Apistos with furcata rainbows?

[evanxlewis]

Hi all,

Today I went to my lfs and was able to pick up 10 furcata rainbows (2 male, 8 female). I got them as a schooling fish to go with apistogrammas but have found conflicting info on keeping these fish in my 29 gallon.

Will the very breedable nature of the furcatas conflict with the apistos. Ive read that you should really keep apistos in a male female pair. I’m worried that if everyone starts breeding then there will be territory problems in my tank.

Let me know advice and suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

The rainbows only lay 1 or 2 eggs per day (usually 1). The eggs are laid among plants. You can pick the eggs and put them in a hatching container.

The rainbows usually hang out in the upper half of the tank and won't cause problems to the Apistogrammas. However, the Apistogrammas might cause problems to the rainbowfish if the cichlids get grumpy during breeding. Some are nice and don't cause problems, but some can be agro. You will have to monitor them and see how they do.

The other issue is to do with water chemistry. The rainbowfish do better in harder water with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH. The cichlids are from soft acid water. If the cichlids are wild caught, then they will need soft acid water, which the rainbows might not tolerate that well.

 

[GaryE]

Which Apistogramma species might matter, but furcatus are completely non territorial, so they won't compete. There is a danger of murder most foul, as when an Apisto grabs baby rearing turf, it attacks, and that can take a shoaling fish by surprise. It's a quick change. Many an Apisto spawning has been signalled by the sight of a dead tankmate serving as a wake up call to all the other fish in the tank.

 

[evanxlewis]

Thanks to both of you! I’ll make sure to provide plenty of caves to minimize aggression. I’ll also make sure to keep a close eye on my PH and get apistos that do well in neutral water