Thanks Lajos, very helpful. Yes I am considering Apistogrammas as well. In terms of hardiness where do they rank vs rams and eartheaters? Would 5 pairs fit in my tank?
I think among the 3 of them, Earth eaters are the most hardy and they can live up to 8-10 years.
Blue Rams seem to be the least hardy if they come from the fish farms that are not properly raised/bred(just my opinion).
But take note that for Apistogrammas, sometimes they can be very picky eaters and they may only eat "live food" such as worms.
Don't buy adult Apistogrammas (2.5 inches or more) farms raised where they have been fed with live food all their lives.
They will refuse all pellets/flakes food unless you are prepare to provide them with live food such as brine shrimps, worms, etc.
Buy the younger ones that are from 1 to 1.5 inches in size. And they will be less aggressive.
If I'm not wrong, usually the advice is to give at least "one square feet of area" for each fish. For each pair, it will be more.
Buy different species that don't look alike to reduce aggression.
Provide enough caves for each pair and many plants to separate them.
By the way, keeping pairs of Apistogrammas are more difficult as some Apistogrammas can be very aggressive during spawning.
It's will be easier to keep just all the male only as the male are more beautiful except probably for female Apistogramma Panduro which has beautiful yellow colour.
For more information of Apistogrammas species, compatibilities, it's better that you check with the people from the forum below.
There are some experts in this forum. One of them is Mike Wise who is like Colin in this forum. LOL
Here are more info and you can join the forum and ask them:
I have space for a 4 foot 75 gallon tank, but I'll probably only be getting it near the end of this year... anyway, I'm still going to plan it out early so that I can get a good idea of what I can have in the tank. There are two species of cichlid I'd like to keep for the bottom portion of the...
www.apistogramma.com
So I am setting up a 65 gallon soon and I wanted to know if I could have: 1 Apistogramma Cacatoides red 1 Apistogramma Cacatoides yellow 1 Apistgramma Agassizii 1 Apistogramma Nijsseni 1 German Blue Ram 1 Bolivian Ram These six fish would either be all female or all male because not...
www.apistogramma.com
In the future I'll be getting a 75 gallon tank (of typical measurements), and I'm going to be getting some sort of dwarf cichlid for the bottom portion of the tank. However, I'm not sure which species to get. There are a bunch that I like -- Apistogramma trifasciata, A. borelli, A. agassizii, A...
www.apistogramma.com
Hey guys, i'm planning the population to put in my 120l tank with Otocinclus, Cardinals/Neon Tetra and maybe Corydoras. I find Apistos Cacatuoides, Agassizii and Macmasteri beautiful but I can't decide which one to choose. Just a little poll: which one do you personally prefer? And another...
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So I've decided that I will be setting up a 75 gallon apisto tank. Currently I have a 20 gallon high that I am wanting to disassemble, which would include a Marineland C-220 filter, Aquaticlife 24" quad bulb fixture, and a fully pressurized co2 system. I'm wanting to know what the best route to...
www.apistogramma.com
I have a thread on my 75 gallon blackwater here, but I moved recently and it's been reset up as a clearwater environment with Biotodoma cupido as the main attraction. I moved my checkerboards into a 33 long, they looked lost in the 75. The long low footprint suits them better, while still giving...
www.apistogramma.com
I have 2 heavily planted 75 gallon tanks on a rack. The top has a pair of Caucatoides and the bottom pair houses 2 males (bought as a breeding pair). I would like to add a pair of Apisto's to one or both tanks. The bottom tank has several synodontis cats growing out for my 150, but they could...
www.apistogramma.com
Some info:
By the way, the most peaceful Apistogramma is the
Borelli.
And I think the easiest to keep is
Cacatuoides.
ALL the best.