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apisto cacatuoides and cory cats?

S

SIMO

Guest
hello all, first post. i have a 92 gallon aquarium with cory cats, otocinclus, bristlenose plecos, cardinal and rummy nose tetras, and yo yo loaches

would it be alright to add any apisto cacatuoides with these? the only ones i'm worried about are my cory cats

i've had blue rams until recently and i am wanting to try something different, but articles i've read have clashed information wise on whether it's ok to keep apistos and cories

i have a LOT of hiding places, and it is a planted aquarium with CO2

would approximately 6 apistos be alright?
 

mike_cummi

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
16
Location
London
Questions like this are always difficult to answer. Inter-species conflicts are often very unpredictable and can vary according to not only the species involved but also individual fish, tank layout etc.

I have heard that Corys and Apistos generally don't mix well and the one and only time I attempted it (blissfully unaware of any potential conflict at the time), it was unsuccesful. My male Agasizzii killed a Cory by ripping a sizeable chunk of scales and skin clean off the side of the Cory.

I was very new to the hobby at the time and my tank layout wasn't the best for keeping Apistos - if the tank had been properly layed out then maybe this wouldn't have happened. It could also have been an isolated incident and mean nothing at all, I can only speak from my own experience.
 
S

SIMO

Guest
well, the type of cories i got are peppered cory cats, all adults. the apistos i plan to get are going to be younger, probably smaller than the cory cats (the ones at the fish store i work at are slightly smaller than my cories)

let me give some more info on my tank:
there aren't too many fish in there now, and there are a LOT of hiding places. the tank has a lot of depth to it, as well as few big caves/driftwood and numerous amounts of plants to hide behind. here are a few pictures:

1373311676_l.jpg


1373317377_l.jpg


i had blue rams before and they worked well with the cories, so i am wondering if apistos would be a different story? (specifically cacatuoides?)

the main thing i want to do is add some sort of dwarf cichlids to the tank. honestly i would love to do rams again, but after numerous attempts to keep them i have given up. i was originally thinking about bolivian rams or maybe even a few angel fish, but then when i learned about apistos i figured maybe they'd be cool to give a shot

good idea or bad idea?
 

Mike Wise

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Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Since it will be virtually impossible to breed & raise many fry in this tank, I suggest that you get only males. That will reduce the aggression somewhat toward the corys by brooding apistos.
 

nightowl1350

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
217
Location
Brampton, Ontario
SIMO...I had problems with keeping my apisto C with BN plecos. I think the BN killed my female, but they were in a 10g tank and she had eggs in the pot. Long story short the BN must have been after the eggs.

Cory will eat fry, but in a large planted tank the BN and cory would have a better chance.
 
S

SIMO

Guest
yeah, i'm not too worried about breeding them, but i suppose if i get eggs i planned on separating the eggs from the parents

i'd rather just keep the fish without worrying about breeding or aggression.

i've had a few suggestions on what i should do. what do you guys think:

1) just get males (as suggested by mike wise)
2) get a female majority (i e 3 females per one male)
3) get 3 different pairs of apistos (1 pair of cacatuoides, 1 pair of aggiazzii, one pair of borelli)

what would be my best choice if i'm wanting to get multiple apistos (i'm wanting at least 6 apistos all together honestly)
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,201
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Your large school of cardinal/red neon tetras will probably eradicate most of the fry in the tank before a female has a chance to raise them. Female apistos can be very aggressive toward tetras that swim in her territory. I had a female A. cacatuoides kill a von Rio/Flame tetra because it wouldn't stop getting close to her breeding cave with eggs in it. Therefore, breeding in a community setting can be problematic. I stick by my earlier suggestion, of keeping males of several species of the same size and temperament. I'd suggest A. agassizii, A. bitaeniata, A. macmasteri or viejita (not both), A. cacatuoides, even A. trifasciata, but not A. borellii, which is a much more docile fish. Another option is to add a Laetacara sp. or M. altispinosus specimen with the apistos.
 

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