Apisto Tank Help

[fatmarley]

I currently have an established 40 gallon Breeder tank (EMPTY Except for Amano's and Cories) that I plan on switching over to an Apisto themed tank.

I have some various plants in my tank and a few caves, natural and man-made. My gravel is fairly large about 2-5mm's, my PH is a steady 7.0, Kh 4-5, Gh 7-9 and NO2 is always below .3mg/l.

I do have the intention of trying to get the fish to spawn, in fact the Apisto I am most keen on is the Cockatoo. I have seen it in a Double Red Variety and a more orange coloring. From the information I have read, my tank is at optimum settings for THIS fish, just wanted to get a second opinion.

Also, I was thinking of changing my substrate to ADA Aqua Soil, over top of my current substrate (to Reduce Cycling time and offer firmer rooting), I was told that this will help to reduce the PH in my tank to around 6.0 which would allow me to introduce a few other species of Apisto's to the tank.

Opinions?

Also, I was wondering if having a spawning pair of Kribensis would be an issue, since they are an African Dwarf.

What about these?

Panduro (heard it is very aggressive)
Agassizs
INKA50
Cruzi (heard it is very aggressive)
Eremnopyge
Ram (Ramirezi)
Borelli's

The tank will be based around the Cockatoo, so any suggestions that I did not list would be greatly appreciated.

 

[thegnu]

i keep my apistogrammas that i want to spawn in breeding tanks that have a sillica sand substrate about 2 inches deep and just put in flattish pieces of bogwood about 8" long and 4 " wide, the fish just dig pits underneath to make a 'cave', and spawn on the underside of the bogwood. your gravel size is a bit too large for your fish to do this but i wouldn't change to the ADA Aqua Soil as this sounds as if it could give you pH swings. with your KH as low as 4/5 it would be very easy to lower your pH by getting a bag of sphagnum moss peat from a garden centre and filling a nylon stocking tied up and placed into a bucket of water that you would use for a water change. just rinse the filled stocking under a tap first to get the dust out, place into the bucket of water for 2 days and use this for a water change. i would do this every 2/3 days, say a bucket holding 20L, so keeping nitrates down to a minimum. when the peat stops staining the water you know to replace with a fresh stocking full.

i've never heard of INKA50, i've never kept a. cruzi, but the others in your list i have kept and yes the male a. panduro can be agressive to females but not as bad as a. nijsseni.

Kribensis i wouldn't keep with apistogrammas, but they are a lovely fish. hope this helps

 

[fatmarley]

I broke my tank down last night. I got lucky actually, my LFS just got a huge shipment to help setup two 150 gallon tanks in a doctors office. So they had lots of stock scattered all about as they prepared all the soil and plants. I grabbed two 9l bags of Amazomia Aquasoil and 2 bags of Power Sand LARGE and about 50 dollars in plants for a 100 bucks; I couldn't refuse that deal.

So I will be cycling my tank for the next two weeks, I am hoping sooner since I am using the same filter from before and I decided not to clean it. Then I will dumb about 15 Shrimp in the tank for about a week and then look into getting the Cockatoo Apisto's.

I have been told I should have 1 male and 2 females in the tank, but I wonder if it is still safe to add another species of Apisto and what CORY's are safe with Eggs?

Thanks for the response!

 

[fatmarley]

Would a harem of Borelli's and Cacatuloids, plus shrimp be to much for a 40 gallon breeder?
(2-1 ratio)

 

[Griz]

Sounds like a very nice setup your are putting together. Your water sounds fine and you have the right idea for aquascaping, lots of caves, plants, wood etc. I don't see why you couldn't have 2 species of apistos in there if you stick with species that don't have a reputation for being agressive and provide lots of caves and structure. A ratio of 1-2 is good but given the space you have, you could keep more females.

You might want to consider trying a tank with only cockatoos. I've heard of others doing such a setup with success and have always though it would be interesting to try. I'm just taking an educated guess at ratios here based on what I have read but I should think 2-3 males and 6-9 females. Definitely get more advice and research before you try this, I just thought I would throw the idea out there for you.

Corydoras are egg eaters and if your plan is to breed, you will be disappointed. The only cories that 'might' work would be the dwarf species. Also, most tetras will pick off fry in no time. The best thing for breeding apistos seriously is a dedicated brreding tank of around 15 gallons.

 

[fatmarley]

I only have shrimp, two dwarf Gouramis and 2 white Mollies.

I can keep them in another tank and like the idea of a dedicated tank, but I'm still curious if these fish are compatible with Apisto's.