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What apisto’s are they?

That does look like a male to me on pic two

If you are set on breeding then go for RO water, you won’t need to water change much with a big tank and just one pair. You will need a separate grow out tank though.

They love soft acidic water with caves for breeding and subdued light. They don’t need tannins. Tannins are a form of tannic acid, it’s the acidity they enjoy.

@Colin_T are we really suggesting that ph 7.8 - 8 is appropriate for apistogramma? If you want to keep a species only tank for breeding you need soft acidic water, mine used to be 5.5ph and about 2dgh but the softer the better. Loads of hiding spots and tall wood to break line of sight. Tannin...

Buy a litre and test it see how it looks.

That sounds like a great deal, you won’t get it cheaper than 1.5p per litre anywhere!

Sorry to say it...Sounds like one for the clove oil

That's nature for you. Be careful with your one smaller fry. If it doesn't grow properly it may be stunted and I'm sad to say might need to be culled. See if you can feed it up.

TMC light or flourish complete will be fine. Don’t plant Anubis or java fern they’re best attached to rock/wood as they like their rhizome exposed. How long do you have your lights on for, looks like you might need to reduce intensity

For breeding I used to just rotate two floating moss balls between tanks each week. Take it out pop it in the fry tank then swap at the end of the week. I found them to be very regular breeders.

I had a tank in my basement for CPD fry I thought I got all of them out...6 months later I came to break this tank down and I found a lone cpd in there, no food, no filter, little light just a few plants and he was fat and happy...

Hi seangee, I kept mine in 23/24 degree water around 7.2ph and around 6-8dgh. Heavily planted tank. Absolutely brilliant species very active but you need a big shoal of around 20imo. Really easy to breed as well and very undemanding. They love micro worms and baby brine shrimp so get them on...

Assuming that you can use any of these products for immediate cycled tank is not true. The bacteria in these products, whilst they convert ammonia/nitrite are not as effective as natural bacteria. I would always add the man made products and supplement with ammonia for a fast cycle, this can be...

My sword fish breed like clockwork. So far I only have one that has managed to make it to adulthood, the others have been devoured. You will get a few that survive nature but your chances are always better if you can move them. Also allows you to target feed so they can get more food and grow...

An alternative is to offer to forum members if they live close by?

Unfortunately you just have to watch like a lunatic! It is fun having live bearer fry but as suggested, tanks fill up quick, offer to give them away or help your LFS by giving them some extra stock?? No heater just means the fish will grow on a tad slower, but overall no difference.

Agree with @Byron. The small vals can give a great natural aquascape.

If you’re looking for harder water seachem replenish and alkaline buffer are the way to go. I found it more stable than rift lake salts when you’re only trying to get to 7.3ph and 12dgh. In answer to your guppy pregnancy question they can give birth quickly and normally between 20-30 day...

Sorry guys final query; are pellets better than flakes simply as they retain their nutrients longer as they don’t react as readily with moisture or is there anything else in their consistency which makes them beneficial?

Cheers Colin I’ve always tried to mix it up. I tend to mix marine mix, bloodworm, brine shrimp, daphnia, krill. Noted on the bloodworm. That’s really helped guys and the guidance on brands is also very useful.

Thanks all really useful. I’m actually using new life spectrum micro pellets and flake as part of my cereal diet as well as fluval fish bites so it sounds like my dry food is alright. I do think I need to bump up my veggie side for the rainbow fish so I’ll look into the omega one veggie...

Thanks Colin helpful summary, my tank is heavily planted and I do already have ambulia in the tank and they also occasionally eat the crypts. I do feed pea twice a week but are they’re any other veg to mix in? I do have a spirulina flake which I feed, but are there any flake brands that are...

Another bit of info - get them from two different suppliers otherwise you raise the chance of inbreeding and watch out for disease in the tanks when you buy. Ich and finrot are common.

The Corys and bristlenose are quite messy fish when fully grown. I wouldn’t get many and be prepared for your stock to grow as they have a lot of babies.

Hey all, I am baffled by the lack of information about fish food and the conflicting stories about what’s best to feed. Some people advocate using only dry fish foods, others live food and then others suggest Not to use live and that frozen are just as fresh and safer from unwanted parasites...

I would also just get a low range ph check just to be safe.

The plants are doing well now which is good to see. How are the fish? There has been quite a lot of change for them and you don’t want to overlook them. Growing healthy plants can be an obsession and one plant alone can really give you a headache which is why I always suggest grow whatever works...

All of the above are spot on, I used to cut one stem into 2-3 stems. Hygrophilia grows so fast you will be fine...just feed the beast as its a very hungry plant. If you see any pin holes, light leaves, light veins or dark edges your not feeding enough, its a very good plant at telling you when...

Agree with @essjay get yourself a micro nutrient supplement (Flourish Comprehensive is perfect but there are other brands). Just be mindful with these slow growing plants that they do not need that much light. By light I mean intensity not necessarily duration. My slow growing Anubis/Java fern...

If you can get a culture of Microworms the little cories really love them and then move onto baby brine shrimp in another week or two. This really seems to kick start growth over the hikari first bites. Also if you can get some catappa/bananna or any other of the leaves as noted in previous...

I kept cories for over 7 years, a brilliant fish. As long as you have a mature filter and a bit of surface agitation I wouldn’t worry too much about aeration as they do swim to the surface to take a gulp of air when needed. I always had issues keeping my cories in ph 7.6 and gh 10 water until I...

Hey all so this weeks update. It's starting to take shape after finally sorting the filter issue. An o ring had broke around the inlet. Wood has all sunk now potted some e.ozelot, c.costata, a.coffeefolia, a.hastifolia, bacopa, m.trident. I'll pop the moss on the logs next week and I'll take...

Agree with @Byron you need to bump up the ferts, the floating plants normally show up deficiencies first as they receive more light and can openly absorb co2, so they hit nutrient deficiencies faster. Also you have a lot of plants, watch for the deficiencies then bump up the ferts by 1/2 dose.

Good idea I’ll have a look online and see what I can find. That would probably be perfect though and it would help me elevate the light instead of having to hang it.

I recently brought from an online seller. I would never buy fish online again. The fish came riddled with ich and fin rot. I've just spent two weeks treating the fish in a quarantine tank, and I lost two of the 14 purchased. The companies view is they only guarantee that the fish arrive...

Got a nice algae bloom going on, driftwood logs are Just taking or Water but these will form the basis of the shelf area for me to plant behind. Then I need to get the filter Working, get the Moss and anubias planted then I'm good to go with dropping the water level and getting the emersed...