1st: Apisto panduro & Dicrossus

["Rybi Ogon" <rybi_ogon@hotmail.com>]

Howdy,
Well, I took my first serious plunge into South American dwarf cichlids 
this weekend.  (I've kept and bred the mid-sized S.A. cichlids such as 
festivum, severum, angels, and a few others for a dozen or so years)  I 
bought a trio of Apistogramma panduro and five Dicrossus filamentosa.  
When I got them home I noticed that three neons had hitched along in the 
Dicrossus bag, a little bonus.  So now I'm eleven fish richer and twenty 
bucks poorer (he didn't charge for the neons, didn't even notice them 
maybe)... 
I found quite a bit on the Dicrossus, but the only thing on the panduro 
was what was on the "Krib" web page; a discussion about the difference 
between panduro and nijsseni, and a nice little article by Dave Sanford 
on the Seattle Aquarium Society page (link from the "Krib").  
So, I figure from what I've read that the panduro are a black water 
species as are the filamentosa.  My water comes out of the tap fairly 
soft; has tested as low as 20ppm/1.1dH, but recently tests around 
50ppm/2.8dH.  My local water utility, the MWRA, has been trying to add 
some buffer to the water to "make it less corrosive."  My pH is in the 
high 6 range, mostly 6.8.  So I'm wondering if I should be doing 
something to my water, such as filtering with peat.  I picked up some 
stuff at a gardening store called "Country Cottage Sphagnum Peat Moss" 
which it claims is "A premium grade sphagnum peat moss imported from 
Canada."  My wife is a gardener and was going to use this to start her 
seeds for the garden, but I'm wondering if this is the same stuff that 
people are using for their aquaria.  What I was thinking of doing was 
getting a 30-50 gallon container and filling it with water and peat with 
a pump for circulation.  Let it soak for a week, then use it to refill 
after my water changes.  Maybe this would provide a gradual enough shift 
in pH and produce a better water quality for my fish.  Any comments?  
How much peat would do the trick for this size container?
I've got them in a 30 gallon tank now (the common 36" kind), they're all 
sub-adult size right now, at least I think they are having never kept 
them before.  I'm surprised at how active they are, I expeced them to go 
into hiding for at least the first few days...  
Well, I've lurked on the list for a week or two, the level of discussion 
is good and I'm eager to hear any comments on my initial foray...
Thanks,
Peter Davis




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