Apisto community tank

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derekw

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Can anyone confirm that this is a male bitaeniata? This is my 20 gallon long black water Rio Nanay aquarium. I have 11 neon tetras and the one apisto. Would this tank be considered fully stocked? if not, please post any stocking suggestions. I am running a fluval 307 canister filter so filtration is not a problem. Also, my apisto is flaring at my neon's, is this just hierarchy behavior? Is it OK since I have a larger group of neon's?
apistogramma.jpg
neons.jpg
 
Can anyone confirm that this is a male bitaeniata? This is my 20 gallon long black water Rio Nanay aquarium. I have 11 neon tetras and the one apisto. Would this tank be considered fully stocked? if not, please post any stocking suggestions. I am running a fluval 307 canister filter so filtration is not a problem. Also, my apisto is flaring at my neon's, is this just hierarchy behavior? Is it OK since I have a larger group of neon's?
View attachment 138776View attachment 138777
Hello, welcome to the forum!

I love the IAL and the gorgeous wood~

I believe that you are correct, that is a male bitaeniata. With that being said, Apisto's are not meant to live alone. Even when breeding, they are relatively peaceful (as far as cichlids go that is).

I would recommend adding 3 females and strategically place apisto breeding caves in different "zones" of the tank. They'll love you for the extra hiding places and they will set up their own territories as needed. Given that it's a 20 long, you might even get by with 2 males and 3-4 females - but that's up to you.
 
Hello, welcome to the forum!

I love the IAL and the gorgeous wood~

I believe that you are correct, that is a male bitaeniata. With that being said, Apisto's are not meant to live alone. Even when breeding, they are relatively peaceful (as far as cichlids go that is).

I would recommend adding 3 females and strategically place apisto breeding caves in different "zones" of the tank. They'll love you for the extra hiding places and they will set up their own territories as needed. Given that it's a 20 long, you might even get by with 2 males and 3-4 females - but that's up to you.
I would like to add females but I believe that the neon tetras would eat the fry causing stress to the cichlids.
 
I would like to add females but I believe that the neon tetras would eat the fry causing stress to the cichlids.

I agree with @Avel1896 - unlikely. I'm not going to say that it's impossible that some will be lost - but the females are very good at doing what God intended! It's amazing to see my A. Cacatouides female shepherd her fry around. At least for cockatoos, the female uses her dark pectoral fins as "signals" to indicate where her fry should be swimming at etc.
 
It's great to see some more bitaeniata on here, I've got a pair and I love watching them.

You'd be surprised how well they will look after their fry and eggs, particularly the females. Mine runs the tank when she is getting ready to lay eggs or defending them. It's really something to see.

These are mine, and yours certainly looks like a male bitaeniata that still needs to settle and colour up.

Get him a female, some hides, some plants to hide in and he will do very well for you.

 
It's great to see some more bitaeniata on here, I've got a pair and I love watching them.

You'd be surprised how well they will look after their fry and eggs, particularly the females. Mine runs the tank when she is getting ready to lay eggs or defending them. It's really something to see.

These are mine, and yours certainly looks like a male bitaeniata that still needs to settle and colour up.

Get him a female, some hides, some plants to hide in and he will do very well for you.

Nice cichlid, I hope mine colors up like that.
 
It's great to see some more bitaeniata on here, I've got a pair and I love watching them.

You'd be surprised how well they will look after their fry and eggs, particularly the females. Mine runs the tank when she is getting ready to lay eggs or defending them. It's really something to see.

These are mine, and yours certainly looks like a male bitaeniata that still needs to settle and colour up.

Get him a female, some hides, some plants to hide in and he will do very well for you.

I just bought a female for this tank today!
 
I just bought a female for this tank today!

That's great.

I'd suggest putting some hides in there spaced around the tank, eventually with a bit of luck they will pair off and pick one of them to spawn in. The hide doesn't need to be anything expensive, I personally just use coconuts with a hole cut in it and I find that my apistos love it. I've currently got a female macmasteri being particularly defensive of one.

They may spawn on the underside of your wood if nothing is available, but it will be less stressful for them with hides they can defend properly.
 

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