Hi Heather, I have been keeping Africans for a while and I cant keep a live plant in with them as they will gobble them up and that gets a bit expensive. On the other hand I am looking foward to being able to get the natural feel that live plants give in a tank. The plstic plants wont have any effect on your water quality either way so if you like them...keep em. I am working on my first dwarf tank and think that M. Ramirezi looks great with Apistos. Have Fun! Rick - -----Original Message----- From: owner-apisto@listbox.com On Behalf Of Haines Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 1997 8:23 PM To: apisto@majordomo.pobox.com Subject: Re: Newbie Questions - -----Original Message----- From: IDMiamiBob@aol.com <IDMiamiBob@aol.com> To: apisto@majordomo.pobox.com <apisto@majordomo.pobox.com> Date: October 28, 1997 12:19 AM Subject: Re: Newbie Questions >.Do I lose the plastic plants because they are tacky or do they have some affect on my water quality? They are a brand new addition. I do have some nice floating water sprite, rooted cabomba and amazon sword. I have purchased something on recommendation of my FFS (*favourite* fish store) called Water Softener Pillow. Haven't tried it yet but it appears to be temporary - active for 48 hrs. Can be recharged up to 4 times and costs $8.00 (Cdn.) on sale. Way over my budget to be used on regular basis. It was recommended as a temporary measure because my Angels are spawning. Anybody any experience with this sort of thing? I was using an ancient Axelrod reference for sci. names - I guess the microgeophagus ramirezi has gone through some name changes. By the way, I just got a brand new reference book for my birthday - "Complete Book of Dwarf Cichlids" by Hans Richter. Wahoo! And they say diamonds are a girl's best friend! Heather > >> >Hi, Heather: > Welcome to the mania. > Your water parameters aren't totally hopeless. However, I recommend (you >will find we all have our own theories about this stuff) that you treat it by >using an RO or DI unit to reduce your GH, or buy a product by Mardel called Ta >nk Soft. You can cut your hardness in half real easy with either of these >approaches. I would also lose the plastic plants and include floating >plants. 10% changes each week should be adequate unless you are heavily >stocked. > Just for the record, ramirezi aren't Apistos. A. agassizi and A. >cacatuoides are good choices, and there are also a number of regularly >available Apistos you should have no problem. > >Good luck >Bob Dixon > >------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"! >