A. Borelli stocking question

[Sallywally]

Well, the addiction continues. The a. panduro's I aquired last week are settling in well, and I am quite enjoying them.
A friend knew I had been looking for a. borelli's and managed to obtain 8 1/2 inch fry for me last weekend in Atlanta at the club auction. They will arrive here on Thursday.
My question is, can I house them all together in a 29 gallon tank for a month or so while my 37 gallon gets reset and cycles? I would then divide them up between the 2 tanks. If this is not a feasible plan, I have a 10 gallon q-tank, and a 20 gallon that could be emptied out so I could divide them up. I just hate shuffling all my fish around if I could leave them all together in the 29 for now. It has plenty of rock work, driftwood and live plants, like my panduro's tank.

 

[Mike Wise]

If they were my fish I would put all 8 in the 10 gallon quaranteen tank for at least 4 weeks. There is no sense putting fish in an established tank if there is any possibility of them carrying diseases or parasites. At their present size they should do just fine together.

 

[Apistt_ed]

...

IMO, I'd keep them together indefinitely! A. Borellii is a fish that I have come to believe do better off in a group than solitary pairs. As a group, they will show some behaviors that you wouldn't see with just a pair. I have noticed that borellii tend to share fry care, interacting, and truely coexisting as a community. They are a delight and at that size you have, there's no problem in a 10gallon or 15-20gallon when matured. Good luck.

 

[Sallywally]

Oh, I always quarentine all new aquisitions. I have a fully cycled, but unoccupied 29 gallon awaiting them. I've just been "feeding" the bacteria with ammonia while I await their arrival.
Thanks for the input. I am new to the apisto's as I said, but not new to the hobby as a whole. I don't think there has been anytime in the past 15 years that I haven't had at least 1 tank up and running. I learned the heartache of having a new arrival wipe out an entire tank some years ago, and won't ever go through that again. I'll start the guys out in the 29 since it is unoccupied. Should I plan on eventually adding something like some tetras as a dither fish?