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Ideal Set-up for Apistos? (36g bow/ 40g Breeder)

astrick117

New Member
Messages
1
Hi Everyone,

I am looking to get back into fishkeeping and have decided to go with a freshwater tank and give Apistos a shot. I have numerous years of experience keeping saltwater reef tanks and prior to that freshwater, but never looked into Apistos. I am hoping that the maintenance will be a little easier than saltwater as I don't have as much time as I did previously due to now having two kids (please let me know if Im wrong on that assumption).

I have a 36" space for a tank and am looking at either a 36g bowfront or 40g breeder. There is a nearly new 36 bowfront for sale near me for a great price, but if the 40g would afford me considerably more Apisto real estate I would be willing to wait. So with all of that in mind, what would be the ideal set-up for Apistos? I like the looks of cacatuoides, viejita and agassizii. Any others with extreme coloring I should consider?

Also, as far as basic equipment goes:
- a tank (obviously)
-heater
-hang on back filter or should I go cannister right away?
-sandy bottom?
-lots of plants, caves, etc
- does lighting matter other than for proper plant growth?
-anything else?

Also, anyone have reco's for LFS with a good selection of Apistos in the Philadelphia area? Im in Collegeville, PA.

Thanks,

Aaron
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
I have a 36" space for a tank and am looking at either a 36g bowfront or 40g breeder. There is a nearly new 36 bowfront for sale near me for a great price, but if the 40g would afford me considerably more Apisto real estate I would be willing to wait.
Volume is seconary, footprint is what counts. 80x35cm would be a good starting point, bigger is always possible.
So with all of that in mind, what would be the ideal set-up for Apistos?
There is no general "ideal". There are about 100 species of Apistogramma, from 4cm species living in creeks in the northern argentinian Pampa to 8cm species living in peruvian blackwater pools. Please make sure you research the original habitat beforehand, domestic variants profit from a natural environment just as wild caught fish.
I like the looks of cacatuoides, viejita and agassizii. Any others with extreme coloring I should consider?
Usually there are 4-5 species with their domestic forms available, those are. A. agassizii, A. borellii, A. cacatuoides, A. macmasteri and A. hongsloi. That said, I haven't seen some of these available in their wild colour morphs in a while. Less common, but still common enough within most assortments (at least here in Europe): A. panduro, A. nijsseni, A. trifasciata and A. ortegai.
Sidenote: Real A. viejita are not very common in the trade, quite the opposite. Pretty much all fish sold in retail as A. viejita are colour strains of A. macmasteri.
-hang on back filter or should I go cannister right away?
At your disecretion. As long as the filter has the right size, the type is your choice.
-sandy bottom?
A must-have. Fine sand is mandatory for these fish. As should be leaf litter in my opinion.
-lots of plants, caves, etc
Structure is key in the confined spaces of a tank. So make sure there is driftwood blocking lines of sight. Caves are only necessary if you intend to breed and I would decide between a display tank and a breeding tank beforehand.
- does lighting matter other than for proper plant growth?
The fish like it rather dim, so go for floating plants, and easy stuff like Hydrocotyle, Elodea or Ceratophyllum.
-anything else?
Feed high quality live and frozen foods (maybe add some vitamin supplements), and beware of bloodworms. Most on sale are bad quality and although some people have fed their fish high quality bloodworms for decades without any problems, it's often a 50:50 gamble whether your fish will get problems from them or not. I personally lost too many cichlids (not just Apistos) after feeding that stuff and surely won't again. In addition they are a nutritional mess.
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
If you are in USA 40B are fairly cheap when they are on sale at petco/petsmart - usually around $40 or $50. petco also carries a cheap metal stand for around $80 - while it is not as pretty as the wood ones the wood ones they sell are particle board and i strongly recommend you avoid particle board stands; rj enterprise has wood stand but they are $$$$$$$. With any tank check the stand type - most of the cheap ones are particle board and imho they are a disaster waiting to happen.

If you don't live in usa forget everything i said. Oh a 40B is better than a 36 bow front; but if you just want apisto a 20 long will do - depends what else is going in the aquarium but 20 long are a decent size for most apisto or apisto with a few pencil fishes and they are fairly cheap.
 

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