help please

[Andrew]

Hi to all i recently set up a 200l aquarium which currently houses a pair of Heros Severums 6cm, a pleco 4cm, algae eater 8cm and a pakistani loach 7cm. The decor consists of two small pieces of bogwood and a lot of limestone rock which i collected localy and washed thouraly before using.
My prob is this: i am having a lot of debris in the water,like small dust particles but the water itself is clear and im sure its not a bacterial bloom. I assume its due to the decor,any advice on what i can do ....
Also the male severum is attacking the female which is a little smaller, should i be concerned or do you think they will eventually pair up??

thanks to all in advance

[ari]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Hi to all i recently set up a 200l aquarium which currently houses a pair of Heros Severums 6cm, a pleco 4cm, algae eater 8cm and a pakistani loach 7cm. The decor consists of two small pieces of bogwood and a lot of limestone rock which i collected localy and washed thouraly before using.
My prob is this: i am having a lot of debris in the water,like small dust particles but the water itself is clear and im sure its not a bacterial bloom. I assume its due to the decor,any advice on what i can do ....
Also the male severum is attacking the female which is a little smaller, should i be concerned or do you think they will eventually pair up??

thanks to all in advance

the problem begins with the limestone.....they will deslove in water over long period of time. small dust particles is the clue. further more they will raise the water ph...which is what u should do without since u are keeping severums which prefer lower ph(7 or below). will they pair or not is totally up to them ...so its best to just leave them alone. they are cicihids...of course they will attack, my suggestion is to get a few more severum, the fighting will stop and the male will have a better choice of female to pair off.....6cm is abit small for pairing...dont u think?