Rio Tefe biotope

[illumnae]

With my recent acquisition of wild apistogramma (A. bitaeniata 'Tefe' and A. agassizii 'Tefe'), I will be setting up a Rio Tefe biotope tank. Tankmates currently included are a small school of 5 green discus. Can anyone help me identify other tankmates to make this an authentic biotope? I'm looking for an algae eater, a corydoras and a schooling fish.

Thanks in advance!

 

[chris1932]

There are quite a few Corydoras in the Tefe are also widely distributed. There are only a few that are found only in that area and they are
C elegans

Rineloricaria teffeana

Frank Falcone has tank raised Elegans on Aquabid

 

[illumnae]

There are quite a few Corydoras in the Tefe are also widely distributed. There are only a few that are found only in that area and they are
C elegans

Rineloricaria teffeana

Frank Falcone has tank raised Elegans on Aquabid

Which are the ones that are found in the Tefe and are distributed elsewhere too? I don't mind those in my tank as well Also, what schooling fish can I use?

 

[chris1932]

All Corydoras are schooling fish. Elegans are of the small size group. Widely dispersed species are arcuatus, pulcher, similis, and many others. Elegans is a neat species as the male and female are different in pattern and size.

 

[dw1305]

Biotope - catfish sp. om "planetcatfish"

Hi all,
If people are interested in biotopes, you can type a location into "planet catfish" search and it will give you a list of Corydoras, Panaque, Tatia sp. etc from that location, it will also allow you to find out how big they grow, and if you have a look at the number of "registered owners", it gives you some idea of how likely you are to be able to obtain the fish.

Rio tefe Loricariids:
Rineloricaria teffeana
& the gorgeous Ancistrus dolichopterus

Callichthyidae:
Corydoras arcuatus

etc.

cheers Darrel

 

[illumnae]

Chris, I meant schooling upper level tetras

As for availability, I live in Singapore, so shipping cories via aquabid isn't very viable for me...I have to live with what's available. Arcuatus is easily available for me, elegans not so much. I was just hoping for a wider variety to choose from

Darrel, I've already searched planetcatfish, but the list was so small, so I thought I'd just ask around to check

 

[chris1932]

Sometimes mother nature is not as interested in variety as you are. Almost any pencilfish would suit the tank but they do not compete well for food and they have very small mouths.

 

[illumnae]

yeah i guess if i want a strict biotope tank i'll have to be satisfied with less variety The apistos are already purchased so I can't change locality now. The green discus will have to do. I'm just quite amazed at the lack of diversity in tefe while most other localities are quite abundant with different species

Just curious, any earth eaters (as replacements if i can't get green discus) come from tefe?

 

[dw1305]

Tefe Eartheater

Satanoperca acuticeps - from
<http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/species.php?s=332>,
Geophagus proximus "Rio Tefe", G. altifrons?
cheers Darrel

Might be some more fish here <http://www.mamiraua.org.br/uakari/pdfs/03/a_01.pdf>
cheers Darrel

 

[illumnae]

I found some nice green discus!

Anyone know if marbled hatchetfish live in rio tefe?

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes the fasciata form of C. strigata is found in the Tefé, along with C. schereri. A population of the dwarf pencilfish (N. marginatus) and the "Gold-line" population of N. trifasciatus (looks sort of like N. nitidus) also occur in the Tefé.

 

[illumnae]

Thanks so much Mike If I can't get colourful schooling tetras as dithers, at least some hatchetfish and pencilfish should go well in the tank to dither the cichlids!

 

[illumnae]

Here's the final setup:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zDV7VpGYYI

Inhabitants are:

Symphysodon aquaefasciatus (Green Discus)
Apistogramma bitaeniata "Tefe"
Apistogramma agassizii "Tefe"
Corydoras elegans
Carnegiella strigata fasciata (Marbled Hatchetfish)

 

[Apistomaster]

I fairly sure Marble Hatchets are common in the Tefe' area.
Marble Hatchets need some TLC as soon as you buy them. They nearly always have a latent Ich infection that should be treated as soon as you buy them. Having a good supply of wingless fruit flies will hep them have a higher and longer term survival. They need live flies at least a few times a week.