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Apisto Tankmates?

Mr. Appleton

New Member
Messages
15
Hi all,

Just picked up a group of A. baenschi a few weeks ago and they're settling into the tank quite nicely. I'm currently housing them with some zebra danios and I think they're a bit too boisterous for the baenschi so I want to switch them out with something else a bit more peaceful, calm, and fry friendly!

Any suggestions would be fantastic!

Thanks in advance!
__________________
 

Mr. Appleton

New Member
Messages
15
Hi Dave,

Thanks for the response! In your experience do pencilfish school well together?

What do you think of Green Neon Tetras? Would they be fry-friendly?

Thanks in advance!
 

Miz

New Member
Messages
4
Through reading these forums I've seen Cardinal Tetras often recommended. They require very similar water conditions.
 

Bilbo

Member
5 Year Member
Messages
235
Location
Bulls. New Zealand
Tetras are great tank mates but are not fry friendly.
The pencils are supposed to be less likely to eat young but even those will eat if the opportunity presents itself.
I have used Otto s in breeding tanks with success and some of the tiny Rasbora should be ok I would guess but I think keeping them on their own would be best if your aim to breed them.
 

Mike Wise

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
11,202
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Cardinal Tetras have a reputation for being efficient apisto fry predators. If this doesn't bother you, then they are an excellent choice in a community. Pencilfish are not really schooling fish. They tend to live together in groups but don't move together as a unit, like a school would. Males can be very aggressive (depending on the species) to other males.
 

Mr. Appleton

New Member
Messages
15
Hi Mike,

Do you have any thoughts for green neon tetras? They're significantly smaller than cardinals.

If they don't work, i may just try a group if pencil fish. I'm really looking for some fish to fill out the tank a bit as the apistos are more often dartin in and out of their caves and amongst the leaf litter.

As always your input is much appreciated!!
 

nijrem

Member
Messages
36
Personally decided on Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi (black neon) for my 180litre and Hyphessobrycon amandae (ember tetra) in the 125litre.
Haven't bred anything (yet) though, but I do like both of these species.

If needed I might move a breeding pair to one of the spare tanks though.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Matt1892

New Member
Messages
21
Location
NJ
This being my first post may make me slightly less useful to you then some of the others but in my experience it can depend on size of tank and where the fish tend to locate themselves. For example I have kept furcata rainbows in a 55 gallon tank with breeding rams and because they rarely were seen below the half way point of my tank (even during feeding times) my fry had little issue with them, on the other hand had if I had a shorter tank my fry would have been eaten. I also had a school of flame tetras (Von rios) who demolished my first batch of fry because they would swim on all levels of my tank. I now have separated my rams into their own tank (with otos) so I don't have all the worrying involved every time I find eggs or see mating signs.
Personally, I have not kept those type of tetras but if you see them on all levels of your tank or if your tank is not relatively tall expect fry to go missing. I would probably take the others advice on pencil fish.
If you have other tanks though there's no harm in monitoring how and where the fish school in your tank and how deep they will swim for a food morsel, and moving them to another tank if you spot them scoping for food in the lower levels of your tank.
Hopefully this will help, if you have another tank to house the tetras, personally I would go for it (as long as they meet the water parameters) and move them if i saw any signs of breeding from the Apistos, it may be more work but atleast you will have the tank setup you like. Also realize that if you are unobservant you could potentially lose your first batch of baby Apistos, which I truthfully think will be the case with tetras (I have kept neons, flame, and rummy nose) all were regulars on the bottom half of my tanks.
 

aquaticclarity

Moderator
Staff member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,809
Location
Richfield, WI
Splash Tetras are GREAT dithers with Apistos. Again, not unlike pencil fish, they are not true schooling fish but live in loose groups. Their up turned mouths help reduce the number of fry, if any, that they can catch and eat. Most pencils also work pretty well. How about hatchet fish? Another loose schooler that is VERY top oriented.

But bottom line, ANY tetra will end up getting a few fry now and again. (But the Apistos get a few of their own fry now and again as well!)
 

Mr. Appleton

New Member
Messages
15
Thanks for the input guys! I'm going to have to consider carefully but at the moment I'm leaning towards perhaps having no dithers at all and letting the baenschi figure things out for awhile on their own...

Thanks again!
 

gerald

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
Small Rasboras: green-eye, dwarf, brigittae, espei, etc. They tend to stay higher in the water than tetras, so less threatening to bottom-dwelling cichlid fry. Large-mouth Apistos may eat brigittae.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
Personally decided on Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi (black neon) for my 180litre.
These are good dithers, cheap to buy, easily obtainable, colour up well in soft water and easy to breed. I kept 6 (4F, 2M) in with a Apistogramma cacatuoides harem over several years and the cichlids raised 100's of fry in the tank.

I also like Pencils, Hatchets and Splash Tetra and have all 3 in with dwarf cichlids in different tanks. Another good dither are Threadfin Rainbows, these are entirely fry safe, and won't eat Grindal worms, large Daphnia or larger mosquito larvae, although they do eat BBS, smaller Daphnia and micro-worms. The males also display beautifully if you have both sexes.

cheers Darrel
 

chris1805

Active Member
5 Year Member
Messages
333
Location
Odijk, the Netherlands
I keep green neons with my harem of Apistogramma sp. D37. They are great combination, but I suspect them from eating some fry. Which is fine by me as I don't have room to raise big groups of fry. I do currently have a female sp D37 that is guarding fry and I am pretty sure the fry are too big to fit in the mouth of the green neons now. I guess there are about 20 fry left at the moment, which to me is a great result for a females first breed considerings she shares a 60 liter tank with 11 green neons, two other females and a male.
 

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