Apisto's

[IonaMcCluskey]

anybody got any info they would like to share on apisto's?
 
i'm still trying to decide on a centrepiece fish for my 36"x15"X18". i really fancy a red dwarf gourami but the situation with DGD just now is putting me off.
i've been flicking through some pics/info on apisto's and some of them are very nice and colourful but all the different kinds has got my brain pickled again. plus it will prob be young ones my lfs will get in, so how do i know how colourful they'll get?
i've not managed to figure out what part of the tank they utilise either. would it be top to middle? as my neons are quite settled on the bottom and i don't want to upset them.
could i keep an apisto with a DG if i decide to take the gamble?
i want something about 3" size so i can see it from the other end of the room aswell, i know this seems a bit petty but my tank just looks so empty unless i go and sit right in front of it, then the dogs get jelious

anything anybody would like to share would be very much appretiated
 

 

[DrRob]

Apisto's are generally bottom half of the tank fish and compete for space with the other bottom feeders. Their natural habitat is generally amongst the leaf litter on the riverbed.
 
Females are routinely quite drab, but can be quite nice yellows and can be very pretty when in breeding colours. Males can be quite spectacular. The commonest I've seen in the LFS's have been aggasizi and cacautoides. Both lovely fish.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

so possible conflict with my neons and still doesn't fill out the top half of my tank?
 
my lfs has had both the ones you mentioned above and they have about 4 or 5 different kinds in just now, including the funny looking shaped ones but they all looked a very drab brownish/greyish apart from one kind that was showing a little black and yellow in the bottom fin.
 
what about keeping with a DG?

 

[BelldandyShanny]

they tend to look boring in the store, for many reasons, stress, just moved in, someone was just moved out, tank cleaned (or tank not cleaned) or they're young and just haven't had a chance to color up.  I usually find that the fish room lighting isn't the best so once you get them home they look better.  I thought about getting some, but they are a bit more aggressive than I'd like (I already had a pair of blue rams) so I got kribs instead, and I'm happy with that choice they are pretty! both male and female.  I don't really know much about them other than that.  But if you want a nice top dweller, guppies!  Unless you have them already.

 

[Essjay]

I have a pair of cacatuoides - my avatar is the female in breeding colours. The male is grey with orange red fins.
 
They share the tank with green neon tetras (slightly smaller than regular neons) ember tetras, dwarf chain loaches and a pair of honey gouramis. The female does get aggressive when she has eggs/fry to guard but she has never done more than chase the other fish, she's never made contact, and she stops when they get several inches away. Male cacatuoides have big mouths for the size of the fish but none of the smaller fish have disappeared or shown any signs of being picked on.
They do spend most of their time in the bottom half of the tank but will come to the surface at feeding time. But then so does one of the loaches!
 

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

@ belldandyshanny
my lfs has spotless tanks and excellent lighting, i think it is just that the fish are young and not had a chance to colour up yet.
kribs? i'll have a bit of a look into them but it is top dweller i'm most looking for. i've already got neons and endlers in this tank and it's a larger centerpiece fish i'm looking for so i probably wont go with guppies, altho they are pretty.
 
@essjay
very pretty, she really is quite striking
so you've got yours with honeys? has there been any probs between the two?
i had also considered honeys instead of the dwarf gourami, so this is good to know. i have endlers in the tank, the adult males are def smaller than neons, so the big mouth on the male may be a little worrying but you've not had any casualties so it could be ok.
 
this is all great information for me to take in and consider, so that i can hopefully make the right choice. thank you for sharing you experience

 

[BelldandyShanny]

Endlers are close enough to guppies to count as guppies in my opinion. Any of the livebearers like to hang out at the top if you're looking for something bigger.  I've kept a flame gourami and pearl gouramis in with my guppies (and other small fish) and never had any problems between them.  You could even put in a (only one) betta if you felt like it instead of a gourami.  Apistos, kribs, and rams all like to hang out at the bottom primarily.  You could add a few kuhli loaches, I know that they too are bottom dwellers, but they are fun to watch and will travel, all over, alot.  I'm watching one right now just crack around the tank. Other mid to top end dwellers you could try are cherry barbs (I haven't tried them yet myself but they are supposed to be peaceful) or some kind of rasbora, I have scissortail and they pretty much hang out wherever they want to, lots of movement, you have lots of options.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

the thought of a betta had flicked across what few brain cells i have but didn't really stick, it's still floating about in the back of my head as a last gasp possability.
i really don't fancy the loach approach, just not really my cup o tea.
the barbs and rasbora again, i think, are a bit on the small size, altho it is possible that i haven't seen a fully grown one. don't they need to be kept in groups though? i'm not looking for another group of fish, i just want one or two that will just stand out amongst the rest.

 

[Essjay]

Actually, I do have some male endlers in the tank too. I forgot about them when I said what was in there as they've recently been moved from another tank. They aren't bothered by the male apisto either.
Fully grown female apistos are a lot smaller than the males, but they are more aggressive when defending eggs and fry. The other fish in the tank do show an interest when they think there is a free meal of eggs, but the female chases them away. She has never done any damage, even to the honey gouramis' feelers. The only downside is that once fry become free swimming and leave their cave, they don't live long with other fish in the tank. The same happens to honey gourami fry.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

fry is the last thing i want at the moment, i'm in the process of setting up a seperate tank to move my female endlers as everything born seems to survive and i'm getting a bit overrun. i'm just waiting for them to get to a big enough size to start taking them back to lfs.
do you think i would be able to keep just a male apisto and a male honey or do they need to be kept in pairs?

 

[BelldandyShanny]

how about an upside down catfish? or a trio of sword tails or mollys?  they are livebearers that are a little larger and have some nice color variety, quite noticeable.  I think any dwarf gourami, or even pearl, would be a good choice if you want something large, instead of a betta.  Hope I'm being at least a little helpful haha
 
well if you don't want fry then I'd definitely suggest against sword tails  or mollys unless you got a group of all male. choice of top dwellers is limited

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

choice of top dwellers is limited
i'm begining to realise this, this is prob how i ended up looking at the gourami range in the first place lol a trio of male mollies might be worth looking into for me. i really do appreciate all help, i'm used to keeping goldies so when it comes to tropical there is just so many then so much information, it really does help to have someone to help narrow it all down into something my brain can just about cope with

 

[BelldandyShanny]

haha yes always nice to have someone to brainstorm with, that's why I like the forum, sometimes I just wanna talk about fish, and not everyone gets that

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

sorry, i had to nick out there.
i like to learn stuff and sometimes just conversing with someone makes it easier to understand it all than trying to figure out fact sheets.
i mostly skim the posts rather than getting involved as i really don't know enough to help but it's a great way to learn and some things stick better when worded in a more conversational way

 

[BelldandyShanny]

I agree, usually I lurk hehe, but if I know something I'll add it, or just start discussion threads