Hi all,
the water of their habitat in northern Myanmar is quite soft. However it is also neutral to alkaline in PH. I'm not particulary knowledgeable about water chemistry, but am I correct in thinking that this is due to a low ratio of acids to bases, despite the low buffering of the water?
You can have soft alkaline water, it is quite unusual, but it does occur, particularly where you have tectonic activity.
I'd be tempted to ignore the pH and aim for water with a conductivity value of 150 - 200 microS. It would be guess-work, but I think the fish will be fine.
If I wanted to more closely replicate their natural water adding some combination of "Epsom Salts" (MgSO4.7H2O), potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) and calcium chloride (CaCl2) to RO (or rain-water) should work until you get to the required conductivity. Again the exact ratio of the mix would be guess work.
If I ever manage to find any female
Dario, I'm going to keep them in the same water as the other fish, just by cutting rain-water with our hard tap water, and then feed the plants via the Duckweed Index. I'll use the Ramshorn snails as an indicator of the carbonate hardness, and I'll aim to keep their shells slightly healthier (less white) than I do at present.
Mynamar lies along
<"several tectonic plate boundaries">, and is being squeezed against the Asian craton, so a lot of basic (<"
ultramafic">) rocks, from deep in the mantle, will be nearer the surface than normal.
Soft alkaline water is actually what a lot of people in the N. and W. UK get from their taps, now that their naturally acid tap water is treated with NaOH. Sodium hydroxide is a strong base, and all Na+ and OH- ions go into solution, raising the pH, but without adding any dGH or dKH or any buffering.
My suspicion for the water in northern Mynamar is that it has a relatively small amount of carbonate buffering, derived from limestone rocks (calcium carbonate), but then diluted by heavy rain-fall, and depleted by the humic substances from fallen leaves etc.
Again without knowing it may have more magnesium dGH than calcium, if the catchment flows over ultramafic serpentine rocks (or the soils derived from them).
cheers Darrel