Looking for as much help as possible

[Noodles88]

HI All

I'm new to the forum today. ... please take it easy.
So i am looking to start a new tank. 4ft, 180ltr. I am hoping that i can keep quite a few Apistogramma's together in the same tank. Therefore I would like advice on what species I can keep together? How many different species can be kept in the same tank? How large of a school must they be? And will they breed in the same tank as other Apisto's.
Thanks in advance
Tom

 

[gerald]

Adult Apistos do NOT school and I would not try to keep "quite a few" together once they are mature and become territorial. I would pick two pairs of different-looking species from different Apisto groups (like agassizi and macmasteri), so one male can claim 2 ft of tank and the other male can have the other 2 ft, with caves, wood, plants, etc arranged to split the tank into two natural territories. Or, get two males and two or three females of just one species. Provide twice as many caves as you have number of Apistos. You can keep lots of small tetras, rasboras, barbs, pencilfish, etc with them, recognizing that you'll need to remove the Apito eggs or fry if you want a large number to survive. Welcome and good luck!

Also - please do not post the same question in multiple threads. One will do. If its in the wrong part of the forum, mods will move it.

 

[Noodles88]

How about different dwarf cichlids in general. Can a few different pairs be kept together. I.e apistos. Rams. Kribensis. Cockatoo?
want to ideally have a dwarf cichlids tank with as many species as I can.
Ive heard different opinions on ocean rock in the tank also. Would you recommend it if the tank was heavily planted and had 5 or 6 pieces of bogwood.

 

[unhappyfeet]

Hi , I've kept rams and apistos together with no problems, however my kribs were an absolute nightmare in a community tank, they hated and chased everything.

 

[MickeM]

Hi !!

I have also seen Apistos suffering in some "Store-tanks" together with "kribs" (Pelvicachromis pulcher).
That mix never benefits the Apistos in my opinion..the kribs are way to tough/robust!!

But I have seen 5-6 different Apisto species in a local store mixed in a big tank..approx. 200x60x60cm !!!
I could not see the sand or caves because of all the beech+oakleafs !!
Some huge tree roots was also put in..along with some nice looking Echinodorus (40-50cm in height..and pretty wide too..!)
I think water was changed once a week.. 30-50%..

If I remember it correct.. They kept Ap. hongsloi, Ap. inridae, Ap. agassizii, Ap. bitaeniata.. (and a few more species I can`t remember)

Fry appeared with females frequently in the tank.., the males guarded their females+fry as well... and it looked like they spawned 1 or 2 species at a time!!?? Later...some other Apistos did the same..

Single/"non-dominating" males or "non-spawning" females stayed in the upper(20cm) part of the tank... floating plants gave them some calm "shaded" places to stay at... (this may be a rescue not/never happening in small tanks!!??)
In total.. I think I saw 25-30 adult Apistos in there !!??

In large tanks and with lots of fishes.. I guess a male will stay satisfied as long as he can provide 1 or 2 females
safe in his area.. but he will try to multiply with every female he can protect or be given a chance with..
My understanding was that they could not keep much larger territories on the grounds that it then always came some new fish and disturbed at the other end of the territory.
After 4-6 weeks it looked like the dominant males got tired of always chasing other fishes away...
making them "softer" in the behaviour..(maybe then.. some other male could take his area??) but it may also be an effect of the established hierarchy..making "the chased ones" more aware of not entering these areas..!!??
They probably had to wait for the perfect time to make "a challange" toward the established males..?
Maybe when females "belonging" to the dominant males no longer wanted to spawn ??

However..I think that almost every/any Apisto-male will claim at least 40x40cm if he has got the power/size to dominate at all!

This was just some thougts I got.. maybe it can help you in mixing fishes with great results!!

Cheers,
Micke.

 

[Noodles88]

Excellent cheers mate

 

[gerald]

As Micke said you CAN keep a lot of Apistos of mixed species together, as shops often do, but they are selling fish - not keeping individual fish long-term. The ones that cannot defend territories may feel stressed all the time, become more susceptible to stress-induced diseases, and often die young. If you just want a colorful display and dont mind replacing fish often, like annual flowers, you can go with the pet shop approach, but if you want them to live long lives then give each fish the space it really needs. Rift-lake mouthbrooders only need to defend a territory for short periods to spawn, so crowding them to reduce aggression works OK without long-term damage to their health. But cave-spawners like Apistos and Pelvicachromis do better (in my experience) when each fish has a more-or-less permanent space to call home.