimed it, the female went pale, almost white – got those black bars over her eyes…and eggs appeared stuck to the ceiling of the tube. Unfortunately they were only there for one day before disappearing. (KH too high, I;m guessing?)I realize they need to be in a species tank, with softer water, and I am in the process of setting one up for them. In the meantime, reading and learning as much as I can 🙂
I believe they are p.sp.sentag (which I believe are one of the most commonly traded ones?)
Hi Myrrhiam! Fine to hear from you!
Yes, perhaps the pH must still go down. Perhaps not under 4, but between 5,5 and 4,5?Hello Myrrhiam,
as long as you have access to alder cones and some dry oak or beech leaves, you should be perfectly fine 🙂 Just do not be afraid to use enough, there is no way you could harm paros with such natural substances. I would suggest covering the bottom with the leaves (no big layer, just a cover to avoid anoxic decomposition), beech leaves look better and suprisingly last longer) and adding a fair handful of aldercones for every 2.5 galons of water to start with. Thereafter just add more if needed. You may need more to develope eggs successfully, as your total hardness is a little higher than necessary, so chances are that you will have to go down to 5 with pH for this particular reason. But anywhere under 6 the fish will be already fine and it is just a matter of time for the eggs to develope in future attempts. You will see how fish like the new water 🙂 Best wishes!
You note that your tank is heavily planted. I would watch you male carefully for the next week or so. Often a male will move the eggs to an alternate location after the pair has spawned in a cave. You were lucky to get them to spawn almost immediately; I wish you well with your initial spawn. Keep us posted.
Thanks! I actually do not have access to beech leaves, we have much more wild oak here, of which I have already gathered copious amounts. I’ve set the tank up with a lot of leaves…hopefully not too much to be anoxic. I am going to catch some asellus aquaticus so hopefully they will help with that too… I will also go on a collecting expedition for alder cones soon. For now the paros stay in the planted tank, until I can find the perfect balance in their new tank 🙂
Also, with regards to the male moving the eggs, I have been watching both male and female closely (they actually come out and swim with the boraras on occasion, and are out in the open very often:))
The male has started to do his nipping/head down/ fins fanned out display towards the female again…I am guessing he wouldn’t be doing that if he were caring for eggs elsewhere in the tank?
Hello again and thanks for keeping us posted 🙂
The male has started to do his nipping/head down/fins fanned out display towards the female again…I am guessing he wouldn’t be doing that if he were caring for eggs elsewhere in the tank?
actually he would court her anyway, they may have larvae and eggs together from different spawn in the cave, also the spawning may be separated in between two days from time to time. Be prepared to anything. I have males who care for the eggs nonstop and males who only sometimes visit the cave to have a look and take a quick care for the eggs and run to court females and feed themselves again 😀
regarding the leaves, oak is also great and you do not have to bother with cycling the tank. As long as you have the pH low enough and the water is not cloudy. I do that with the all fish from waters this acidic, there are different bacteria involved and it all runs differently, so if you are able to feed reasonably, there is no harm to be done for the fish. On the other hand, they seem to thrive where they are for now, so no reason to hurry and you can fine tune the tank to your liking. Have fun!
Hah! Well well, I will def. be prepared for anything then! I somehow doubt any fry would survive in this tank, It IS jungle-like with plenty of moss/wood etc, but the little boraras I have would be sure to pick them off!
I need to get a PH pen before adding paros to the new tank – the liquid API tests I have only go down to 6 and are crap when it comes to tannin stained water. I want to make sure there is a low enough PH that cycling isn’t an issue.
It will also be a nightmare to try to catch them in this tank…..there are some pics of the tank/paros on this link:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/21-fish/1129650-licorice-gourami-breeding-question.htmlAny ideas on catching them? bottle trap? 🙂 rip apart tank plant by plant with tears of frustration? 😛
I have no idea how to catch them in such a tank. I would try to give them a cave and try to take the male out with it when guarding the clutch. Then be lucky and catch the female. Is the bottom soft? Cause if yes, they will not only hide in plants, but also burry themselves in the substrate. I started my first tank with peat granules on the bottom and since then only had a layer of leaves on the bare bottom, as it works great, they love it and you do not need anything else. + you can take it out and catch the fish. Definitely be prepared for some adventure 🙂
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