that sound interesting. I suppose the water would get more acidic during the dry season but would it rise that much with the rains? I suppose that would depend on the mineral composition of the soil around the river or the lake and whether the rain water is seeping through dry and decaying vegetation. The water would be diluted to a great extent I'm sure and there might even be a slight increase in ph along with the lowering of the temperature and abundance of live food etc. It might be a good idea to find out if there are any published water readings regarding the various lakes and tributaries of the amazon during the wet season and the dry season. Approximately a year ago, two of my heckels started displaying, shaking and cleaning a section of the driftwood. Another heckel also tried to get in on the act. I was getting very exited but things did not go any further and this behaviour has not repeated itself since. As far as I remember, my ph was again around the 5.5 mark and my conductivity might have been lower than it is now also white worm has made a huge difference. So I don't know. I'm not determined when it comes to breeding heckels, partly because I'm not that experienced and the various difficulties I've encountered along the way has lowered my horizons. I'm just enjoying these remarkable fish, watching them swim in harmony when the sun is not shining on them and even engaging in what I can only assume is some kind of a grooming behaviour where one of the smaller ones cleans the largest of the bunch. Having said that, I haven't had any major problems for quite a while now and my fish are well and settled so who knows what may happen. A miracle perhaps...
Tolga