Re: Haphazard comments

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

jgarden2000@juno.com wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I just had several unrelated subjects I wanted to mention...

> I haven't heard about A. sp. São Gabriel Lyretail being a cleaner, but I
> have heard that Serrasalmus nattereri (red-belly piranha) is said to act
> as a "cleaner fish" to bigger piranha species, and Etroplus maculatus
> (Orange Chromide, one of the three Asian cichlid species) is also
> supposed to clean larger fish, so perhaps A. sp. São Gabriel Lyretail
> does too.

See: Koslowski, Ingo. 2000. Putzerverhalten und Maulbrutpflege bei
Apistogramma-Arten. Die Aquar. u. Terr-Zeitschrift (DATZ) 53(11): 18-21.

A. sp. Putzer/Cleaner has only been seen to work on other apistos after going
through a kind of dance. So far Ingo hasn't put them with larger fish to see if
they clean them. Considering how rare they are in the hobby right now, I blame
him for being cautious.

>
>
> Also, George and Carol Richter wrote:
> "Recommendation - get an RO unit, only get it cheap if you are just
> experimenting.  Should not cost you more than 80 bucks unless you want
> one of the
> big guys.  If you show signs of Apisto sickness, an RO unit is probably
> in your
> future in any case. "
>
> You can get an RO unit for $80!?! Do you know where I would shop for
> these things?

Back to Nature Filtration, 3837 Cederbend Dr., Glendale, CA 91214 sells these
inexpensive basic RO units.

>
>
> Finally, can anyone give me an idea how long I should soak driftwood? I
> don't mind the yellow color it leaches into the water (I think it looks
> kinda nice!) but I'm afraid that it will block out some of the light from
> my low-growing plants (I don't have enough light on my tank as it is).
> Any thoughts?

Soaking driftwood may not ever be completely successful. I have a piece of cedar
that still stains the water red and I've had it under water for 10 years! I also
have to be very careful to change water regularly or it over-acidifies the water.
Actually, conifer woods are not good wood for the aquarium; too many resins. I
have used branches of sage brush in my tanks. Their many interlacing branches
make excellent imitation roots. Unfortunately they tend to dissolve in water
after 2 or 3 years. I have a cottonwood branch that works well and doesn't leach
any color into the water. I've been using it for 6 - 8 years now. So I guess the
answer to your question depends on the type of wood.

Mike Wise

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