Always try to duplicate the natural water parameters of any fish that you keep. This ensures the best health and longevity for the fish.
Yea that is what i thought - yea i'll be reducing it to ~15 tds. I'll move them in with the angels and krobia and let them do as they do. When i said black water i meant 'real black water' not that phony stuff people think a bit of tannis create.
No disrespect intended, but I've read people who thought a few tannin producers in 300 ppm water was the real thing. There are a few teabag tanks out there.
I do 50% water changes on all my blackwater aquariums 'cept the discus tank which has 50 cardinals. I also use peat (which some people frown upon) to stablize the ph. My vague understanding of the chemistry is as long as the ph stays below 7 the fishes are happy as something weird happens with the bacteria if it gets too high.
If you would let them get used to it gradually, it should work. This is expereince talking overhere. I also keep swordtails outdoors. And some outdoor tubs, a lot of leaves are in there and it's full of tannins. If have them also near to Gh of 6°dH. And I'm talking about wild swordtail species at the moment. But before I also kept breeding forms of swordtails at those rates (but only outdoors). Indoors they are kept at higher rates. But my swordtails were introduced as juveniles in spring and were harvested in fall. They got used to all weather and temperature fluctuations. And got used to softer water which they also reproduced in.
Just want to confirm i will be going from tds ~130 to tds ~15; I do have frys in there as well as various adults. Only one male has a large fancy tail. I can move some of them over to the 120 but if you think they will transition i prefer to leave them. My plan is to do 50% water changes with ro water over four weeks and then on week 5 a 75% water change to push the tds lower. THe fish i plan on adding leans to clear water so it doesn't have to actually get down to ec 30 but certainly ec 50 would be prefer (note i transition from tds to ec).
Just like I've said before...
I'm not going to argue you but rather report my findings. Also i don't care about all species of live bearers just domestic guppies and swordtails. 'Larged fin' is of course relative they were not super fancy guppies with overflowing large fins. Many had reverted to more colourless form with relatively short fins over the years so my finding is that guppies even with relatively short fins (but not wc guppies); do not do well in blackwater. The swordtails are of course doing quite well and the frys are rapidly growing. Long term there might be impact on the swordtails but i won't know that till further out - think - probably years. I'll probably find a new home for the adults but i'm not about to spend years chasing the frys down.
For sure everyone has got their own experiences. No doubts on that. Your guppies could have been not that strong. I've got some blackwater tanks and in there are short finned guppies and they're doing well for years. But again, I won't argue you experience either. For I do believe that you've experienced it differently.
I would for sure say the ones i had were genetically weak - very weak with high turn over even before moving to blackwater. I'm not particularly sad to be rid of them - i do wish they had a better ending but it is what it is. I would not object if the swordtails passed because it would save me a huge effort trying to catch them.
Nowadays commercial bred guppies are bred in mass production at Asian fish farms. There's hardly till none selection in quality. To ensure the demand of the commercial market, it's more of importance to breed the strain in high numbers and sell them all than taking part in quality process. The aquatic market has grown over the years. Which is associated with fast delivery. The sold fish are younger than they look like. They are raised in a high pace which also leads to a shorter lifespan and overall weakness. A couple of months old looking guppy can be just about 6-8 weeks old. This way, the Asian fish farms can provide wholesalers continuously. It's a way of production a lot of Asian fish farms handle. Guppies from Israel, Poland or the Czech republic are also producing in mass but there's more quality control present.
