A Hello from Holland.

[ShonV]

Hi, I'm Shon from the Netherlands.

After a couple of years of having a break from fish keeping I intend to get back into the hobby. And while I was researching what to put into the new tank I came to the conclusion that I want to try some Apistogrammas.

In the past I've kept other SA cichlids in the form of Mikrogeophagus Ramirezi (or is it Microgeophagus nowadays), Satanoperca Jurupari and some other ones as well. I've also had a couple of lake Tanganyika tanks back then.

But having scaled down I no longer possess the room for large groups of cichlids, so with that in mind I came to the conclusion of getting some dwarfs.

And this seemed like the right place to get some more advice.

 

[Duffmanj]

Welcome to the forum have any in particular caught your eye?

 

[ShonV]

Thanks!

In regards to a particular species, it is tough. There are so many beautiful fish out there, but having had a look at fishbase and some other sources the current shortlist for me is:

A. pertensis, A. trifasciata, A. iniridae and the ever popular A. cacatuoides.

Now out of these I think that the A. cacatuoides would probably be the best choice. They are readily available and seem to be an easy species to keep. Which would make selecting fish a lot easier then a species which is rare and where you are not rally able to turn them down.

Although I am not holding my breath for them breeding. Other tank mates will be 3 Peckoltia vittata (L15) who are now in the tank that will be used for the Apistos

 

[Duffmanj]

Can't go wrong with a pair of cacs, be picky about which you choose though! Although I've never kept them, high availability doesn't necessarily mean high quality in all places, but you certainly can pick up some stunners. Have a look at the colour morphs too, I'm a big fan, but bear in mind (if you are hoping for fry) that generally females will only breed with males of their own colour morphs. At least that's the case in the wild, so I'm led to believe!