Multiple Apisto. Compatibility Question

[kyleb2003]

Just want to know IF it would work as I love apisto's and if I could I'd have hundreds of them. I know a lot of LFS put different kinds of cichlids in their displays (i.e. the one I was just in had electric blue ram x 1, agassizi x 2, cacatuoides x 2 in about a 180l), but I want to know if long term this could work.

The tank - 240l 4ft long, per the sig with lots of plants/wood/caves/hideyholes
Current stock - 1 x cacatuoides male, shoal of neons, shoal of danios, few others (mainly the apisto compatibility I want to query)

Additions - I want to add a couple of cacatuoides females and have found some. On top of that, I'd like to know if it's feasible to have either a pair of apisto. Viejita OR a single apisto. Borelli male?

Probably not advisable, maybe I'll be corrected, but it's nice to dream! Cheers

 

[KittyKat]

What are the "few others"? You should potentially be able to add another 2f Apisto. cacatuoides or 1m 4f Apisto. cacatuoides.

If you go for 1m 2f Apisto. cacatuoides in total (depending on the "few others"), you should be able to have another 1m 2f of a harem species or a pair of a pair species.

I personally prefer to not keep dwarf SA cichlids individually and it's probably not a good idea to have more/same number of males as females overall. Also, the Apistos won't always separate by species, sometimes they will pair up cross-species..

Edit: females of some species look identical, I recommend you avoid mixing those species.

 

[kyleb2003]

Thanks KittyKat.

The 'few others' are some bumblebee gobies, khuli loaches and a clown plec.

I don't want to keep the male I already have on his own anymore so the 2 x female cacatuoides are definitely going in. I'm really tempted by the pair of Viejita I just want to make sure they aren't going to attack each other, in the lfs the pair of Viejita were the only one but not sure if they're paired up yet, though they were quite big. The Borelli were TINY so I don't think I'll be going for them.

 

[KittyKat]

I think it may be better to stick with only one species because of the loaches and pleco because if the eggs get eaten, one species might try to take it out on the other. With that stocking, it is impossible for me to say if 2 species will work or not.

 

[fishyfeet]

ive got several different pair and types and so far they dont bother each other, i do have a large heavy planted tank with lots of cover, also a sep tank without other fish, shrimps and plecs so if they do lay eggs i can prob move them, di

 

[kyleb2003]

In other words it may or may not work, but when it comes to breeding I'm more likely to have troubles. If I did go for 1m + 2f cacatuoides and 1m + 1f viejita then I guess I would need to have a contingency plan in place in case I did need to remove one of the species. I'm going to add some caves and hiding places and consider this for a bit before making a decision, thanks for the advice.