12-15 gallon long setup. Stocking questions

[b Lurkn]

I'm going to be building a custom shelf above my computer desk where I can keep this tank. It's going to be an all in one clean and rimless tank, it will measure at about 3 feet long and be about 9 inches tall and deep.
I'll post pics if you guys are interested in what I'm doing once I start.
Anyways initially I was going to do shellies but is ce I already have a tang community in my living room I figure some dwarf cichlids would really make this tank pop and would add a little variety to my room.
My question is could I get away with a Apistogramma pair or a electric blue ram pair with this setup. Maybe even some cardinal tetras to really make it pop.
Please help out a dwarf cichlid noob here

Read more: http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/i...n-long-stocking-question.13176/#ixzz26wzKlWqW

 

[bseitz234]

If you're an experienced fishkeeper, just new to cichlids, I'm sure you've thought of this- just make sure your shelf can hold the weight of the tank- if you call it 15 gallons, that's 125 pounds of water, plus sand and any decor... wouldn't want to dump all that water onto your computer!

Anyway, there's nothing you've described that makes me think you'd have a problem with either a pair of Apistos or Rams. I wouldn't try to do more than a pair, given the fairly small area, but a pair should be fine. I've had A. caetei spawn in a 10g community tank, so it can be done. Of more concern is going to be your water quality- you want to make sure you have soft, acidic water (pH anywhere in the 5.0-6.5 range, depending on what species in particular, and dKH < 10) for them to do really well.

As far as tankmates, personally, I try to stick to South American species, just because it bothers me to mix species from Asia and South America and who knows where else. That's not to say you couldn't, but it does limit what I can recommend from experience. Things I've kept in communities with A. caetei and A. cacatuoides, as well as M. altispinosus (Bolivian Ram):
Serpae tetra (Hyphessobrycon eques)
Columbian red-blue tetra (H. columbaris)
Glowlight Tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus)
Marbled Hatchetfish (Carnegiella strigata)
Various Cory catfish (Corydoras paleatus, aeneus, panda, julii)
Otos (Otocinclus vittatus)
...and that's all I can think of right now. Anyway, if you want cardinals, I'm sure they'd do fine, since they come from the same regions and like the same water conditions. People also like to keep pencilfish in with their apistos, so you could consider those as options.

Hope that helps!