All-male Apistos in community tank - advice please

[curviceps]

Hi there

I would like to keep a number of different Apistogramma species in my community tank which is 99x47x60cm (LxWxH) in dimension.

In order to minimise aggression and disruption in this community tank, I am not intending to breed Apistos in this tank. It will be males-only. (I will keep females in separate breeding tanks.)

There will be other fish in this tank, including hatchetfish, tetras and rainbowfish.

I will provide sufficient caves, plants and driftwood for hiding places and to break up line of sight.

Assuming I keep only one male per species, how many species do you think I can realistically keep in this tank without harmful aggression?

What different species do you recommend I keep such that aggression is minimized (eg I read that similar looking species would result in more fighting).

You help/advice most appreciated!

 

[ed seeley]

The problem is the male apistogrammas won't know that a nice girl isn't going to swim along at any moment and will still wan't to secure a bit of space for when she does! They don't know they are never going to get the chance!:wink:

 

[Mike Wise]

I like your idea, curviceps. It is hard to say how many you can keep in your 1 meter tank. I imagine you can keep quite a few if they can't establish territories (like in a mbuna tank). If all are about the same size, any aggression will be spread out fairly evenly. If, however, you have some much larger than others, then the larger will establish territories. Still they will be spreading their aggression among many other fish.