Hey guys, just invested in a multi parameter pen meter to test my water and i was just wondering on what your views were as far as pararmeters for breeding. I have been told many different thing so i thought i would ask the trusty people here to shine some light on the matter. My pen tests TDS ,Conductivity ,PH and Salinity. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Hi,what fish have you got?

I have 2 pairs of LF albinos pair of commons and 2 trios of peps all breeds in there own tanks

I have not bred Peppermints, maybe someone who has can confirm this, but you would be looking at pH of about 6.5 and TDS of around 100, commons are less demanding and will often breed in water that has a pH of over 7 and higher TDS.

I've just had a young pair of commons breed in my community tank and the p.H is 6.9 and the TDS is around 160.

peps like a bit higher temp too.

mine breed when i drop the temp from 28 to 26

Do you think a tds of 250 is to high and as for conductivity is that a crutial thing or should i not worry about itto much

Your LF's may well breed in a TDS of 250 but it will probably to high for the Pepps.

As for conductivity it's basically telling you how hard the water is, similar to what the TDS does. In order to convert TDS to conductivity, simply multiply TDS by 0.64.

yeah, it is a bit high but not out the relms of possibility. Though i would work on lowering it if you can. TDS can be lowered by using some cheep filters you wouldnt have to go full reverse osmosis, maybe just a HMA or 2 stage sediment and carbon filter. you can get them pretty cheep these days online

thanks heaps for that guys. Ill give those things a try