50 apistos per 10G

[tenohfive]

Hi. I'm new to keeping apisto's, and prior to adding a pair in my community tank I did a bit of research. One of the things that popped up was reference to the fact that apisto's in the wild are found in huge numbers in a relatively small space, and there was mention in a couple of articles I read (linked below) of experienced fishkeepers replicating this in the aquarium.
Both made reference of large numbers of apisto's in a small space (the 50 per 10G I refer to) and I was wondering if anyone on here had done this.
The articles mentioned a tank of bogwood and lots of leaf litter and I believe the principle behind it is much the same as Malawi's - when they don't have a territory the aggression is kept in check and shared amongst the large numbers.

The reason I ask is a) because I'm curious know if it is considered a viable option and b) if it is then I'm hoping to find out as much as I can about it, as I'm thinking about setting up a tank this way.

I'd like to add a caveat that I've got no intention of rushing in - I'm new to apisto's but I'm not new to fishkeeping, hence the research. If anyone has any experiences of this or can point me in the direction of someone who has I'd appreciate it.

Cheers
Chris


http://apistogrammaidiots.com/David_P__Soa...s/articles.html

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?g...sizii&id=65

 

[Mike Wise]

I kind of chuckle at these statements. First Uwe's observations were done during the dry period. If you read his original paper, you will see that the area had a very thick layer of leaf litter that had very little water, almost soggy leaves! Obviously this was a survival situation, not conducive for setting up territories and starting families. Once the rains come, I'm sure that the fish migrate out of these refuges when the forest starts flooding. Population density drops drastically and this is when serious breeding starts. Second, I do believe that you could keep 50 apistos in a 10 gallon tank if: 1) the entire tank was filled with leaf litter side to side, top to bottom - it would be the equivalent of having a 120 gallon tank with a 1"/2.5cm deep layer of leaf litter covering the bottom and 2) that you have a continuous water flow through the aquarium. I would bet that even then you would lose a lot of fish and there wouldn't be much breeding going on.

 

[tenohfive]

Do you know of anyone thats tried it on a smaller scale?

The basic idea of sharing aggression by overstocking isn't a new one, and has been tried with other cichlids before. Has it been tried with apisto's?

If it was just one source I'd be happy to dismiss it with no further thought, but theres a couple of places I've heard the same idea so I thought it worth checking out.

 

[apistobob]

It is possible to crowd a lot of fish into a small tank but it is not a natural situation. In my experience you will only succeed if the tank is chocked with live plants as they help a lot with water quality. You can find a photo at http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_steindachneri.php

If you are raising a batch of fry together in a too small tank you will find a lot of "sleeper males" that will repress their sexual morphology because of the crowding and the presence of dominate males. Also, without massive frequent water changes the growth rate will not be very good.

Finally, to keep the habitat complexity you need for putting a lot of fish in a small space means that most of the fish are hidden from view most of the time.

In my opinion, it is possible but I do not recommend it.

 

[tenohfive]

I'm sold, its a bad idea and I'll abandon it completely.

Thanks for the help, I'm glad I've got an answer at least.

 

[Hudson Ensz]

That last post, was that sarcasm?