200x70x60 apistogramma tank?

[de nol]

hi guys...i've just started over decorating my tank...i'm a big fan of apisto's and i was wondering if it is possible to keep a group of apisto in this tank or maybe two species that occur together in the wild...the reason why i'm asking is because the tank is quite ''open''...ditter fish are going to be nannostomus morthenthaleri if i can keep the waterparameters stabile...the tank is running for more then a week now so i can sort things out for myself...here are a few pics of the tank...

 

[Mike Wise]

In a 2m tank you should be able to keep plenty of apistos. I would double or triple the layer of leaves, however, just to be safe.

 

[rr16]

I'm rather jealous. Lovely big tank. I hope to one day get a custom built 120 x 120 x 30 cm tank and half fill it with water, with some bogwood protruding, growing fern on it and fill it full of leaf litter and wood just like this! Ah, I should stop dreaming and hijacking you thread. Cool tank.

 

[Josh]

Very nice tank! Looking forward to seeing photos after you populate it!

 

[de nol]

mike thanks for the backup...i'll add some small pieces of wood and them double the layer of leaves in my tank and which apisto i don't wanna keep as a group in my tank,any thougts on that mike?

rr16 there's no need to be jealous,you can make your own tank one day for sure

josh thanks...the firsr fish that will be introduced will be 20+nannostomus morthenthaleri...

would it be wise though to first introduce the nanno's in a tank that's runnig for 3 weeks or should i wait a little longer for the tank to set a bit more...i measured my ph and it was 5 and ec\tds was under 100...

 

[rr16]

I'm no expert like Mr Wise, but I know that Tom C has caught A. barlowi and A. agassizi in the same habitat in the wild - http://apisto.sites.no/fish.aspx?fishIndexID=2378&gruppeID=1
I have both of these in the same tank (150x 45 x 45) and they tolerate each other. The male A. agassizi had most the tank as his territory and three females scattered through it. There was a single male A. barlowi in there and he didn't get much look in. Then I put an established pair of A. barlowi in there and the male gradually took a territory of about half the tank (after hiding from the male A. agassizi originally). I have a piece of bogwood on its side about half way down that protrudes about 4 inches off the substrate and this acts as the border of their territories. Although there have been attempts at spawning, this is a community tank with many different fish in so not the best example. I've found that the A. barlowi can be quite aggressive towards other apistos sometimes, but if there are plenty of hiding places and space this tends not to be a problem.
There are some that are found in the same habitats but I'm no expert and not sure which. It is interesting to see the different interactions between different species.
Be careful you don't end up with two very closely related species though or you'll end up with hybrid offspring like I think I may have as I was sold a pair of A. panduro, but I suspect the female is A. panduro and the male is A. nijsseni, despite the catch location being Rio Tahuayo and the images on the website of the shop being of the same type of fish that look like A. nijsseni but labelled up as A. panduro (and some of the same batch looking like classical A. panduro males).
I suppose your choice depends on which species/forms of Apistogramma you have available to you.
You could have a colony of something like A. cacatuoides which are often harem spawners, but with several males and more females you may get some interesting interactions.
A few pairs of A. panduro would be nice, but then you may end up with fierce battles, however, you may have enough space in that tank.
Sorry, I've had more of a written thought process than given much advice (and Mike knows better than me anyways - he's almost as god-like as Tom C I hear!).

 

[Mike Wise]

When mixing apistos I recommend not mixing 2 species of the same species-group; e.g. A. cacatuoides with A. alpahuayo. It is best if the species exhibit different fin and body shapes.

 

[de nol]

tthanks for the input rr16,and i was not intending to keep similar species together...it will be a group of indeed available species at the time..

someone has any thougts about the nannostomus entering the tank after 3 weeks and what apisto's do not thrive well in a group?

 

[Yo-han]

Measure NO2, if that is zero, you can add Nannostomus

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Measure NO2,

the firsr fish that will be introduced will be 20+nannostomus morthenthaleri...would it be wise though to first introduce the nanno's in a tank that's runnig for 3 weeks or should i wait a little longer for the tank to set a bit more...i measured my ph and it was 5 and ec\tds was under 100...

It should be all right because the TDS is low, but but I'd be reluctant. Could you add some floating plants? they would give you "belt and braces" for nitrogen, and the Pencil fish would appreciate it.

If you are in the UK? I can send you some Pistia, and I think Gerald has made a similar offer in the States. This is a black-water tank with Pistia, from a while a go, it belonged to a Polish member, "Piotr K".

cheers Darrel

 

[de nol]

thanks for the advice guys,i have floating plants available,not pistia but limnobium...these will be allright to i guess...i've measured the tds today and i was 35 so that would be allright...

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

thanks for the advice guys,i have floating plants available,not pistia but limnobium...these will be allright to i guess...i've measured the tds today and i was 35 so that would be allright...

Limnobium is fine as well.

cheers Darrel

 

[Jonathan A]

Can't wait to see how this turns out!

 

[themountain]

25 Nannostomus in a 800 liter tank??? Thats a joke , right? You can put 50 there and you barely see them

Great tank BTW !!

 

[Yo-han]

25 Nannostomus in a 800 liter tank??? Thats a joke , right? You can put 50 there and you barely see them

Great tank BTW !!

Thats true! But taking the price in consideration, I can see why you would go for 25;P