apisto's

[thetim6]

i dont have them yet, as im going to research them a little bit more and get my convict fry out of the tank before i do. im wondering how many could i put in this tank. my intentions are to breed the fish, but i also want a beautiful planted tank, so i dont think im going to be putting anything else in the tank, maybe some small catfish for clean up, bristlenose, or corydoras. would these be compatible? and how do i go about breeding them? if i have say two pairs would i run into aggression problems, or do i keep a higher female to male ratio? do they take good care of their fry? i was planning on leaving the fry in the tank, unless they or the other parents would eat the fry. thanks in advance.

 

[CFC]

Most apisto species are better kept in a 2-3 females to one male combination,in a 29g i wouldn't keep any more than than 2 males and 6 females making sure that there is plenty of caves and heavy planting to allow clear territory markers.
If you intend to breed them then i wouldnt add any catfish species to the tank,all catfish species are oppertunist egg theives,we once had a male cockatoo dwarf cichlid die from the strain of trying (unsucessfully) to defend his eggs against corys.A few surface dwelling characins like hatchets would make good tank mates.

 

[thetim6]

alright. thats awesome, i was thinking i would be able to keep maybe 5, or 6 total, but 8 sounds really good. is there anything that i could keep in there, or would it be better to stick with a species only tank? maybe some giant danios or something just to have something swimming? its not a must for me to have other fish, but it would be cool. another thing, would al lthe fry be ok in the tank? like they wont eat the other females fry or anything like that will they? thanks