Male only tank

[Epicfrotha]

Hello, I am looking into getting my first Apistos and was wondering if it was possible to get 3-5 males in a community tank? I can’t find any information online and I don’t have any experience with Apistos. I used to have a 4ft Malawi tank full of males and they got along fine. I was wondering if Apistos would be similar? They will be in a planted 30gal (24x20”) tank.
There will be several other species of larger tetras as dither fish plus Bristlenose and Cory’s.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Mike Wise]

My calculations figure that your tank dimensions are 24x20x14H"/60x50x35H cm. With the other bottom-dwelling fish, I wouldn't add more fish there, but it depends on the number of corys and plecos that are in the tank and how it is aquascaped. Mbunas and apistos are very different in their behavior. Apistos try to acquire a permanent territory; mbunas only on a temporary basis.

 

[Epicfrotha]

My calculations figure that your tank dimensions are 24x20x14H"/60x50x35H cm. With the other bottom-dwelling fish, I wouldn't add more fish there, but it depends on the number of corys and plecos that are in the tank and how it is aquascaped. Mbunas and apistos are very different in their behavior. Apistos try to acquire a permanent territory; mbunas only on a temporary basis.

Thanks the tank is 45cm high approx. I only have 2 Bristlenose and 2 Cory’s. There is also a cave

 

[MacZ]

You would need a cave per fish for the Apistogramma and Plecos. Corydoras avoid caves unless there is no other cover.

I would not combine dwarf cichlids and Plecos at all and with Corydoras only in a tank 120cm long and with males only.

In your current setup, no matter what decorations I'd keep a single male Apistogramma. And that's it.

 

[MacZ]

It would be best if you could post a picture of your tank.

Additionally:
If the plecos are male and female you will be swamped by fry at one point. And Corydoras are best kept in groups of 10 or more.

 

[Epicfrotha]

It would be best if you could post a picture of your tank.

Additionally:
If the plecos are male and female you will be swamped by fry at one point. And Corydoras are best kept in groups of 10 or more.

I’m still setting up the tank and have some more plants coming. I can’t tell if this is a juvenile male or female as it only has a few bristles the other one is definitely a female. I have heard that’s Cory’s like big groups but these guys are doing well together I was thinking of getting another one maybe.

 

[MacZ]

Can we also have a full picture, please?

 

[Epicfrotha]

Weird it’s like the other photos was cropped but here it is

 

[MacZ]

Honestly... you won't like this, but I'd not think about adding any dwarf cichlids. You would have to re-do the scape, re-sort the stocking and basically re-start. Right now it is not suitable for dwarf cichlids, not even a single male. And no, more plants will not suffice.

But in general, cichlids or not: You would probably do best by rehoming the plecos (they will outgrow the tank and if it's a pair they will produce offspring without end, if they are both male they will at one point kill each other), stock up the Corydoras to at least 5 and add another piece of wood for the Corydoras as a cover, they prefer wood layed out like a bridge about 10cm above the ground with enough space for the whole group to sit under it.

 

[Epicfrotha]

Honestly... you won't like this, but I'd not think about adding any dwarf cichlids. You would have to re-do the scape, re-sort the stocking and basically re-start. Right now it is not suitable for dwarf cichlids, not even a single male. And no, more plants will not suffice.

But in general, cichlids or not: You would probably do best by rehoming the plecos (they will outgrow the tank and if it's a pair they will produce offspring without end, if they are both male they will at one point kill each other), stock up the Corydoras to at least 5 and add another piece of wood for the Corydoras as a cover, they prefer wood layed out like a bridge about 10cm above the ground with enough space for the whole group to sit under it.

Why no cichlids? What’s no suitable about it? Also they are Bristlenose not plecos

 

[MacZ]

Ancistrus cirrhosus and A. dolichopterus are plecostomid catfish, the whole group is colloqually called "plecos". Yours are a domestic colour breed of these fish and most domestic specimens are hybrids of these species.

Please don't take the following personal, my number one priority is the wellbeing of the animals.

What speaks against adding cichlids:
- You have fish that will compete for room and hiding places in that tank size, namely the Ancistrus and the Corydoras. Additionally they (partially) nocturnal lifestyle will collide with the diurnal lifestyle of dwarf cichlids. This is a big stress factor to the cichlid.
- The fish in the open water (Danios and minnows) are very greedy eaters and it may happen that too little food reaches the bottom. Not to mention that these species are well too boisterous and hectical to combine with the smaller species of Apistogramma that would be possible in that tank size.
- The tank is very brightly lit and structures are very open which are both stress factors for dwarf cichlids. Even for a single male.
- If you wanted more than one cichlid you wouldn't get around rescaping, as this scape leaves all viewing angles in the tank open so a dominant fish would claim the whole tank as their territory.

So you have several stress factors for dwarf cichlids in your tank and stress (and stress induced immune weakness) is the number one killer for these fish. I would not expect a dwarf cichlid to thrive in the tank as it is right now and would be astonished if a standard domestic bred Apistogramma would make it longer than 6 months.

 

[Epicfrotha]

Thanks, the danios and minnows won’t be in the tank soon. I probably didn’t make that clear enough at the start. Also probably didn’t really explain that the scape is not complete and will be changed quite a bit. I have been told by about 5 different people that Bristlenose and Cory’s are fine in their tank with Apistos. So do you think there would be less aggression with a pair or trio?

 

[Mike Wise]

I have been told by about 5 different people that Bristlenose and Cory’s are fine in their tank with Apistos. So do you think there would be less aggression with a pair or trio?

Sadly, they do not know what they are talking about - if you hope to keep a breeding group of apistos. When a tank has both males and females it has a breeding group. If you want a community tank then just keep male apistos. Depending on what other fish (and numbers) that you plan to keep in the community, I wouldn't add more than 3 males in your tank if it is properly aquascaped.

 

[Epicfrotha]

Sadly, they do not know what they are talking about - if you hope to keep a breeding group of apistos. When a tank has both males and females it has a breeding group. If you want a community tank then just keep male apistos. Depending on what other fish (and numbers) that you plan to keep in the community, I wouldn't add more than 3 males in your tank if it is properly aquascaped.

Yeah not interested in breeding them, plus I have 4 other tanks if I wanted to set something up

 

[Mike Wise]

If not interested in breeding then only add male apistos. If the tank is large enough and properly aquascaped, then small plecos and corys can co-exist with apistos. The size of your tank may be a problem.