Starting Again

[kizno1]

Ive decided to start again from scratch. I lost most of my fish a few months ago, still unsure why but i just couldnt do anything to stop them dying no sign of illness or anything. Anyway from
6 Red breasted acara (hoping for a pair)
15 Lemon tetra
3 Clown plecs
3 Banjo catfish

Im now down to
2 Red breasted acara (both males unfortunately)
1 Lemon tetra
3 Clown plecs and Banjo catfish

So the plan is to sell everything other than the Clown plecs and maybe get 1 or 2 more in the hope they will breed and hopefully get a small group of Apisto. Im not sure what type yet but it will be one of the rarer types. Ive managed to get eggs of agassizii's before but they where eaten and soon after both females died. Hopefully i will be able to clean out the tank and get some new fish this weekend.

 

[Wills]

Hi long time no see, what went on when the tank crashed? Probably worth working out some of that cause before you go adding more.

A sudden tank wipe sounds like the dreaded columnaris? Did you add anything new close to the deaths? Did any of the fish have white patches on or even just white lips?

Wills

 

[kizno1]

I really dont have a clue what it was. Fish just started dropping dead with no signs of illness that i noticed. Whatever it was seems to have gone though, all this fish died within about a month and this was around Christmas time so i couldnt see there being a problem adding more fish after this long. What do you think?

 

[Wills]

It does seem that there is a decent time gap for anything else to happen...

Remind me of your tank size again? Is it a 36 gallon? I have always really liked A.Panduro the males are incredible and the females are just as good - try and dig up some old threads about overstocking Apistos like you do Africans, the guy who did it contacted Alf Sthalsberg and Im sure he suggested 8 or 9 females in a tank this size. It would look really good in a big tangly bit of wood (which I think you had) and then let the tank over grow with Hygrophilea (spelling) the really fast growing stem plant I had it in my 4 foot and it just took over so quick trying to get some more to soften off my 6 foot as my Java Fern has proved not Severum proof though she left that alone last time. Im rambling anyway.

Also an other thought I once thought of a good mix for Apistos would be hatchet fish, you could do a really large school of marbled hatchets all floating at the top while the Apistos keep the rest of the tank to them selves, following an out of sight out of mind kind of concept.

Wills

 

[kizno1]

The tanks 30G. Ive had a pair before and your right the males are stunning but i want something a little more different. Ive been looking and ive fallen for Apistogramma sp 'steelblue' the males are stunning. Youve mentioned about that to me before but ill have a look for it now. your right i had, over the past few months the clown plecs have just destroyed it. They have eaten through bits an inch in diameter to nothing but the plan is to get some more wood so yeah soon it should be back to how it was. Ill have a look at them plants because the tank is looking quite bare at the moment.

Ive struggled to find hatchets around here. i managed a group of 5 at one point but it was the most i ever saw. I went to swallow aquatics today though and they had loads of African butterfly fish, i was tempted to say the least.

 

[Wills]

Ah yeah nice - you should talk to No Body of the Goat about African Butterflies you could get a pretty nice tank round them and hes good at suggestions for that region

Apisto Steelblue are nice though Not sure if I am remembering this right or not but are they not a hybrid or something?

Wills

 

[kizno1]

Was this the topic you where on about? http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/288403-50-apistos-in-a-10g/page__hl__%2Boverstocking+%2Bapisto

Yeah hes great with fish like that but im just not sure how well they would fit in especially if im wanting to breed the apisto.

Oh really? ill avoid them if they are. I quite like Apistogramma norberti aswell.

 

[Wills]

No its part of it, the one Im on about was more recent in 2011 probably, possibly in 2012 not sure.

If you go down the route of the African Butterfly I would go for a tank around them rather with them and the Apistos - I think the Apistos may get nippy with the Butterflies ventral fins.

Wills

 

[kizno1]

Oh right, ill have another look.

I would prefer to stick to cichlids or catfish if im honest so its apisto over the butterflys anyday.

 

[njstockley]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/376218-apisto-species-tank/page__st__40__p__3207561__hl__njstockley__fromsearch__1#entry3207561

this might help out on the mbuna-style apistos...
i went for africans so never went through with this in the end.


would love to see someone have a go - still something i would love to try if i had another tank to play around with.

 

[kizno1]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/376218-apisto-species-tank/page__st__40__p__3207561__hl__njstockley__fromsearch__1#entry3207561

this might help out on the mbuna-style apistos...
i went for africans so never went through with this in the end.


would love to see someone have a go - still something i would love to try if i had another tank to play around with.

Cheers for that, it was an interesting read and definitely something ill have to look into a lot more. The only problem i can see is trying to source that many fish that isnt just the average cacatuoides ect and without them all being related.

 

[Wills]

Thought it was you Njstockley but I couldnt remember.

Really interesting concept for a tank, I think you can pull it of Kizno

If your not opposed to postage there are 4 if not 5 shops I know of that do it - Pier now do postage, Rare Aquatics do, Wildwoods, Wholesale Tropicals and I think TriMar do as well. You could also put out an advert on here for fry of a specific species, the Apistogramma forum is good as well.

Wills

 

[kizno1]

I think its do able. The filter on it now is a fluval 405 so the filtration shouldn't be a problem as long as i don't go stupid. What type do you think would work best? and realistically what sort of numbers? i could get plenty more branch wood to go in the tank to break the area up a bit more and the leaf litter shouldnt be a problem either.

 

[Wills]

Well...

His reco is that a Rio 180 can stock about 6-8 males and 10-15 females. I'm going to aim for the bottom end of that because the 180 isn't a big tank!

Thats from Alf Stahlsberg which you cant really argue with... but it feels so wrong!! I dont know what to suggest!!

Wills

 

[kizno1]

So in a 30G you would be looking at like 4-5 males and 8-10 females. Which doesnt sounds anywhere near as bad as the 50 per 10 gallons.