Can I add another apistogramma species to my 40gallong breeder with A. Borellii

[FishMonkey]

I decided to not add any other dwarf cichlids/apistos, I'm sure it can be done but my gut is telling me borellii are just too small, I did however order some more inverts so my tank stock is now;

-4 A. Borellii
-2 Coral Red Pencil fish (I spent £90 on 6 and a pair chased the rest to death... Never again!)
-1 Otocinclus (last one left, pretty old now)
-3 Magenta Mystery Snails
-2 Nerite Snails
-22 Blue Velvet Shrimp (Culls)
-Racoon Tiger Shrimp
-Pink/Blue Ramshorn Snails

I might add some more Otos and black neon tetras at some point but I'm unsure for now so I will give it a bit, I hear these are good dithers but I'm worried they'll hunt my shrimp & every single fry lol.

Thanks for the advice people

 

[MacZ]

-2 Coral Red Pencil fish (I spent £90 on 6 and a pair chased the rest to death... Never again!)

Just had a similar experience with N. eques pencils. Got 10 in 2 batches. Only got 3 left now and one of them is on the way out (hasn't eaten in a week and gets chased behind the filter each time he dares showing up in the open). The sex-ratio is important. Males will fight constantly and if there are too few females those will get harrassed to death, too. If number three should kick the bucket within the next few days, I am left with a pair. I will only get a handful of females so the one male will have to spread his courtship between them, giving all females some more room to breath.

 

[FishMonkey]

Just had a similar experience with N. eques pencils. Got 10 in 2 batches. Only got 3 left now and one of them is on the way out (hasn't eaten in a week and gets chased behind the filter each time he dares showing up in the open). The sex-ratio is important. Males will fight constantly and if there are too few females those will get harrassed to death, too. If number three should kick the bucket within the next few days, I am left with a pair. I will only get a handful of females so the one male will have to spread his courtship between them, giving all females some more room to breath.

Oh wow sucks to hear N. eques are like this as well, I thought these were the most peaceful of the lot.. I definitely had 2 males 4 females, at first the 2 males battled to death then he picked his favourite female and killed the rest.. Now there's only 2 left they're super peaceful/playful but I do wonder if I should of went with 6-12 black neon tetras and saved £80.

 

[MacZ]

Started out with 6m/4f, because the store clerk wasn't as good in sexing them as I was, but he wasn't able to let me catch them myself as the supervisor was in visual reach.
The eques were not that aggressive actually. Two males divided the tank among themselves and chased away the other males. But those would hung out in the corners or behind the filter and wouldn't come out to feed anymore. Usually 2-3 males would harass a female at once which made those also hide in the corners and stop feeding. And when the ratio was down to 2:3 two of the females suddenly dropped dead. Will see how it goes from here.

Luckily the N. eques don't come that expensive (5€ each). Every aquarist has had one case that an expensive group of was lost, be it in shipping, due to a disease or due to aggression. In my native language we call this what can be translated as "paying the apprentice due". You got experience in exchange and learned from it. I had something like this last happen years ago, but it happens from time to time. The worst case I had was in the late 90s. Lost almost a whole wild caught colony of Tropheus moorii back then. I won't disclose the numbers, but today I would be able to pay my rent of two months with that kind of money.

 

[Jon Webb]

I decided to not add any other dwarf cichlids/apistos, I'm sure it can be done but my gut is telling me borellii are just too small, I did however order some more inverts so my tank stock is now;

-4 A. Borellii
-2 Coral Red Pencil fish (I spent £90 on 6 and a pair chased the rest to death... Never again!)
-1 Otocinclus (last one left, pretty old now)
-3 Magenta Mystery Snails
-2 Nerite Snails
-22 Blue Velvet Shrimp (Culls)
-Racoon Tiger Shrimp
-Pink/Blue Ramshorn Snails

I might add some more Otos and black neon tetras at some point but I'm unsure for now so I will give it a bit, I hear these are good dithers but I'm worried they'll hunt my shrimp & every single fry lol.

Thanks for the advice

I’ve been lucky, apparently, with 6 Beckford’s pencils in a large community tank. They school together, and little to no aggression. Glad for the warnings on other species.

 

[anewbie]

Which pencil should be avoided with aspito ? (Well avoided as they will eat frys) ?

 

[FishMonkey]

Started out with 6m/4f, because the store clerk wasn't as good in sexing them as I was, but he wasn't able to let me catch them myself as the supervisor was in visual reach.
The eques were not that aggressive actually. Two males divided the tank among themselves and chased away the other males. But those would hung out in the corners or behind the filter and wouldn't come out to feed anymore. Usually 2-3 males would harass a female at once which made those also hide in the corners and stop feeding. And when the ratio was down to 2:3 two of the females suddenly dropped dead. Will see how it goes from here.

Luckily the N. eques don't come that expensive (5€ each). Every aquarist has had one case that an expensive group of was lost, be it in shipping, due to a disease or due to aggression. In my native language we call this what can be translated as "paying the apprentice due". You got experience in exchange and learned from it. I had something like this last happen years ago, but it happens from time to time. The worst case I had was in the late 90s. Lost almost a whole wild caught colony of Tropheus moorii back then. I won't disclose the numbers, but today I would be able to pay my rent of two months with that kind of money.

This is true words of wisdom and a good perspective, not all is lost either as I still have £30 worth of fish.

Which pencil should be avoided with aspito ? (Well avoided as they will eat frys) ?

Beckford’s aparantly but @Jon Webb seems to of had good luck. My red coral pencils don't really go for fry and generally avoid the apistos but they fight with each other hard and seem to do very well as a pair in my experience.

 

[MacZ]

Which pencil should be avoided with aspito ? (Well avoided as they will eat frys) ?

They are all Apisto fry-safe as far as I know. As seen above pencils are more of a menace to each other.