Pat's Water Parameters for Wilds

Since I get asked this a lot here goes. My water parameters for my wilds are

PH - 7.2-7.4
GH - 4dGH ( x 17.8) = 71.2 ppm
KH - 4dKH
TDS - around 80 - 100

My water consists of a RO/tap mix or about 2/3 RO to 1/3 tap. I do find my tap has seasonal variations between wet and dry season (I live in Florida) where the TDS drops a bit in the dry season (Dec-May)

My primary target is the hardness of the water or GH and according to Dale Jordan the sweet spot is about 60/70 ppm. Also according to Dale PH become secondary to GH. So 4dGH x 17.8 = 71.2 ppm.

For those who know or know of Dale one thing he could do is get his wilds to breed consistently. So I am following his guidelines and the wilds breed. I know there are varying opinions of Dale here on Simply but I request we focus on the water parameters for wilds and keep past forum politics in the past.

Thanks,
Pat

Another useful thread

http://forum.simplydiscus.com/showth...ed-to-domestic

Thanks Pat - equipment for the wilds tank is what I have been looking at today to make all these water conditions happen
we will talk

Look forward to it Bud.

Great post Pat!
Thank you for sharing that with us.
What test kits do you prefer to use for the GH?

Thanks for posting this Pat. I haven't kept wilds yet but I thought they need more acidic water but I was unaware GH is more important than pH.

What I have heard from the some member that Dale had a magic touch with wilds and had some awesome pairs.

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Originally Posted by Trevor W

Great post Pat!
Thank you for sharing that with us.
What test kits do you prefer to use for the GH?

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Nothing fancy Trevor, I have the API Master freshwater kit and the separate API GH/KH kit. I do not even own a ph meter. I may need to reconsider that once those heckels mature.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poco

Thanks for posting this Pat. I haven't kept wilds yet but I thought they need more acidic water but I was unaware GH is more important than pH.

What I have heard from the some member that Dale had a magic touch with wilds and had some awesome pairs.

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You are welcome Babar. Dale did have some awesome fish. I do maintain occasionally contact with him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Second Hand Pat

Nothing fancy Trevor, I have the API Master freshwater kit and the separate API GH/KH kit. I do not even own a ph meter. I may need to reconsider that once those heckels mature.

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Good to know thanks! I personally don't test for pH I do however have both an inline and external TDS meter. The inline meter is for testing my product water from my rodi unit and it let's me know when I need to replace my filters. The external is from when I was breeding domestics and so I could figure how much ro to add to my aging barrel which will now be used for mixing water for wilds. I will be sure to pick up a GH test kit and factor that into determining an appropriate mix for wilds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Second Hand Pat

Nothing fancy Trevor, I have the API Master freshwater kit and the separate API GH/KH kit. I do not even own a ph meter. I may need to reconsider that once those heckels mature.

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The kh/gh your referring to are the strips??

Zach, I use liquid tests. There strips are not correct enough for me.

Gotcha