What can I house with an anticipated group of A. trifasciata?

[Hobbes1911]

Hello everyone,

I have a 120L 60x45x45 tank that is currently cycling and I'd like to stock it with south american species, your general schooling fish and then 1-2 accent dwarf cichlid pairs. I was thinking about a trio of Apisto trifasciata, but I wanted to hear other opinions and see if that is at all feasible or if someone has other good ideas. I was hoping I could house two different species of dwarf cichlids (maybe A. trifasciata and A. paulmuelleri). I'll be getting the fish from here - search for apisto to scroll through the list quicker. The tank is well planted (or will be once everything grows in) and has sand bottom. There are caves between the rocks and roots.



Water parameters will be fine for most dwarf cichlids (I think right now it's sitting at ~120 TDS and pH 6.4).

Thank you!!

 

[Mike Wise]

If you do not plan to breed your fish then most small peaceful community tank fish should be fine. A. trifasciata can be aggressive, considering its small size, but should be compatible with another apisto if the tank is properly decorated, which sadly for you the above tank is not.

 

[Hobbes1911]

Hi Mike,

Thank you very much for the info! I'm new to dwarf cichlids (other than rams - I kept and successfully bred and reared them years ago) and am looking to add 1 or 2 different species of dwarfs to the above tank. I have access to the following fish wetspottropicalfish- search for south american species to scroll through the list faster, and was wondering if any of the mentioned apistos would make good additions. As you can probably tell, the setup is more about the plants than the fish but I was hoping I could add one species of dwarf cichlids. I wanted to stay away from some of the color bred cacatuoides or agassizi varieties as I don't really care for the unnatural look of bright popping colors but enjoy some of the more "drab" colored species. I would for example love guianacaras but that's obviously not at all possible.

If that's not at all feasible with apistos, are there other dwarf cichlids that would fit in here (other than gbrs)?

Thank you very much for the advice!!!!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If you do not plan to breed your fish then most small peaceful community tank fish should be fine. A. trifasciata can be aggressive, considering its small size, but should be compatible with another apisto if the tank is properly decorated, which sadly for you the above tank is not.

Because your tank doesn't have a very large floor area it would need a lot of cover to break up "line of sight". Your tank is a very nice aquascape, but it doesn't really have this.

Because there are some caves among the central planting there is no reason why you can't keep one male Apistogramma and one or two females of the same species (dependent upon the species of Apistogramma). I'm not sure that A. trifasciata is the right fish for this tank (due to aggression issues), but plenty of other Apistogramma species would do.

For example Apistogramma borellii (from the WetSpot list) are much less aggressive. I like Apistogramma baenschi, but two fish, even if they are male and female, aren't necessarily a pair.

The Black Neon Tetra (or Hemigrammus rodwayi) you have could be used as dithers, and you may get some Apistogramma fry survive with H. herbertaxelrodi.

cheers Darrel

 

[Hobbes1911]

Thank you Mike and Darrel.

I won't try my hand on A. trifasciata then. Seems like that'll just end up in failure and be sad for the fish and myself. I'll add A. borellii as I've read that they are good beginner apistos and tolerant of different conditions. How many exemplars should I start with? Also, can I add some C. habrosus or since they inhabit the same strata that would just lead to trouble? And finally, would be best to keep the apistos as the only cichlids in that tank with other schooling fish? I assume since they have the same territory and decor preferences that apistos and GBRs in the above tank are too much.

Great forum and super info, glad to have found it and I'm learning a lot already.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Also, can I add some C. habrosus or since they inhabit the same strata that would just lead to trouble?

I've never tried them together, but I think C. habrosus are too bottom orientated to be successful.

If you like a small Corydoras, I found that Apistogramma cacatuoides was fine with C. pygmaeus (and C. hastatus with Dicrossus maculatus), and they make quite good dithers.

And finally, would be best to keep the apistos as the only cichlids in that tank with other schooling fish? I assume since they have the same territory and decor preferences that apistos and GBRs in the above tank are too much.

Yes, I would worry about aggression.

Apistogramma borellii is a very mellow cichlid, and you may be able to keep more than one male successfully.

cheers Darrel