Apistogramma Agassizii

[xamy_valox]

After not having much luck over the past few months with rams (they all seem to die after a couple of months for unknown reasons) I ventured to my LFS to ask about an alternative. I wanted something colourful, but not too big and something that was a bit hardier than the GBR's I have previously had.
 
I was was advised to look at Apistogramma's and out of the selection they had I chose Agassizii's as they are seemingly the more peaceful but colourful variety. 
I went with a hareem (1 male 3 females) but since I have added them to my tank I have hardly seen them! Is this usual? I know they like lots of hiding places, and my tank is quite heavily planted with boogwood which acts as a cave and other hide holes for them. At the moment they all seem to be sticking closely together in the one corner of the tank, are they just settling in?
 
Also, is there anything specific people do to care for their apisto's? The shop guy told me to feed bloodworm more often than I currently do, upto 4 times a week he said. I only really give it 1 to 2 times a week to my fish at the moment as I was told it should be used as more of a treat?
 
My tank stats are:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 5
Nitrite: 0
PH: 6 ish
 

 

[MBOU]

Typical cichlids just taking time to settle in! Don't worry about them, just leave them be and they will start adventuring out. Though do keep an eye out to make sure nothing is terrorising them!
 
Bloodworm is a good food for them, not a staple but three times a week will be fine...  and it doesn't have to just be bloodworm, they (and the rest of your fish) wont mind a variation of bloodworm, krill, Mysis, brineshrimp and daphnia too...

 

[xamy_valox]

Yeah, when I am feeding them something from the freezer it's quite often bloodworm as well as daphnia or brine shrimp as I normally add 2 little defrosted blocks to ensure everyone gets a look in!

Ahh that's made me feel better then, I do normally have this hide and seek game with certain fish when I first add them but as I have never had apisto's before I just wanted to make sure it was usual behaviour. I have watched some videos as well to see their normal behaviour and so far everything seems ok.

As a complete side note (I don't want to clog up the forum with post after post) I have a bristlenose Plec in my tank and I'm a bit worried about him. Nothing major but whenever I put food into the tank he goes wild like he has never been fed before, especially if I put algae wafers in or a small piece of cucumber/courgette in, however the glass of the tank is full of algae that I purposely leave there for him to nibble on and help me out! Is it usual for them to ignore the algae and wait for other types of food? I'm reluctant to put other things in for him as I want him to essentially 'do his job' lol.

 

[MBOU]

Perfectly normal Bristlenose are incredibly lazy bottomless pits!