few questions

[trasor]

ok i have a 38 gallon tank, which is 36 inches, by 12 inches at the base. right now i have a spawning pair of kribs, soon to be moved, a 5 inch gold nugget, and an archer. my question is what kind, and how many apistos would go good in that size tank, i am also getting 2 or 3 discus soon, are apistos too aggresive? well any help would be appriciated thanks
tyler

 

[Cichlids1]

Tyler, I don't know anything about the archer or much about the pleco. But I do know several people who have kept apistos and discus together, myself included. The discus spend more time in the middle to upper portion of the tank while the apistos spend most of their time near the bottom. My discus haven't spawned in there, but the apistos have. The corys took the brunt of the abuse while the discus were left alone. Just need to find an apisto that likes the soft acidic water (Most of them do), and the warmer temps that discus like. Apsito. agassizii are a very good first apisto, in my opinion, becuase they are very adaptable. They can handle the mid to upper 80's and love the soft acidic water.

Hope that helps some,
Ken

 

[aspen]

hi tyler. i wouldn't any get discus for that tank. imo, discus, esp juveniles should be kept in larger groups, minimum 6, but i would not do less than 10. and that tank is too small for that.

if you want to get into discus, get a couple of adults, but if they fight, you are going to have to have somewhere to move one of them. btw, discus and dwarfs are great tankmates, but getting into discus is not cheap. otherwise, you may have to deal with illness and possibly death of the fish. i have raised quite a few discus now, and am putting a 90 gal planted tank together for only 2, or maybe 4 discus plus other fish, like dwarfs and tetras. stocking adults can be a little higher than that, but in my 90 gal, i will only have approx 65 gals of water, and plants will be taking away swimming space. conventional wisdom for discus dictates 10 gal per adult fish, deduct for substrate etc.

common plecos are not good tankmates for discus, but bushynose are. not sure about gold nugget though. some fish enjoy slurping the slime coat from discus.

hth, rick

 

[Neil]

trasor,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Many people have kept apistos with discus successfully. The water conditions required for both species are similar and both will benefit from regular water changes. All apistos can be kept in soft, acidic water. This is the norm for discus, but I think that themore important consideration is clean water for both fish.
As the others have said, they co-exist peacefully together. But they are cichlids and both can potentially cause problems with the other. I had a pair of trifasciata, of all things (small apisto), in with a 5" discus once. The male was aggressive to all other fish in the tank after they spawned, but was very nervous around the bigger discus. However, the female didn't seem to share his fear. She would bomb the discus regularly when it got to close to the fry. It was an interesting sight indeed to see a 1" fish nailing another fish that very possibly could have fit her in its' mouth.
Neil