# trying to set up breeding conditions



## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

my 200 has a ph well over 7.4

it has a large piece of DW and the fx5 has peat moss in it. the water coming out of my tap is around the same ph. i have been told to keep away from chemicals.

what else can i do?


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

You don't need to lower the pH for your fish to breed. You will have more trouble trying to maintain a balanced pH level than it will be worth.


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## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

I think Blackwater Extract Lowers Ph.
I think I'm wrong though.


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

don't change water, it will lower itself.
when your ph is too low (around ph5, nitrate 40+ppms). then its time for your 50% water change, folowed by another 3days later.


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## 2PiRaNhA~2FuRrY (Nov 1, 2005)

Add some dritfwood, it will bring your ph down...try to keep your ph around 6.5-7.1ph keep it natural.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

imo best way to do it would be to remove your substrate and replace it with peat plates. the problem would be when you do water changes if your tap water pH is up there. you would have to do smaller but more frequent water changes. as far as blackwater extract lowering pH it would not be cost effective on the amount it would take to lower it. driftwood never lowered my pH drastically either. from what i hear the best time for a breeding opportunity would be after simulating a dry season and re-filling the tank. in the end its up to the fish anyways. good luck with your attempt.


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## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

Dr. Giggles said:


> imo best way to do it would be to remove your substrate and replace it with peat plates. the problem would be when you do water changes if your tap water pH is up there. you would have to do smaller but more frequent water changes. as far as blackwater extract lowering pH it would not be cost effective on the amount it would take to lower it. driftwood never lowered my pH drastically either. from what i hear the best time for a breeding opportunity would be after simulating a dry season and re-filling the tank. in the end its up to the fish anyways. good luck with your attempt.


How about making your own BWE by boiling Peat?


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

I have a ph of 8.5 out of the tap and it work great for me.

you need to have your high ph tap water to simulate the rainy season.
low ph tank water is the dry season.
like I said, let the tank ph lower on its own by NOT doing any water changes.

then do large water changes with your tap water slightly cooler then the tank water.

there are many more thing you can add to your dry season:
low ph
lack of food or only feed one type of food
high nitrate
high water temp 82-84deg
less water movement
lower water level

Rainy season:
large water changes with cooler water(this will raise ph, lower nitrate, and lower water temp)
add more food and more variety
raise water level
turn on power head

A dry season followed by a rainy season will always induce breeding.


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## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

How come everyone always dodges the question of making your own BWE?
No one ever seems confident enough to answer!
^^^Nice work with the seasonal settings. Hope they are correct.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

the_skdster said:


> How come everyone always dodges the question of making your own BWE?
> No one ever seems confident enough to answer!
> ^^^Nice work with the seasonal settings. Hope they are correct.


Maybe its because no one makes there own. Why answer a question if you don't make it.


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## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

Dr. Giggles said:


> How come everyone always dodges the question of making your own BWE?
> No one ever seems confident enough to answer!
> ^^^Nice work with the seasonal settings. Hope they are correct.


Maybe its because no one makes there own. Why answer a question if you don't make it.
[/quote]
Bah humbug! *groan*
Someone has to have at the least tried...


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

I will admit to making it.
I boiled peat in a large pot for a half hour, strained out the peat.
then let the pot stand on the stove at medium heat for about 6 hours to condense down.
I did that a couple times and made super concentrate.


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)

I am sure that the members in the breeding forum will be able to add a few tips.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

from what i've researched, privacy and not disturbing the tank is also a huge factor. this explains my post yesterday in this forum with the black construction paper all over the tank. ideally you'd wanna put them in an area with almost no traffice, but that's not always feasible. anyway, make sure they are disturbed as little as possible.

the hard part, though, is, if u do alot of water changes to simulate the dry and rainy seasons, you'll be disturbing them daily...so it's hard to say what to do w/ 100% confidence, more of an art than science. the guy i got my breeders from had them in a high traffic area, and had water similiar to mine...ph 7.6, hard water from lake erie. i used the black cardboard to try and speed up the process for them to breed. if it doesn't prompt them to breed w/in a few weeks, i'll prolly try more of the water changes route.

i took a quick look in my breeder 75g tank, and all 3 fish are moving about in areas that they wouldn't normally, hopefully it's a positive sign.


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## the_skdster (Aug 15, 2006)

The male in my 75 gallon keeps digging pits all over the place.
And continues to prob the 2females into coming over.
Poor Guy, no luck so far.








He's having a serious case of blue balls.









The peat seems to be working though. I was considering putting some old window vlinds I had on my breeing tanks. Or Shutter blinds.
I could get them cheap from Canadian tire, they ahve this whole area for stupidly price redueced clearance items.


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## Inflade (Mar 24, 2006)

eventually the girls will get horny.


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