Apisto's Or Rams?

[tigerbarb420]

I am currently planning a new 20 Gallon Long tank. Ive decided to go with a pair of dwarf cichlids, and a decent school of neons or rummynose and possibly a few cories. I'm not the most experienced fish keeper, but I am not a complete noob either. Ive only been in the hobby for about 2 1/2 years. I'm curious as to which is easier to keep: apistogramma agassizi or rams.

Which would you guys recommend I get?

And how would I go about getting a pair? Buying 6-8 juveniles and hope for a pair, and sell the remainder if they do pair?

 

[AmberC]

I've never kept apistos but I love German Blue rams. I've bred them and sold the fry, but if your going to breed.. you need to not put anythiing else in the tank. Especially cory cats. They will raid the nest and eat the eggs. They love eggs. And once any fry are free swimming.. your tetras will make a tasty snack out of them

HTH

Amber

 

[bleechme]

You seem like your the same level as me. I've had fish for over 7 years but I was never serious about them until about 2 years ago too! You should try rams. They are beautiful fish that are getting pretty popular now days!

 

[jpedersen024]

I'd recommend the rams too. Just my own pair, and love them. They're supposed to be picky about water parameters, but if you're good on cleaning and water changes (and have a decent filter) you should be up and running. My filter's not the best, but mine are happy as clams so far.

If you do a search, someone on here gave a picture about how to tell males and females apart that was dead on for my very young pair. The males have a rounder head. Females are more pointed with a pink belly. I ordered mine from a local lfs, and specified 1 male, 1 female. Luckily they are a bonded pair now. You might have aggression problems putting too many juvies in together, even for a short time.

Good luck!