my new tank

[moneywastedonfish]

i thought i should share with you guys the new setup i have had running for two weeks or so.
It is a 40 gallon long that used to house kribs in a community, but the kribs turned nasty and wouldn't breed so i sold them and bought some apistogramma caucatoides.
Theres been some good things said about these fish in the last couple of months and my experiences so far have been incredible.
When i bought the trio i took the shop owners word that there was one male to 2 f.
They all looked the same to me. Anyways, a little bit of good food and only 2 weeks later my male is definatley a male and is one of the most beautiful fish i have ever seen, the females aren't half bad either with there yellow and orange coloration. The male has grown to nearly twice the size of the females and has red or orange on the three fins(triple red?), with a flame pattern going from red at the peduncle to orange at the tip of the caudal fin. The pelvic fins are a lovely blue green color.
Due to the beauty and expense of these fish the tank is immaculately cleaned, ~10-20% water change every three days.
And, wait for it....
Now that the evil kribs have been removed my neons have stopped getting harrassed and are starting to show their true colors(could have something to do with the better food tho).


I have one question at the moment, how many females can be housed in the 40?
And if i just have the apistos and the neons will some of the female fry survive in this tank without needing to be rehoused?

 

[Griz]

Welcome to the bandwagon! These fish are gaining popularity for good reason, beauty and personality in abundance. Fantastic community fish that I believe look "just right" in tanks 20-40 gal. They seem to behave very naturally when they have enough room to stake out their territories.

You may be able to add one more female. Based on my experience and what I have read, males seem to require a territory of about 2-3 sq ft, females need at least 1 sq ft. This is based on a tank with plenty of structure and caves. Arrange your setup into small territories for the females. Keep in mind that the less they can see each other, the better. Place rock, plants, wood etc to break up their line-of-sight and this should help to keep any aggression down. One of my 2 females seemed to be getting harassed until I changed things around. Now she is defending her cave and surrounding territory and is standing up to the dominant female, at least at her end of the tank. Be prepared to change things up if you do decide to add another female.

With just the apistos and neons I think you do have a chance that some fry may survive al long as there are places for them to hide. A school of hungry neons can make quick work of fry however since it's difficult for the parents to defend against all of them.