Another stocking advice needed, 40 gallon

[kaoticice]

I'm new to this forum !! so hi guys!!!!!:tongue:

I have a 3 ft tank at the moment, and it was initially inhabited by a green terror, but since I figure that his growth was stunt due to lack of space, i decided to gave him away to a friend of mine. So i'm left with an empty tank in a couple of week. I'm planning to downgrade into smaller cichlids and keep them as a community instead.
The tank is a medium planted tank (mostly java moss and fern), with driftwoods and rocks scattered around. It's powered by aquaclear110, aquaclear 70 and possibly another aquaclear 20 if needed depending on stocking levels.
My current list are:
1x Albino BN
8x corydoras (panda hopefully)
2 pairs of a different apistogramma species? cactoides and borelli maybe.
and maybe some schooling fish as a dither, any recommendation of any suitable species?
So the question is if 2 pairs of a different type of apistogramma is possible, would i go for trio's or pairs? I have a free 10 gallon for back-up if the other females are driven too harshly in the main tank.

Thank you guys
Ed

 

[Mike Wise]

This is only my opinion. A 3' long tank is small for 2 different species of most apistos. Considering the other members of the tank, it is unlikely that breeding will be very successful either. I think that you might enjoy a community aquarium with 2 - 3 different male dwarf cichlids. The aggression will be less, but they will display to each other.

 

[kaoticice]

thank you for the reply, I'll take that advice.

I've finally removed the green terror out of the tank, and now my current inhabitants are:
2x betta
2x albino corydoras
1x BN
1x snail
I'm planning to add another 5 more corydoras at max.

When they pair up, would their aggression level be a problem to other inhabitant? Any advices on what type of apistogramma that is suitable for the tank? Maybe not to aggressive ones, and smaller sized?

thank you

 

[Mike Wise]

I think that your first decision is to decide what you want the aquarium to be.

If you want it as a community tank. Then I would not add females. I would just use 3 males of different species with other community fish.

If you want a community tank with a possibility of getting a few fry to grow up, then I would add a bonded pair of a nijsseni-group species like A. panduro or A. baenschi. Since the parents act more like a bonded pair of cichlids & work together, there is a better chance that they will save some of their fry until they get large enough not to be eaten. Just remember, all the other fish that live on the bottom (like the corys) and fish too slow to avoid their attacks (if they get too close to the fry) will be in danger of some damage.

If you really want to watch dwarf cichlids breed and also raise some fry, then I would suggest that you start with a trio of an easier to breed species, like A. cacatuoides, A. macmasteri, A. sp. Rotpunkt, or A. borellii. This option would mean removing all of the other bottom dwellers - including plecos - and using only a few top dwelling species as dither/target fish, but not schooling fish.

 

[kaoticice]

thank you for the thorough explanation.

I guess i'd avoid the breeding pair, since i've already have the corydoras as the inhabitants.

Maybe I can use my 10 gallon for the breeding tank, is that possible?

thanks
Ed

 

[Mike Wise]

A 10 is kind of small, but if adequately decorated will work for most pairs of apistos. If you use it you will probably need another tank to put the male in, when the the fry appear. Then you will need a much larger tank to grow out the fry, unless you keep only a few. Breeding any fish tends to require several tanks.

 

[kaoticice]

ok thanksx

I'm probably planning to get my 40 gallon running first, then probably get the breeding pair later on. I've got multiple tanks at the moment, 2x 10 gallon, 2x5.5 gallon, and 2x2.5 gallon (not intended to use this one). All empty!

Ed

 

[kaoticice]

Update:

I've just bought 4 panda corydoras and an albino BN.

So the current inhabitants in the 40g tanks are:
4x panda cory
2x albino cory
1x albino BN
1x BN (probably be moving him/her into the 10g)
1x betta
9 fish in total atm

I also saw the apsitogramma cacatoides available in the store, however that was the only apistogramma species available. I ask the assistance, and they cannot guarantee when will other species be available. Is it ok to have 4 - 5 males cacatoides in the 40 gallon tank?

Also it was suggested to have dwarf gourami's as target fish, would sparkling gourami do a similar job? since these guys are even smaller than the dwarf gouramis, thus lesser bio-load. and how much should i get? 3-4?

thank you
Ed

 

[Mike Wise]

Get the Sparkling Gouramies & 3, maybe 4 male A. cacatuoides. It should work.

 

[kaoticice]

yeh i might do that, and if aggression level is to high, i'll just move them into the 10g if necessary.