Re: Apistogramma borelli

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

IDMiamiBob wrote:

> Slick.  But I'm not sure it's SODIUM bicarbonate.  Except I'm sure it isn't
> anything divalent like Ca or Mg, which would show on your basic hardness test.
> Can I test it somehow before I start, or is it just unlikely to be anything
> else?  In which case it's worth a try.
>

Are you living in the Miami, FL area?  If so your water is perculating through an
old coral reef.  The water is leaching CaCO3 (either limestone (calcite) or the
more soluable form aragonite from the substrate.  This raises the KH sky high.

> And does carbonate hardness have a negative effect on softwater fish like the
> non-carbonate hardness?

In his book Die Buntbarsche der Neuen Weld - Zwergcichliden, Koslowski states
that, in his opinion, carbonate hardness has more effect on successful hatching of
eggs than does permanent GH.  He reported that most of his soft water species
successfully reproduce in 10 - 15º dGH water that had low KH values.  But not the
other way around.

Could this be caused by carbonates entering the cell structure of the egg's shell
and hardening it?  The carbonates might plug pores in the shells used for
respiration.  Since the female breaks open the shells, in most cases, it's not
that the larvae can't hatch out (unless you artificially hatch your eggs).  I
don't know, but KH does appear to have more effect on successful hatches than does
GH.

Mike Wise