Apisto beginner summary and new questions ;-)

["Klaus Vancamelbeke" <klaus.vancamelbeke@advalvas.be>]

First of all thanx for the quick replies...
>From these replies I have learned several things:

In my 20 gallon, keeping a harem of agassizii
is a bad idea. Even, keeping agassizii with my
limited dwarf knowledge is a bad idea.
So, I'm better of with cacatuoides or borellii.

I read in A. Konings cichlidbook (the green one)
that cacatuoides only live 9 months, borellii gets
to two years average. That's why I didn't pick
cacatuoides in the first place, so I guess borellii
is my next choice.

Now, could I get away with two females and one
male borellii in the 20 long? Or should I stick with
just a pair? I have tanks to give fry and aggression 
victims a refuge if things turn for the worse.
That is by the way how I breed my central american
cichlids most of the time. Give the female a tank,
introduce the male, let them spawn and when the
male gets aggressive (because there are no targets
around) he's out of there. Oops, guess I'm off topic ;)

About the water chemistry, is GH/DH of 4 too high
for a borellii? Maybe I should get a RO unit afterall.
Eric, sorry I puzzled you ;) I'm pretty sure about the
ph of 6.4 (digital ph-meter, recalibrated yesterday
just to make sure), maybe my (Tetra)GH/DH testset
isn't very accurate? I do filter over peat...

I'll look for leaves but I'm afraid I won't be very succes-
full in mid winter and spring coming up in a few months.
Guess I'll have to wait till autumn, or I could let some
leaves dry on the attic...

So, black neons make a good dither... They aren't very
expensive here (under $1.5). I can get to white clouds
too (Tanichthys alabonubes). Which one of both is the
best (ie. eats less Apisto fry).

Sorry for rambling on, but I wouldn't want to start 
uninformed ;) Thanx for any suggestions...

Klaus


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