Apistogramma's

[AquaBarb]

Ive got a 55 liter (62lx33wx37h) tank. GH13 PH 7.4

Home at the moment to some albino cory's. im going through some ideas and options of stocking it. Possibly like something a tad longer for the albinos soon but for now its their little pad.

Thought of some CPD's and other little tetra like silver tips (not together), a pair of honeys possibly, but i do like Apistogramma's

Is this tank too small for a pair of Apistogramma's would you say? Would they get on with corys if they stayed in?

 

[Byron]

"Get on" depends how you define it. Apistogramma are substrate feeders, as are Corydoras, so at feeding time they are both down there going after the same pellets/disks/tabs. The cichlids will usually just nudge or push any cory away. I used to see this all the time with my Bolivian Ram and the couple of Apistogramma fish.

When it gets problematic is when the Apistogramma spawn. Again, the cories bumbling around like they do will annoy the cichlids and more pushing and charging will occur. Some females guarding eggs or fry can be very rough though. But usually this is manageable (by the fish).

If you want to raise fry though, forget it. Cories like most catfish are nocturnal, and they will easily and quickly eat the egg clutch when the cichlids are not able to defend it adequately, and the same with the shoal of fry. The latter though will also occur during daylight. I once witnessed a Blue Ram shepherding her fry shoal around, and suddenly two cories came upon them; in a matter of seconds the fry were eaten. The female had no hope of defeending them againsty two or three cories, try as she might.

 

[Retired Viking]

Nice looking tank, what type of sand are you using?

 

[AquaBarb]

"Get on" depends how you define it. Apistogramma are substrate feeders, as are Corydoras, so at feeding time they are both down there going after the same pellets/disks/tabs. The cichlids will usually just nudge or push any cory away. I used to see this all the time with my Bolivian Ram and the couple of Apistogramma fish.

When it gets problematic is when the Apistogramma spawn. Again, the cories bumbling around like they do will annoy the cichlids and more pushing and charging will occur. Some females guarding eggs or fry can be very rough though. But usually this is manageable (by the fish).

If you want to raise fry though, forget it. Cories like most catfish are nocturnal, and they will easily and quickly eat the egg clutch when the cichlids are not able to defend it adequately, and the same with the shoal of fry. The latter though will also occur during daylight. I once witnessed a Blue Ram shepherding her fry shoal around, and suddenly two cories came upon them; in a matter of seconds the fry were eaten. The female had no hope of defeending them againsty two or three cories, try as she might.

Thanks Byron, i didnt plan on raising fry tbh but i will have to consider the Apistogramma with the spawning behaviour. Wont rule them out but might favour a second specie what swimmers mid to top levels instead to go with the corys

 

[AquaBarb]

Nice looking tank, what type of sand are you using?

Cheers its play sand, i use it in all my tanks.

 

[Byron]

Thanks Byron, i didnt plan on raising fry tbh but i will have to consider the Apistogramma with the spawning behaviour. Wont rule them out but might favour a second specie what swimmers mid to top levels instead to go with the corys

Not easy to suggest fish with hardish water and smallish space. Livebearers obviously, endlers, platies would fit the space. Pristella Tetras should be OK.

 

[AquaBarb]

I thought of small liverbearers which are a good option. Pristella Tetras a good shout

In your opinion would celestial pearl danios or silvertip Tetra (Hasemania nana) work with this tank size?

Ive checked Seriously fish and they seem to check with my water params etc

 

[Byron]

I thought of small liverbearers which are a good option. Pristella Tetras a good shout

In your opinion would celestial pearl danios or silvertip Tetra (Hasemania nana) work with this tank size?

Ive checked Seriously fish and they seem to check with my water params etc

Hasemania nana should be OK.

Danio margaritatus occurred to me earlier, but while the pH in the habitat is 7.3 it is very soft, and the GH is the more important. @seangee has this species I believe, he may have more info.

 

[AquaBarb]

Seriously fish have their hardness range at 90 to 268ppm. I think mine is around 215ppm with a ph of 7.4

@seangee did you have yours before you converted to R/O or after?

 

[seangee]

Seriously fish have their hardness range at 90 to 268ppm. I think mine is around 215ppm with a ph of 7.4

@seangee did you have yours before you converted to R/O or after?

Part of the reason it took so long to decide what to stock in this tank was my hard water, 16 dGH (286ppm) and finding a nano species for that proved quite tough. They did well in there and when I started using RO I was mixing it with tap water and gradually dropped it to 12 dGH which is about the same as your water.

It was only when I switched to full RO that I reduced it to 6, which is where I keep it now. Partly because that is perfect for the RCS and partly because it halved the cost of re-mineralising salts

I didn't jump into the thread because I would be biased. I did temporarily home some cories with them when they were being bullied in the community tank and this caused no issues whatsoever. I have said for a while that if I got another big tank I would fill it with (hundreds of) nano fish - although just lately I have spent an unhealthy amount of time looking at nano reef setups

 

[AquaBarb]

Part of the reason it took so long to decide what to stock in this tank was my hard water, 16 dGH (286ppm) and finding a nano species for that proved quite tough. They did well in there and when I started using RO I was mixing it with tap water and gradually dropped it to 12 dGH which is about the same as your water.

It was only when I switched to full RO that I reduced it to 6, which is where I keep it now. Partly because that is perfect for the RCS and partly because it halved the cost of re-mineralising salts

I didn't jump into the thread because I would be biased. I did temporarily home some cories with them when they were being bullied in the community tank and this caused no issues whatsoever. I have said for a while that if I got another big tank I would fill it with (hundreds of) nano fish - although just lately I have spent an unhealthy amount of time looking at nano reef setups

Thats great to hear and very helpful thank you Sean I think they are stunning fish.

Would i be best getting a group of 12+ CPD's to make them feel more secure if i went down that road?

 

[Byron]

A larger group should contain squabbles better. SF has 20+.