Good Apistos Or Other Dwarfs For A 29G?

[attibones]

For her birthday, I got my sister a 29 gallon standard aquarium kit. It has a Top Fin 30 filter which we may eventually upgrade, a heater, etc. She's in love with my German blue rams (I have two pairs), and wants something similar. She has been really interested in Apistogramma species. What would be some easy to keep Apistos that would do well in her tank with other fish? She's also considering keeping a few female guppies in there, and possibly other smaller community fish. 
 
Our tap pH is 7.4.
Our water is a little soft, though I don't know the exact level.\
 
Any suggestions?

 

[DrRob]

not sure about the availability of the apistos over there, I'd heard that they can be difficult to source in the USA. For my money though I'd go for some tank bred cacatuoides for a relative beginner (or a relative who is a beginner). Pretty fish, feisty enough to be interesting and, as apistos go, relatively hardy.
 
Otherwise, bolivian rams are very pretty fish, highly underrated, but not as personable as the apistos. You could keep a group of those though.

 

[attibones]

We've looked at both of those. She's not as much of a fan of the Bolivian rams, though I rather like them. However, would the cacatuoides be good with other species of fish? I've never kept them and know very little about them. We're also dead set on panda Cory cats. Sister wants five. I'm not sure if there will be enough floor space for both the cacatuoides and the corys.

I know of a couple of apisto breeders in the US, so availability is not much of an issue. We figured we'd buy online anyway, since I've had excellent luck with my fish from aquabid.

 

[Wills]

Hi I agree with Rob Cockatoos are probs your best bet but I think that there are a couple more contenders - Agassizi and Panduro are pretty hardy fish.
 
I think your Panda Cories would do fine in the 30 gallon just make sure there are areas of floor space that the apistos will want to stick in, shady, cavey and easy to protect
 
Wills

 

[attibones]

Oh thanks for those suggestions! We've got several clay pots we can use as caves, and I'm always up for building something, so we will definitely have plenty of hiding spaces. I know that my rams don't bother my Corys at all, but I was not sure about apisto species.

So, I guess the big question would regard numbers. Would it be best to start with only a single or do you think a pair would be best? We will, of course, cycle the tank first, but we won't do that until next week.

 

[Wills]

I would do a fishless cycle with the test kits and also if you can spare some of your filter media for her that would help but I always think that its important for newbies to see the fishless cycle in action - ie adding a chemical like ammonia into the tank, experiencing the raw terrible smell and then seeing the process in the filter turn it into (reasonably) harmless nitrate.
 
As for adding your Apistos,  would add your community fish first, schoolers/dithers and some cories and then add in your Apistos I would try to add them all the same time and go for a trio of them with 1 male and 2 females - in a 30 gallon you might get away with a third female but with other bottom dwellers it might be best with just the two
 
Apistos are harem breeders (some people say pairs work as well though) but for me I would always do a trio as males can be pests at times which can stress a single female and if you dont have a spare tank for a stressed female its often best for the harem set up. In the wild Apistos are found in tiny bodies of water, especially during the dry seasons - sometimes in their thousands and males are always vastly outnumbered sometimes because they have to compete for space so much.
 
I would try and stick to a minimum of species as well - with a confident open water swimmer like Pencil Fish so it might be a stocking like
 
3 Apistos (any species) 1m 2 f
4 Spotted Headstanders
10 Golden Pencil Fish
10 Panda Cories
 
And then decorate it low down on a sand base with a black background to the tank. I would do some small floating plants as well
 
Looking forward to seeing this
 
Wills

 

[DrRob]

Aye should be a nice set up you're getting there.
 
You're right with the cories, but, as Wills says, there shouldn't be problems so long as they have space to call their own.
 
Aggasizi are lovely fish as well, never had panduros.

 

[attibones]

Willis: I'm donating some of my mature media to my sister to help get her started. We've got the master kit, ammonia, etc. I've done this a few times, and she's witnessed my tank transformations, so this is really a chance for her to do the same. I just told her I'd help her find the best tank mates for her aquarium. She would like a trio, but would only like six Cory cats.

Here's what she's thinking:
3 apistos (we both really like the panduros)
6 panda Cory catfish
1 decent sized school of fish (cherry barbs, pencil fish maybe)

Dr Rob: I figured a 29 gallon would be a good sized tank for her to really start with. She's got some smaller tanks, but I think this one will be the first where she is not so limited by size.