20 gallon high

[trafficturtle]

Looking at potentially adding a male apistogramma to my established tank. I currently have a few zebra nerites, 10 celestial pearl danios, and 6 rummy nose tetras in my planted tank. Would an apistogramma work in my tank and if so any suggestions as to which I should get?

 

[MacZ]

If we go by tank dimensions: Most commonly available Apistos will work.

If we go by the rest... Without a picture of the tank can't give any recommendations.

 

[trafficturtle]

If we go by tank dimensions: Most commonly available Apistos will work.

If we go by the rest... Without a picture of the tank can't give any recommendations.

Don’t have a picture that is too recent but this is from before I added in any fish. Tank looks pretty much the same now just with the stem plants covering the back wall.

 

[MacZ]

The following is my opinion and many may agree in detail but not in principle.

The tank is not really suitable for dwarf cichlids. Those should at least be offered sand substrate to chew and quite some area of that. And some cover from above. Your tank is allright as an artistic aquascape, but those are barely suitable for most fish. Many fish we can buy in the trade do not live in such environments. It's too bright, lacking in cover and zones to retreat to. Dwarf cichlids are very sensitive to stress factors and I see several just from the environment.

A bit more precision: The rocks cover at least 2/3 of the bottom area. A dwarf cichlid would mostly use the areas around it. If I see that right those are either coverd in stem plants or floor covering plants. So whether the substrate is suitable or not the fish will likely not have a good access to it. The rocks also will keep the tank lit well, because nothing grows there. So the central area will be too bright.

 

[trafficturtle]

Don’t have a picture that is too recent but this is from before I added in any fish. Tank looks pretty much the same now just with the stem plants covering the back wall.

The following is my opinion and many may agree in detail but not in principle.

The tank is not really suitable for dwarf cichlids. Those should at least be offered sand substrate to chew and quite some area of that. And some cover from above. Your tank is allright as an artistic aquascape, but those are barely suitable for most fish. Many fish we can buy in the trade do not live in such environments. It's too bright, lacking in cover and zones to retreat to. Dwarf cichlids are very sensitive to stress factors and I see several just from the environment.

A bit more precision: The rocks cover at least 2/3 of the bottom area. A dwarf cichlid would mostly use the areas around it. If I see that right those are either coverd in stem plants or floor covering plants. So whether the substrate is suitable or not the fish will likely not have a good access to it. The rocks also will keep the tank lit well, because nothing grows there. So the central area will be too bright.

Thanks for the information I’ll hold off on adding any in this tank