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I guess that the description I gave above was a tad vague…what I mean is this:
Step A: A container separate from that the fish would occupy is initially filled with a large quantity of distilled/RO water. I agree that the hardness/ph spike from doing this in the main tank would be a problem, and I thank you for pointing that out.
Step B: In said tank, a filter is installed that will have a replacable container with an acidifying substance (likely sphagum peat moss…leaves in the bag might look a tad ridiculous and would not be as efficient if you think about it). The container, which I will refer to as a ‘battery’, would be replaced about once every two weeks.
Step C: Relatively small amounts of dechlorinated tap water both initially and to replace the distilled as it was used (maybe 1-2 gallons at a time per every 15-20 gallons of the container?) would be added to the container. Since the buffering substances would be so strongly diluted, they would be neutralized trying to contain the acids and the PH and hardness would remain low. If this works as I think it would (I could be wildly off the mark here, though), as long as the battery is replaced consistently and tap water is not added in excessively large quantities, there would be no need for RO or distilled water after the system is initially set up. This could be a huge money saver for acidic water keepers in general – if it works, which is why I made this post.
Might the nagyis be ill? I admit I’m not sure whether that has been stated as a plausible cause of obsessive labryinth behavior, but considering that water pollution, ph shifts, and high temperatures (all of which cause stress) will also make parosphromenus species do that, it wouldn’t surprise me if illness was stressing them enough to trigger air breathing.
I am simply planning on keeping one of the easier species such as filamentosus or linkei. Now why isn’t linkei referred to as a pearl licorice gourami…?
The reason that the smaller tank cannot be set up permanently because it is a quarentine tank: I also will (within a few days at most) have a breeding colony of endlers in a 29 gallon, and thus that tank will be needed to house any ill fish that arise. My sister, hwo also owns several tanks, is currently using it for a pair of ill Xiphophorus hellerii in the tank right now.
OK. To put my plans in more metric terms, the main tank will be a 75.7 litre tank with dimensions of 60.72L * 30.36w * 40.48H. There would be a layer of leaf litter on the tank floor somewhere between 2.5 and 7.5 cm in depth: the tank would have ceratopteris, crytocorene, likely taxiphyllum and microsorum, likely some tree branches, and perhaps a few small pots for caves. Occasionally a pair would be moved to a 18.9 litre tank to spawn, since the main tank would have multiple parosphromenus pairs: the spawning tank would have a considerably thinner layer of leaves and no decorations other than a opt or two and perhaps some ceratopteris to help maintain water quality. Finally, a plastic container would be used to store the acidic water for the tank: the nitrogen would be removed from this water by the plants (again likely ceratopteris) so as to allow the water to be reused, reducing potentially unreliable reliance on rainwater.
By forum standards I am getting very rapid replies…thank you.
One last question. I am planning on keeping the gourami in a 20 gallon high tank, occasionally moving a pair of the fish to a five gallon to breed them. Would that setup work?
Oh, thank you for the quick reply! On a somewhat unrelated note, how thick can the leaf litter on the bottom of a parosphromenus tank be? Would several inches be too much?
The lid is intended to prevent escapees via jumping, but if jumping is not a concern I could just replace that with a light. The heaters are needed because I live in Maine, and my room’s temperature often drops enough to put water temps at 15 c or less during the winter. That is also why I need the desklamp, to prevent the brine shrimp from not hatching.
By the way, a power strip is a device which turns one outlet into six. I don’t have enough plugs otherwise.
