Apistos in community tank

[seangee]

Yay or nay? I keep stopping and staring at these (apistogramma cacatuoides) in my LFS but not sure if a pair will work in my current setup. Water parameters are suitable but I already have:
Cardinal tetra
Glowlight tetra
Bristlenose
Pepper corys
Sterbai corys
Dwarf chain loach

My main concern (I think) is the sids who are hyperactive and unlikely to respect territory. Not sure the corys respect territory either but its a 55G with plenty of caves and wood and is moderately planted.

 

[Colin_T]

Put the caves and wood in one corner or on one side of the tank (at the opposite end to any power filter intakes) and let the Apistogrammas live there. They will be fine in the tank.

What colour are the cichlids?

 

[Lunar Jetman]

I've kept dwarf Cichlids in my community tank before with no real issues. My tank is 75g and 4ft wide so the other fish have plenty of places to escape to when the pair get territorial at breeding time.

Yours will inevitably do the same so make sure there are lots of caves and hiding places for them and the other fish and they should be fine, although they will take over an area of the bottom of your tank at breeding time so this will most effect your Catfish. As long as they have places to escape to you should be fine.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[seangee]

I've kept dwarf Cichlids in my community tank before with no real issues. My tank is 75g and 4ft wide so the other fish have plenty of places to escape to when the pair get territorial at breeding time.

Yours will inevitably do the same so make sure there are lots of caves and hiding places for them and the other fish and they should be fine, although they will take over an area of the bottom of your tank at breeding time so this will most effect your Catfish. As long as they have places to escape to you should be fine.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

Thanks - might do more than just look next time I'm in . Does the same apply to the male if the female gets overly aggressive? Tank is 100 x 42 cm.

 

[Colin_T]

Does the same apply to the male if the female gets overly aggressive?

not sure what that means?

 

[seangee]

not sure what that means?

I understand the female can get overly protective of the fry and become aggressive towards the male. If so would I need to remove him from the tank or will he just retreat out of sight if there is somewhere to hide.

 

[Colin_T]

I have never had that happen. The female looks after the eggs and the male swims around the cave. I used clay flower pots cut in halt so they formed a half dome. Once the eggs hatch the male and female look after the babies.

Even when they have babies they aren't overly aggressive towards other fishes, at least mine never were.

 

[DrRob]

I've had apistos really take a dislike to cories. Depends on the fish somewhat. Others have been fine with them.

 

[seangee]

Ok off to lfs tomorrow to see what they have. Still undecided but if I do, do I look for a bonded pair or is a male and female sufficient?

 

[Byron]

Ok off to lfs tomorrow to see what they have. Still undecided but if I do, do I look for a bonded pair or is a male and female sufficient?

Some Apistogramma species are polygamous (sometimes referred to as harem), some are solitary pairs. If you are still intending A. cacatuoides this is a polygamous species so one male with two or three females might be best, but sources suggest a pair can also work.

 

[seangee]

Oh well. Left it in the lap of the gods. LFS had no A. cacatuoides so I bought 10 of the other fish I have been keeping an eye on. I have wanted to add pencilfish for some time as I have nothing that lives in the upper level but felt my water was way too hard. I have been reducing the hardness over the last few months so today I managed to pick up a group of 10 (nannostomus trifasciatus) along with another 4 peppered corys to go with the 4 I already have and the 4 sterbas. I think this will actually make a better balanced tank.

 

[Byron]

I have had a group of Nannostomus trifasciatus in my 90g tank for several years now. One negative about this species is that it doesn't like fish in its area, near the surface; I moved mine because they fin nipped the hatchetfish. They have been fine where they are now, no problems with lower fish and these include Congo Tetra and Diamond Tetra which both have long flowing fins, so it was the proximity of the hatchets to the pencils' territory.

 

[seangee]

Its too early to tell but I have no other upper level fish. They are still pretty stressed although they are shoaling less tighly than 12 hours ago. I actually decided to put them in the main tank rather than the QT because they appeared so stressed and my blackwater setup is far closer to their natural environment than the QT. I have been following this group in the shop for around 6 weeks so I am reasonably confident that they have no infections that would manifest in the QT within the next month.

I never bought them sooner because I have just returned from a 2 week holiday and don't like adding new fish and immediately leaving them to fend for themselves. I'm not sure whether they are particualrly bad travellers or if its just that they have been in an environment so different to their natural one. They were in a brightly lit bare tank with a large group of harlequin rasboras

 

[Byron]

Its too early to tell but I have no other upper level fish. They are still pretty stressed although they are shoaling less tighly than 12 hours ago. I actually decided to put them in the main tank rather than the QT because they appeared so stressed and my blackwater setup is far closer to their natural environment than the QT. I have been following this group in the shop for around 6 weeks so I am reasonably confident that they have no infections that would manifest in the QT within the next month.

I never bought them sooner because I have just returned from a 2 week holiday and don't like adding new fish and immediately leaving them to fend for themselves. I'm not sure whether they are particualrly bad travellers or if its just that they have been in an environment so different to their natural one. They were in a brightly lit bare tank with a large group of harlequin rasboras

Nannostomus trifasciatus will be wild caught, no doubt about that, so more sensitive as they are very soft water and blackwater fish. Such fish tend to have more issues moving environments. So that would explain their difficulty in the store as lighted tanks are the opposite of their need. And they do not react well to being chased and netted and moved. But they will settle, they are not especially delicate in spite of the fore-going, and you will find them colourful little fish. Make sure they have some floating plants, like all pencilfish they spend much of their time browsing the dangling roots and leaves for food, and it adds security. The genus name Nannostomus comes from the Greek meaning "small mouth," and all species in the genus posess a terminal mouth that is permanently open. Frozen daphnia and prepared foods like "bug bites" are ideally suited and very natural.

This species has a very wide distribution in many river systems of the Peruvian, Bolivian and Brazilian Amazon River basin, Rio Negro basin, and Guyana. The type species specimens were collected from the Amazon River near the mouth of the Rio Negro and Rio Tabatinga, Brazil. Occurs in slow-flowing streams and swampy pond areas, among submerged vegetation or tangles of branches.

 

[seangee]

A day later and they are settling nicely and even started colouring up. Not noticeably shoaling anymore. I have observed the behaviour @Byron described foraging amongst the roots of floating plants, but they seem happy enough descending to lower levels in search of food - although they do stick to the heavier planted areas.

Feeding time this evening was particulalry amusing. It was treat day today so they had freeze dried tubiflex. Usually I clear a patch of the floating plants to allow the food to sink faster (as I have had no surface feeders). Today I allowed the food to get trapped amongst the frogbit as I have heard that pencilfish may be easily outcompeted. Turned out I needn't have worried but this method of feeding turned my corys' world upside down - quite literally.

Any visible food is now long gone but the corys are still swimming upside down at the surface foraging through the roots