2 Pair in a 4 ft tank?

[Jeffk]

Mainly looking for clarification here... I have a 33 gal long tank that's the same footprint as a standard 55 gal (48" x 12"), just not as tall. For a community (not breeding) tank, could I stock 2 pair of A. borellii as long as I have plenty of broken sight lines, etc? Since I'm not interested in breeding, I guess I could just stock 2 males, but I think having females in the tank causes more interesting behavior. I'd probably include 12-16 black neons as well. Would 2 pair or borellii coexist in this size tank?

 

[Drayden Farci]

I could be wrong here, but I understand that A. borelli are one of the least aggressive of the readily available Apisto's. While I would normally not recommend more than one pair in a 55 (or 33, which I desperately want to swap for my own 55..), I think A. borelli could get away with it. Definitely litter the bottom with caves, nooks, crannies, leaves, etc. For reference, I had a pair of A. macmasteri in a 55 and during breeding, the male would be shunned to the upper corner opposite the female.

Best of luck!

 

[Jeffk]

Yes - thanks for your reply - I chose A. borellii because I think they are the most mellow and most tolerant apistos.
I don't think I'd try this with any other species of apisto - at least not any other of the popular one's that
are easy to find. I'd also add both pairs at the same time.

 

[aarhud]

I think you can easily keep two pairs of A. borellii as long as line of sight breaks exist.

 

[Bart Hazes]

The fact that you are not interested in breeding doesn't mean you fish are not interested in breeding. In fact, the universe seems to dictate that if you do not wanting them to breed they will

Still with a proper setup I think you could have two pairs as long as they don't both breed at the same time.

 

[Jeffk]

The fact that you are not interested in breeding doesn't mean you fish are not interested in breeding. In fact, the universe seems to dictate that if you do not wanting them to breed they will

Still with a proper setup I think you could have two pairs as long as they don't both breed at the same time.

Thanks, Bart - Agreed! I just wanted to make it clear that I'm planning a community tank. I've kept borellii in the past and I've
never gotten past eggs in my ph of 8.1 water (so my female never chased anyone away for more than a couple days).
I plan to set things up to give max space on opposite sides of the tank.