PlanetCatfish.com

At a local auction on the weekend I won a breeding trio (1m and 2F) L183's (ancistrus dolichopterus plecos). I have been doing quite a bit of research on this species. According to what I have read they are a blackwater species who is picky about water quality. My PH is presently 7.5. My questions are threefold.
A) Should I add a liquid blackwater extract? (e.g. Kent, Tetra)
B) Should I try to lower P.H. a bit by adding some peat in a smal bag and placing in the aquarium.
C) Who has one and what are your water parameters?
Thank you in advance as I would like these guys to succeed.

Don't own any of these, but here's my thoughts:

1. Use RO water, so that you can control the pH.
2. Use peat and/or bogwood to make the pH go lower. However, a small bag of peat will only be effective if you use RO water (unless you have really soft water in Toronto). [And as far as I can tell, it's neither soft nor hard, with a GH of around 6, and pH around 7.5]. Annual report 2004 is where I got this data.
3. Make sure you have some KH (buffering capacity) to make sure your pH doesn't drop too much. [So, don't use ONLY RO water, as it's got so little KH that the tank will crash it's pH in no time, either up or down].

Blackwater extract, as far as I understand, does not (significantly) change the pH of the water. Obviously, anything added to the water will in one way or another change the pH - even if it's absolutely pure water, it will move pH towards 7. Of course, adding 250ml to a 100l tank will not change VERY much, unless it's very strongly acidic or alkaline...

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Mats

Get an R/O Unit. I stopped killing wild A. dolichopterus as soon as as realized the R/O unit was the only way to soften the water and keep it constant through water changes. If you do that, they'll reward you, as they finally did me, with the coolest looking fry this side of the Hyp. zebra.
Seriously.
Don't mess with peat or additives or any of the quick fixes. Bite the bullet and do it right.
Your water will kill them in 6 months or less.

That's my 2 cents worth.
Kevin Korotev

I bought my L183s from Mr. Korotev and he does have the nicest fish this side of the Hyp. zebra.